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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: LEXINGTONMarch 23, 2017Muffet McGrawLindsay AllenArike OgunbowaleLexington, Kentucky THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us for the press conference for Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw. If you can raise your hand to identify yourself, we'll bring you a microphone. We'll go ahead and open it up for questions for Coach McGraw. Q. Obviously, with Brianna's injury, that has forced some adjustments. I guess the immediate question is, what was the initial adjustment like for this team, mentally as well as strategically? MUFFET McGRAW: I think it's most difficult mentally, for sure. I think she's everybody's kind of favorite player. They like her so much and respect her so much. So it was a lot more than just about the game. Everyone knows what it's like to go through an injury and how devastated she was, a player of her caliber, so important to our team. I think it was just a lot of things going through everybody's mind when she went down. It was really difficult to try to kind of get our focus back. Q. In the days since, how have you kind of tweaked your strategy toward this game? MUFFET McGRAW: We have really good guards, and I think we can still run a lot of the same stuff. We'll just have to score in different ways. We probably won't throw as many lobs. That's the biggest thing to change. I think defensively, she's a huge presence for us defensively. So that's going to force us to make some changes defensively. But offensively, I think we'll still be able to run a lot of the same stuff. Q. Muffet, can you expound on your relationship with Kevin and maybe what you recall from his six years with you at Notre Dame. MUFFET McGRAW: Yeah, he was a terrific coach, I thought from the first moment I hired him, I knew he was going to be really good with guard play. He was a very good teacher of the game, having played the game, understand the game. X-and-O's-wise, I thought he was very proficient. He was somebody that could remain fairly calm in situations on the bench where he could not let the emotions get in the way of what we were trying to do. So I think he always had that sort of presence on the bench for us. Q. Specifically, which player on your team takes Brianna's spot in the lineup? And does the role of that player/position, is it different because of the nature of the injured player? MUFFET McGRAW: Yeah, no one can take her place. She's just a very, very special player. So to lose her, we really need a lot of different people doing different things. We'll look to our freshmen. We'll look also to Coco Nelson. And between of three of them, try to figure out how many minutes we can get out of each one. It will clearly be different than when the guards are in for Bri than for Coco. Q. You had alluded to this earlier about your guards and how they can score. How much does having so much balance throughout your lineup scoring-wise kind of mitigate that? I mean, as much as you talk about her being a special player, that you do have depth? MUFFET McGRAW: Yeah, not quite as much, but I definitely think our guards are capable of having big nights, any one of them. I think the ones coming off the bench, I think we look at Jackie Young and Erin Boley, they're big scorers coming out of high school. You've got Arike and Marina who have already had big games. Then you've got Lindsay Allen at the point putting everything together. I definitely think our guards coming out of high school, they were the focus. They were the ones that did the scoring. So mentality-wise, it's an easy step for them to look to score a little bit more. Q. Speaking of Erin, what has her adjustment been like in this program? MUFFET McGRAW: I think she's really gotten comfortable. I think it probably took her until January to really get comfortable. Offensively, I think she figured it out pretty quickly. She's a really smart player who knows how she can get her shots. She knew how she could fit into the offense. She's not had any problems adjusting at the offensive end. I think the difference was it's a little complicated. There's a lot to learn. It's difficult for all the freshmen coming in and to see how quickly they can assimilate the pace of the game into what they're doing. Defensively, we probably do a few more things she didn't do in high school, and that's probably been her biggest adjustment. But she's somebody that really wants to learn and wants to get better and wants to contribute. Whatever you tell her, she's going to go out and try to do it. Q. Talk about the fact that this isn't your first rodeo. You've been through this a few years ago. After all the different places you've coached, there has to be a time, five or six minutes at least, where you realized what happened, and then you figure out how to adjust to it. Talk about that transition that goes on and how experience helps you move on to figuring out what you're going to do. MUFFET McGRAW: We have been in this position before, unfortunately, and I think, as a coach, it's fun. It's a little challenging. You kind of look and go how can we retool the offense in a couple of days? What new things can we do? What can we stick with that's working? We just have different people in different spots. So there's been a lot of meetings, a lot of X and Oing with the staff trying to look at defensively what's our best plan, offensively what's our best plan. So it's something that you don't expect to have to do in March, but it certainly has been the kind of challenge that you loved as a coach. Q. You mentioned your staff too. You've got two coaches that have been head coaches at other places. They've gone through this. Niele Ivey herself had a similar situation with injuries. So much experience there, and the staff has really been a source of strength for you. MUFFET McGRAW: Yeah, they're terrific. They're the best staff in the country. I definitely -- I lean on them all the time. It's great to have that kind of experience in the room when we're looking around and deciding how we're going to approach this game and what's going to be the best way for this team to play. Q. Coach, this might be the biggest arena that your players have played in. Maybe they've played here before, I don't know. It's the biggest one I've ever been in. Is depth perception an issue with you as a coach? And if so, how do you go about the day before to adjust yourself, acclimate yourself to a place like this? MUFFET McGRAW: We did play here last year, and it is a very big arena. We played at Louisville, which is a pretty big arena, played in a couple other places. We were in Oklahoma City one year. I think we played in some big arenas, but I think it's a little different. I think, when we go out to do our pregame shooting and our practice shooting, I think the guards will be able to adjust. It will be a little different with people back there, but I don't think they'll have any problem adjusting. Q. When you look at Ohio State, obviously, you talk about Kelsey Mitchell, but what's the hardest thing about trying to slow them down or stop them? MUFFET McGRAW: Yeah, Kelsey is a special