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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 3, 2018Janay MortonAmy WilliamsEmily WoodIndianapolis, Indiana Maryland - 66, Nebraska - 53 AMY WILLIAMS: Well, we're disappointed in this loss. I mean, we came down to this tournament. We wanted to make a run, and we wanted to put ourselves for sure in that championship game, and so we're disappointed that we fell short on that here today. But we're excited that this will not be the end of this team playing together. Q. What has this experience been like for you and what was that like tonight? JANAY MORTON: Honestly, it's been an incredible blessing just to be here and be a part of the experience. Obviously we lost, so that didn't feel good, but just being able to get into the Big Ten Tournament and make a run was good. Q. Emily, a couple weeks ago you talked about how your role has been changing but there you are trying to lead a comeback in the Big Ten Tournament. How ready are you to do whatever you need to do and just put your body on the line at times? EMILY WOOD: Yeah, that's always my mindset, be ready when opportunities come. You never know when somebody is going to be injured or there's going to be an opportunity, so I just stay ready all the time, like tonight there was that opportunity. So yeah, always ready to step in. Q. Have you ever taken that much contact on a play when you've been called for a foul before? EMILY WOOD: No, I have not. I didn't quite agree with that call, but it is what it is. Q. Was that different what they were doing in guarding Hannah, or was it more effective in taking away her vision and her ability to make plays? AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah, I didn't notice anything different. I think they were very aggressive with her pretty much all the times that we played, maybe even more at their place and then here at the tournament. But I think they were very aggressive. They put their best defensive players on her, and they pressured the whole night, and that can really wear on you after playing two nights in a row. Q. In general, how do you feel like you matched up athletically with them, and how much does that kind of play into maybe some of the stagnant periods you guys had offensively? AMY WILLIAMS: Well, I mean, tonight was clearly not our best night offensively. And they deserve some credit. Obviously their defense had us out of sync and out of rhythm, and I think their defensive pressure, partly because they have great athleticism, great, smart basketball players, but I think there were some times where I felt like maybe we would have normally secured a rebound, and because of their size or strength or athleticism that it came down in their favor. But for the most part, I felt like we felt disappointed because we didn't handle that very well, and we feel like we've done that better than what we showed here tonight, and we would have liked to have had a better offensive performance. Q. KK was in foul trouble again. Was there any conversation amongst you and your assistant coaches about how to play here? AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah, we've been having lots of conversations with Kate, and every time we've played Maryland they've really taken it at her and she just has gotten into foul trouble, in Lincoln at their place and now again here for the third time in the conference tournament she's been in foul trouble. And we've had lots of discussion about ways that we can try to correct that and how important and valuable she is as a post presence for us offensively. We just can't afford to have her in foul trouble on the bench. Q. You guys got the big win over Michigan last night; how do you think your team has set up for Selection Monday? It seems like you guys are on the bubble. How do you feel your team is at now, and how deserving do you think they are to get in the tournament? AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah, we very obviously think we're deserving of being in the NCAA Tournament. We just have so much respect for this conference and what we've been able to do this year collectively as a whole. We just feel like there's a lot of really, really good teams, and for us to take the 3 seed from the Big Ten Conference and then have a very good quality win over a ranked opponent yesterday, we feel like it proves that we can compete with the best and we deserve to be playing in that final NCAA Tournament. Q. Both Emily and Janay had some success tonight. What does that mean for you in March? AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah, I just thought that in this tournament all three of our seniors played with a sense of urgency, and to have those two be able to spark us a little bit with some offensive production, especially on a night where we were very stagnant and having a hard time putting the ball in the basket. I mean, very important. But I think most important out of that is just those three seniors showing the underclassmen that sense of urgency and how important it is and being able to kind of play -- show the rest of our team that there's a reason to try to extend this as long as you can. Q. You didn't get the result you wanted tonight, but to have the "all hands on deck" mentality, how much does that add at tournament time, just giving you guys that experience in these games? AMY WILLIAMS: Well, I think the most important thing for us all year has just been balance and chemistry and unselfishness. We're playing our very best basketball when we have great production off of our bench. So for us to have a few kids be able to come in and give some quality minutes and find ways to spark and stay with it is very important for us, and it will be as we proceed forward. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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