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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: LEXINGTON

March 24, 2017

Lexington, Kentucky

Notre Dame 99, Ohio State 76

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us for the press conference for the Notre Dame women's basketball team. We're joined by head coach Muffet McGraw and student-athletes Erin Boley and Arike Ogunbowale. We'll begin with an opening statement from the head coach.

MUFFET McGRAW: I'm just so proud of this team right now, especially our freshmen and sophomores. Our young players stepped up in a big game. I thought Erin played her best game of the season. Arike with a career high in a huge game without Bri. It was a struggle for us this week trying to overcome that. Just so proud of the resilience of this team.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Both Erin and Arike, you just came out confident and loose. Can you talk about that?
ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: I think -- well, Coach said it's evident we don't have Bri in the paint. So it spaced out a little bit more. Coach told us to shoot our shot and be confident in, so that's what we tried to do.

ERIN BOLEY: We came out focused. Everybody was pretty loose and focused. I thought we did a good job of coming out prepared and ready to play.

Q. Not an oversimplification, but was the lane open because there aren't two people down there guarding Bri?
ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: Yeah. There's a lot of usually help side with her, but they have to really honor us because we have four or five plays players on the court that can shoot the three. So you couldn't sag off too much or we would get a three. So they had to really step up to their man.

Q. Arike, did you feel any pressure to step up a little bit more on the offensive end to make up for Brianna's loss?
ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: No, not pressure. I knew I had to play like I normally do and work within the offense and just be confident.

Q. Erin, how is it to be back in this state and play in front of family and friends?
ERIN BOLEY: It's good to be back in Kentucky. I had a lot of family and friends that came that don't usually get to see a game. It was good to be back home.

Q. Will you guys stay and watch this next game? What do you know about either Stanford or Texas? To either one of you.
ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: I think we'll probably watch the fourth quarter and go and get some rest -- or the first quarter.

THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for the student-athletes? If not, then they can be dismissed. Thank you very much.

And we'll open it up with questions for the head coach.

Q. Again, Coach, not perhaps an oversimplification, but in terms of what you devised, did you just tell them go?
MUFFET McGRAW: What we looked at was the ability to post up our guards. So we wanted to take advantage of that because we had Erin and Kat (Westbeld) at the free-throw line. They had to guard them, so we could stretch the defense a little bit more. They had to guard everybody and it opened things up for Arike and Jackie around the basket. Then they had some mismatches with their post on the perimeter. So I thought we did a really good job of taking advantage of those mismatches.

Q. Just elaborate a little bit on how good was Arike tonight.
MUFFET McGRAW: Yeah, she was fabulous. I had to chuckle when she said she felt pressure. That's a word she doesn't know the meaning of. She is absolutely fearless. She was somebody, I think, who was pretty excited when we talked about how we're going to play from here on out because she's capable. She sacrifices a lot for the team willingly, and it was great for her to be able to open things up and play her game.

Q. Coach, could you talk about the play of Westbeld playing with Bri out.
MUFFET McGRAW: Kat is the glue to our team. She's somebody we have to have in the game. 11 rebounds, but she works the high post and the zone offense so well. She works the pick-and-roll so well. She makes it hard to guard because you have to guard her on the perimeter as well. Just such a smart player. She was hurting a little bit, and she really just kept on going.

Q. Coach, can you talk about the significance of the way Erin played given that she's coming back home and given the increased role she had?
MUFFET McGRAW: A lot of times I worry when a kid goes home because they're trying a little too hard to impress their family and friends. It's a big game for them. I was just so proud of her because she was able to relax, to play her game, and play the best game of the season in such a big game coming home. It was just so rewarding to see that.

THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for the head coach? Thank you very much.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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