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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 3, 2018Jeff WalzMyisha Hines-AllenArica CarterGreensboro, North Carolina Louisville 64, NC State 59 Q. You went on a 7-0 run to end the first half, talk about that as a game-changer for you. JEFF WALZ: Well, we got a little momentum there. I thought defensively, we switched to zone to try to stop them from penetrating and getting by us. And then we did a much better job of keeping them off the glass. That was the one area they were really hurting us starting off. And then we started to execute. I thought we had some really nice passes. We finished around the basket. Ac stepped up big. I mean, she's got 11 points, five assists. I thought she played a really, really nice basketball game. Q. You were in there battling against Nelson and maize in there, just talk about their athleticism and how you were able to get seven rebounds against that front nine. MYISHA HINES-ALLEN: If you ask Coach Walz, I should have more, and I mean -- JEFF WALZ: I just speak the truth, people. I speak the truth. Truth teller. Truth teller. And a giver. MYISHA HINES-ALLEN: Yes, sometimes I wasn't in there rebounding, and I've got to get better at that. But I mean, they are great rebounders. I know Chelsea Nelson, she's one of the top rebounders in our conference and I mean, she had nine today and Maize had six offensive rebounds. So they are going after them. I mean, yeah, they are just great rebounders. Q. You win this points battle 38-26, though, so you were having some luck inside; right? MYISHA HINES-ALLEN: Yes, that was our game plan going into the game is try to get the ball inside and try to make post moves in this game, and I think we did that. Q. It seemed like every time North Carolina State made a run, their fans got involved. Your team found a way to get big stops, blocks, steals. How important was capitalizing on defensive intensity for you guys? JEFF WALZ: Well, it was great. You look at the stats sheet, we had 12 points off of their turnovers, only allowed four for them off of ours. So we had some more dead ball turnovers where we were able to get back and set up defensively. You know, it's just the one thing I can say about this team, I've got confidence in them. I've got faith in them. I trust them. You know, we got down early, and I didn't call time-outs. You know, I'm like, hey, you guys got it, let's go. Let's execute. So being able to go to the last three, four minutes with three time outs available really makes things a lot easier when you can advance the basketball, set things up. So I was really proud of them. Q. AC, it was a game where you didn't take a lot of 3-pointers as a team but you hit all three of yours. Was that part of the strategy or just their defense? ARICA CARTER: Honestly I just took the shots when I was open. My teammates do a great job of finding me and putting confidence in me to talk them down, as well as my coaches. Q. Can you talk about how you matchup against either Florida State or Notre Dame, and your team's first appearance in the NCAA -- or I'm sorry, the ACC Championship game? JEFF WALZ: We're really excited about the opportunity to play tomorrow, there's no question about that. And we're going to enjoy this for a few hours here until we find out who we play. But you know, both teams are outstanding basketball teams. Great players on both of them. So no matter who we play, we're going to have to play our best, and hopefully it's a great game and very competitive from both teams. Q. You guys had two baskets coming down the stretch. You had a stick back, Sam had one, too, in the Final Two minutes when you were only up four. Is it a mentality you have that you guys can make a tough basket like that in a key moment; resilience to make a key play at the right time? MYISHA HINES-ALLEN: That's just what me and Sam do. We trying it to the offensive rebounding and offensive boards and try to get those put backs. That's something we've been doing all year and we just came up big this game to push that lead out. Q. Do you feel like you've broken down a wall now that you're making your first ACC Championship game, and do you feel like you've got one more wall to break through tomorrow? JEFF WALZ: No. You know, we've had the chance at this program to play for two national championships. So I think we broke through some walls. Now, it's just a matter of continuing to progress. It's one and done. So we're excited. We know what we have to do. Would we love to be able to win a championship tomorrow? There's no question about it. Our kids have worked as hard as any group that I've coached. They are wonderful young women off the court, as well as on. They do a fantastic job in the classroom. You know, they are great to my kids. They are great role models. They are fun to be around. And when you get those types of qualities in student athletes, it makes your job enjoyable. So this is a remarkable group, just because of their character that we have. Q. Describe what it's like to be in the championship game after it's alluded you the last three years. ARICA CARTER: It's great. Like Coach said, we've put in all this work and we've been working hard in practices every day to get to this point, and we made it. It's going to be a great game tomorrow. Both teams are great teams. So we're excited to play either one. MYISHA HINES-ALLEN: She said it all just now. There's not much I can say after that. Q. Not to be a downer, but you guys have had two straight games where you've fallen behind in the first half, first quarter, and Asia has not shot the ball particularly well yesterday, and you credited State's defense today. Do you look at that and say, these are some problems we have to fix, or do you say, we've won two games, even when we haven't gotten off to great starts, or our ACC player here has not had a great shooting game? JEFF WALZ: I'm not concerned about it at all. Of course, we'd like to see them all shoot the ball well. But at this time of the year, you've just got to figure out a way to win. Nobody cares. You know, you can have a great game and lose, and you still lose. There is no consolation prize. So if we figure out a way to win a basketball game, that is all that matters. Asia is as talented as any player that I've seen. I mean, you know, we're trying to draw up a play there in the second half for her to hit a little step back three if the girl went under the green, and I asked the team in the time-out: Hey, you guys all have confidence she'll make it? And every single one of them said of course. You know, she puts the time in. It's not an accident. It's more so of an accident the past two games. You know, it's nothing unusual to us when we see or make baskets because she puts the time in. And tonight even, she's three of eight from the field, so it's not like it was a terrible percentage. She just didn't get a lot of looks, but what she did do was demand a lot of attention, and others were able to get easy baskets, and that's what great players do, also. Q. It was a game where you really didn't get very deep into the bench in the 40 minutes. Were you just happy with what you had out there? JEFF WALZ: Things were going well. You know, and that's kind of what I've talked to them about. You know, Kylee is going to have to continue to develop for us and hopefully she's had some really good games. Bionca, you know, I tried to give her a few minutes. She made a beautiful post move, but then she turned the ball over twice in four minutes, and those are the things that I've talked to them about. Guys, unfortunately I don't have the luxury of just see if you can play through it. It's just, you know, you've got to be able to sit there and just be like, hey, all right. You've got to be prepared to play, and then we have to perform. Kylee I thought, you know, she had a big defensive board there. She'll be prepared for tomorrow. They all need to be. I thought Dana did a really nice job in her 11 minutes of play, and we're going to need her tomorrow, too. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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