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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: AUSTIN

March 19, 2017

Austin, Texas

Texas - 84, NC State - 80

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by North Carolina State, Coach Wes Moore along with Dominique Wilson and Miah Spencer. We will open it up for a comment from Coach Moore.

WES MOORE: I just couldn't be prouder of our team and in particular these two right here. What unbelievable games. What unbelievable careers they've had. They have big hearts. They're competitive, and they laid it all out there today. They're warriors. They're great players. I hate that it had to end this way. Again, it's a tough one, take a long time to get over. Like I said, it's been a good run. Would have liked for it to last a little bit longer.

Q. Did you think you had won the game with that shot?
DOMINIQUE WILSON: I thought so, but the refs had other things in mind.

Q. Dominique, take us through when you got the ball to the time the whistle blowed.
DOMINIQUE WILSON: Coach Moore called for a pick on whoever has the ball and at that point he wanted me to come off the screen and go to the basket or basically try to score because the time was running down. I seen that the post player showed big so I knew that my man was coming. So I went the other way and I had the lane and I just shot a layup, but the refs called a charge even though the girl was still moving. It's on them.

Q. Miah, despite the big comeback that you guys had, the fouls started to mount, picked up your fourth, at that point you probably became a little bit cautious, looked like Brooke McCarty was fighting her way through that, is that what happened?
MIAH SPENCER: That's exactly what happened. The refs already called it. They saw the second contact but not the first and one and I guess that's what got me in trouble.

Q. What does it feel like to be on the bench helplessly after that?
MIAH SPENCER: What would you think it felt like? It was my last year, last game. I'm a leader on the team. To end my career like that, it hurts. My team, they still fought hard. Dom tried to make something happen, and I thought it was a good take. I thought we won the game with that one.

I mean, Coach Moore this year has been one of the best years of my life playing basketball. They picked us 7th in th ACC, we finished fourth, beat Notre Dame. Won at Florida State. We beat Duke. We won at Louisville. What more could you ask for a senior season?

Just unbelievably proud of my team and thankful for a coaching staff and the opportunity I have had to play basketball at this great university. It's sad to end like this, but pretty sure y'all know we could have won that game, too.

Q. (No microphone.)
MIAH SPENCER: We were down big at Louisville, too. But that comes with the maturity of our four seniors, you know? Never give up. It's something we appreciate that you can be down 20, but I know the four seniors that we have were going to fight back and we're going to show the younger girls what it means to have a mentality of we're capable of beating anybody in the country. I honestly felt like that tonight and for it to happen the way that it did. It's real heartbreaking, but I'm proud of the way my team fought today.

DOMINIQUE WILSON: I agree with everything Miah said. It just hurts. You just feel helpless. I'm very happy with the way we fought, gave it our all. There is nothing more Coach Moore could ask for. Nobody should go home with their heads down.

THE MODERATOR: We will excuse Dominique and Miah. Thank you very much. Questions for North Carolina State head coach, Wes Moore?

Q. Coach, seems obvious, but can you address what the foul situation did to you at the end because you were missing Spencer and big bodies up front to challenge Joyner Holmes on that last rebound?
WES MOORE: You're right. We had three kids foul out and they were three key players for us. Actually, four players fouled out. Three of them were posts, so it did make it tough. Texas has such great size on the interior, you know. First quarter we played man and they ate us alive and so we went to some junk defense and obviously it worked really well in the second quarter. In hindsight, fourth quarter maybe I should have got out of it. But I had that first quarter in the back of my head. A lot of decisions I wish I'd have made different and I hate that I couldn't help these kids a little more.

Q. (No microphone.)
WES MOORE: Yeah, they're great players. First team All-ACC, both of them. They've done it all year. Great leaders, competitors. That's what I'm afraid of looking ahead in the future. We got some young kids on the bench that I think are pretty good, but they don't have that warrior mentality right now that those two do. We're going to have to get that. They've been great mentor and they represented this university on the court, in the classroom, in the community. Couldn't ask for more.

Q. Coach, obvious question is the charge. You're this close to it. Dominique seemed to indicate at the end that maybe the girl was still moving?
WES MOORE: That's the toughest call in basketball, you know? Yeah, they didn't seem to go our way today, but that's the tough call. Until I see the film it's hard for me to really know. I didn't have a perfect vantage point by any means and obviously I'm a little bias. So I'm probably not the one to ask. There were some throughout the game, block and charges both ends that obviously impacted the game.

Q. Coach, you got behind early, fairly big.
WES MOORE: Yeah.

Q. Did you make any adjustments after the first quarter? Did you say something? What went in your favor?
WES MOORE: First of all, yeah, I said something. I told 'em we were down by probably more than this at Louisville and we know we can overcome a deficit. We switched to a junk defense in the second quarter, and like I said, it was effective for a while. Fourth quarter I think we should have gotten out of it, but I didn't think we matched up with Texas athleticismwise and sizewise. But we might have done a better job on the boards if we would have gone man-to-man and been matched up a little.

There are things looking back that I could have done differently. The last offensive rebound on the free throw we had a small lineup in there, anticipating her making it. I think that's the first free throw they missed in the fourth quarter and they shot free throws well all day.

So we had a small lineup hoping we could push five shooters and push it on the floor and ended up being a bad decision on my part. Should have had some size in there.

Q. Coach, when Miah went out, what did you sense in your team at that point being the floor leader she was?
WES MOORE: Critical. You know, you go from a senior to eligibilitywise a freshman. It's a big difference. Miah has been our leader all year long. You know, it's a tough one. Fifth foul is a tough one. You're talking about a minute left in the game, 30 feet away from the bucket. That was a tough one.

It definitely impacted us, and there again, like I said, I could have done some things differently. So I'll definitely -- felt like the kids did a great job. They made me very proud as they have all year and those two have for four years.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. Congratulations on a great season.

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