player. She really is phenomenal. She's a lot more fun to watch when you're not sitting on the other bench. She's just so up tempo, and she can get her shots so many different ways. She's just dangerous in the open court. I think she's obviously the player that makes them go, but she's certainly not their only player. I don't think you can really key on her and leave anybody else, because they have so many people capable of scoring. They're maybe the team with the most depth in the NCAA Tournament. They're just a really, really solid team at both the guard and post positions. Q. You played here in this tournament last year in Sweet 16. Have you used that as motivation at all for this team to go back here again and maybe hoping for different results? MUFFET McGRAW: Well, we're definitely hoping for different results. You know, I think losing in the round of 16 last year was really disappointing for us. I think it definitely motivated us throughout the year. It was something I think that we didn't talk about a lot during the year, but I think it was in the back of everyone's mind. Q. What has this winning streak kind of revealed about your team that maybe you were missing before or maybe you hadn't seen before? MUFFET McGRAW: We don't ever talk about that because we've won a lot of games over the last couple of years. We really try not to get hung up on how many we've won in the past. We're always looking forward to the next game. THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for the head coach? If not, then the press conference has been concluded. Thank you. We will begin the Notre Dame student-athlete basketball press conference here in a minute. Thank you for joining us for the press conference for the Notre Dame women's basketball team. We're joined by Lindsay Allen and Arike Ogunbowale. We will open it up with questions for the student-athletes. Q. Could you all talk about being back in this regional year two. I asked Muffet if she used it as motivation because of the loss last year, and she said not really. But she thinks, just without saying, it motivated you guys. Can you just each talk a little bit about that. LINDSAY ALLEN: Yeah, I think it's good to be back here after what happened last year. Obviously, because of that situation, we're motivated. But also because of Bri's injury, we have a little more motivation from that. So I think Coach doesn't really have to say anything to us. I think we're all self-motivated, and we're all such a close team that we're all kind of on the same page. ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: I would have to agree with her. It's motivation in its own to try to get to a Final Four or Elite Eight or whatever. But also losing here is just a year away, and it's just really exciting to be back here. Q. Lindsay first, Arike second: You lose maybe one of your best friends to the ACL injury. Can you talk about behind, off the court, how you guys react to that emotionally, mentally, whatever? LINDSAY ALLEN: Yeah, I think it's very, very tough to deal with, I think. Especially just in the moment. I think it was tough emotionally to recover from because it happened before halftime. So we had the whole halftime period to kind of dwell on it and kind of sit on it. So that was tough. And then actually finding out the news, it was hard because we just feel for Bri. We're not concerned whether she'll be back or not. We're just really concerned with Bri as a person. So I think that was a tough thing to deal with there. I think Bri has been so positive about it. I don't know how she does it. I personally would be devastated. But seeing her and how she dealt with it kind of makes you feel better. IT makes you realize she's taking it well, so why can't we take it well? Her energy that she has is so very important to us. ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: I have to agree with her. Usually people, they get down about ACLs. Anybody would, but Bri's been the same person, same personality, still petty, still sarcastic, still making jokes. Her energy lightens our day and makes us want to win and do well for her because she's one of our best players. It's really good she's in high spirits, and it keeps our team, honestly, in high spirits. Q. How do you think you'll adjust to it? How did you adjust to her loss on the court? Do you think you'll do better with it now you've had a few days to absorb it? LINDSAY ALLEN: I think Coach gave us a clear plan of attack, and that was good for us to be able to have that to be able to move on to not having her on the court. I think it's going to be much more open in the middle. So I think, with the guards, we are going to be able to drive and kick more, just find our driving lanes, kick for threes, play with just kind of more open space and just being able to read. We'll be able to have five people out there that should threes at times, so I think that will be really huge for us, just stretch the defense out and be able to play our game. Q. What do you guys know about Ohio State, and what makes them strong? Also, any indication on who will guard Kelsey in the game tomorrow? LINDSAY ALLEN: Yeah, I think Ohio State, obviously, has one of the best players in the country in Kelsey Mitchell. She's incredibly tough to guard. She can shoot the three. She can drive by you. She finishes really well. She's super fast, and they really like to run out on transition. Make her miss, make sure we're slowing her down, and make sure we know where she is at all times. Q. Ladies, you had a chance this season to go against Kelsey Plum. You've had a chance to go against Lexie Brown. You went against Asia Durr. You've gone against Morrisette from Purdue. You've played a lot of teams that had that one guard, that prolific scoring guard. How important is that experience this year defensively playing against a player like Kelsey Mitchell? ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: I think it's just good practice. Those games aren't one and done. No matter what the result, even though you want to win, it doesn't matter. Now I think we've had a solid five games against players who have had that one guard that you have to really focus on. I think it's just great practice for us going into the game tomorrow. Q. Lindsay, you guys played here last year from what I understand, but when you play at an arena this big that you don't play in very often, is there an adjustment that you have to go through as a guard? Especially with the depth perception. What can you do to get ready for that? LINDSAY ALLEN: Yeah, I think it helps a lot having practiced and then having shootaround tomorrow before the game, just getting a bunch of shots up as guards. We're going to focus on that a lot today probably. Just getting comfortable out there, getting comfortable with the air quality, little things like that, the depth perception behind the basket. And just being able to kind of get a feel for the arena and just get adjusted to it. THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for the student-athletes? If not, then they can be dismissed. Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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