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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: SPOKANEMarch 25, 2018Kelly GravesSabrina IonescuRuthy HebardMaite CazorlaLexi BandoSatou SaballySpokane, Washington THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Oregon. We will begin with questions for the student-athletes. Q. Sabrina, you have obviously played a lot of good guards this year. Is this tandem of guards that Notre Dame has up there with anyone you faced? SABRINA IONESCU: Of course, they have great guards. They're athletic. They can shoot the ball. They can get to the basket. They're great in transition. But we faced guards like that all year. They have great post players as well. We're not going to do anything different. I think we're going to stick to our game plan and play basketball the way that we play it, we've played it all year. Q. Satou, what is it like bouncing back from the other night? What is your mentality coming back from that performance? SATOU SABALLY: I mean, I'm looking forward to the next game. I'm really excited to play in the Elite 8 for the first time. Playing with those amazing players, I'm just looking forward to it. Q. Maite and Satou, did you watch the NCAA tournament growing up in Europe? If not, what has it been like playing in it? What time will it be and how will your family watch it? MAITE CAZORLA: No, I didn't really watch it when I was back home. It's a great experience. My family usually stays up and watch the game. It's usually 2 a.m. there. I'm really thankful for that. SATOU SABALLY: Yeah, same with me. I didn't really know a lot about college basketball. Last year I started watching college basketball. I bought the ESPN pass for it, just for March Madness, to watch those people (laughter). Yeah, my mom, my grandma, my grandpa, they are all watching the games at night. Q. Sabrina and Lexi, you guys said after the Central Michigan game you didn't play your best game. Where do you think you need to play better against Notre Dame to beat them? SABRINA IONESCU: I mean, in every aspect I think we need to play better. We're going to have to stay dialed in for 40 minutes. They're well-coached, have veteran players, players that have played overseas in international basketball. They know what it takes to win. They've won at a high level for many years. We're going to have to stay focused for 40 minutes of the game, offensively, defensively, apply pressure, try to play them to their weaknesses. LEXI BANDO: Piggybacking off of what Sabrina just said, I think the game is going to be won at the defensive end for us. We just have to know the game plan, know personnel. I think that's where the game's going to be won. Q. Sabrina, you said yesterday it took you a few minutes to get settled in, had a little bit of jitters at the beginning. Have you talked about that, how you're going to settle in quicker tomorrow? SABRINA IONESCU: I think the second game is always easier. So I don't think we'll have too many jitters. Of course, everyone is going to be nervous. It's just part of the game. I think everyone knows what's at stake. We're going to have to come ready to play. I'm excited to see what happens tomorrow. Q. Sabrina, Notre Dame has been a pretty dominant team in the NCAA tournament and college basketball the last 10-plus years. What have you seen from them? What can you say about their program watching them growing up? SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, I think I was talking to Lexi yesterday. I don't think I've ever seen them live. Yesterday was my first time seeing them live, which was actually really cool. I have seen them a lot, know a lot of their players, playing against them growing up. They're well-coached. They have players that play hard. They want to win and they know how to win. So we definitely learn from them, and we learn from every team we play, and take what they do and try to do it as well. But I think we'll be fine tomorrow. We're excited to be in this position, excited to get better. Q. Ruthy, your offense has gotten better. Defensively, big numbers yesterday. Where does that defensive performance rank for you in terms of how much you held your own on that end of the floor? How different is this matchup going to be tomorrow? RUTHY HEBARD: We've been working all year with the post players, being able to play players one-on-one. I was happy I could do that yesterday for the team. Tomorrow they have great post players, so all of us need to be dialed in again, be ready to take on their posts one-on-one, and hopefully do the same as last night. Q. Ruthy, you got to watch a little bit of Notre Dame and Texas A&M. What stood out against the team you faced earlier in the season? RUTHY HEBARD: For Texas A&M? Q. No, for Notre Dame, a team you also played. RUTHY HEBARD: Definitely the posts, like he said. They're really strong and physical. Definitely going to have to have our feet set, be just as strong, be ready for a dogfight all 40 minutes. Q. Maite, I don't know if you got to see the Texas A&M game. Got a pretty big lead against Notre Dame. You beat Texas A&M twice during the season. What do you think you can take from that? Were you able to see how they were able to get that lead, duplicate that, keep it going? MAITE CAZORLA: I think tomorrow we just have to be ready. We have to play hard for 40 minutes. I think that's real important. But especially we need to be dialed in defensively. Q. Lexi, we talked a little bit about defending the perimeter ahead of the Central Michigan. Notre Dame has good perimeter shooters. What did you learn from defending the perimeter against Central Michigan and how do you carry that into tomorrow? LEXI BANDO: The three-point ball is the great equalizer in the game. That's where upsets are made. So we're going to have to make them, you know, score tough, contested jump shots, we're going to have to really defend the three. We've been doing that kind of all season, all throughout the tournament. I think we're ready. We just have to be dialed in for 40 minutes, like the girls said. Q. Sabrina, you've been playing double-digit seeds to this point. Do you feel like an underdog going into this matchup? Where are your heads in terms of that? SABRINA IONESCU: I mean, I don't think so. I don't think we're an underdog. I don't really know what everyone else is talking about. I'm not really paying attention to it. But seeding-wise, you could say we're an underdog. They are the 1 seed. But I think once that game starts, it's anybody's game. I think we're just as talented as they are. So I'm excited to see how we match up with their players. I'm excited to see how we grow. I just want the game -- I wish the game was today (smiling). THE MODERATOR: We'll dismiss the student-athletes to the locker room. We will now move on to questions for the coach. Q. I wonder about the historical contrast between Notre Dame and Oregon. Notre Dame has been to nine Elite 8s, you're making your second trip. Maybe for the team that doesn't necessarily matter. Is there some significance there at all? KELLY GRAVES: Not really, as far as they're concerned. I mean, this is the first time they've met Notre Dame, or we've met Notre Dame in an Elite 8. I don't think they pay much attention to what's happened in the past. I think Sabrina said it pretty well. She knows this is one of the storied programs in our game. But all that doesn't matter tomorrow. It's 40 minutes between the Ducks and the Irish, so... Q. Do you like the level head Sabrina showed in terms of the seeding? Seems pretty unfazed about the fact they're finally the lower seed in a matchup. KELLY GRAVES: Yeah, again, we've been preaching all along that the seeding doesn't matter at this point. Everybody's really good. Yeah, well, Sabrina is a natural at this stuff. She's about the best there is. I was really proud of a lot of clichés they used. That was impressive (smiling). But, no, I really feel that our team is confident. They're ready. I mean, they know what we're up against. I think we all feel that we're a good basketball team, and we have a chance tomorrow for 40 minutes to go prove it. Q. Yesterday you talked a little bit about the energy not being where you wanted it coming out of the locker room. What are you telling the girls to make sure that doesn't happen again tomorrow? KELLY GRAVES: Yeah, they know we're playing Notre Dame tomorrow. I don't think that will happen. And I think we were ready yesterday. I think coming out of the locker room in the second half we relaxed a little defensively, got that back in line. We took control early in the game. I know we missed some shots early. But that happens. We were playing well. Then when we built a lead, we just kind of stayed on it. We never really kind of buried them. They never really were in the game either. It was kind of a businesslike effort. I thought for about five minutes in that second half, we relaxed a little bit. They hit a couple threes, got some energy. We kind of reined it in. We're playing the 1 seed for a right to go to the Final Four. Yeah, if we can't get up for something like that, then we're in big, big trouble. I don't anticipate that will happen. Q. Do you agree with the players that with two offenses this strong, this is won at the defensive end? How do you feel you guys are playing on that end since the start of the Pac-12 tournament? KELLY GRAVES: I think we've been playing really well defensively. I can't remember what they scored last night. It was in the 60s. It was well below their average. I think seven or eight games prior to yesterday, teams were only scoring 55 on us, and five of those seven games were against teams in the NCAA tournament. We've been defending actually quite well for about a month. Tomorrow, yeah, these two great offenses, I think this is going to be one of those epic games. I know a lot of people in women's college basketball are looking forward to it, two teams with a lot of skill offensively, a lot of different weapons, star power. This should be a fun game. Yes, when you have games like that, whoever can make -- you know, put together a great quarter of defense, that might be the difference. Maybe that's a three- or four-minute stretch of good defense. That might be three or four consecutive stops kind of defense that I think will really impact the game. I'm actually really looking forward to it as a coach who enjoys offensive basketball. But, yes, I do agree. I think defense in the end is going to carry the day. Q. Talk about the mental process over the last few years of turning this underdog program really into a program where these guys feel like we're not underdogs to anybody any more. KELLY GRAVES: Well, I don't feel, like anybody thinks they're underdogs. All this team knows is winning. I guess it would just be our two seniors, Lexi, and not even Justine because she was a transfer. Lexi is the only one that was there the first year we had a losing record. But Maite and Oti, those are our only two juniors. Their first we won 24 games, went to the semifinals of the WNIT. It wasn't the NCAA. They won, what, does that make four games in that tournament? We won three games in last year's tournament, the NCAA, then three games this year. I think they like post-season basketball. They're used to playing it. Even though we're still relatively young, I don't think the stage fazes them, I truly don't. Sabrina, Ruthy, those kids, they thrive on this kind of setting. We sure don't preach the underdog role. We did maybe a little bit last year, but not this year, yeah. Q. I was going to ask you about last year, obviously you played UConn basically on the road in this scenario. How much can you draw on that experience in terms of just getting off to a better start? KELLY GRAVES: That was not relatively a road game. That was a road game in Bridgeport, believe me (smiling). Again, I think this team, we've matured. I don't think the venue matters that much, who the crowd is cheering for. Obviously you want the crowd on your side. Hopefully they will be tomorrow. I've lived up here, I think there are a lot of Catholics that will come out and support the Irish. I don't know. I think at this point that's not going to be a difference maker. I think they'll say they feed off that. These guys are usually pretty dialed into what's going on on the floor. Externally, I don't think that matters as much to them, I truly don't. Which is good, that means they are maturing as a team. Q. What kind of key areas have you identified with Notre Dame you have to limit to be successful tomorrow? KELLY GRAVES: Well, we can't let Mabrey go off and score three at a time. She's, what, 15 of 24, 23 or something, from the three-point line in the tournament. Then what she does, again, when she hits a three, it seems like it's four. You know the next one now is going to go down easier. We've got to make sure that she's making two-pointers. Them as a team really, but especially her. They're not a huge three-point shooting team, but she is one that can really get it going. When she's making those, it stretches the defense, then Shepard is a load inside. She is really good. The more I watch her, the more I appreciate that. I didn't up until I've had a chance to really watch them here. She is as strong and physical as any post I've seen this year. We've played some good ones. We played the Louisville post, McCowan at Mississippi State, those in our conference. She's terrific. I think Arike is special. She truly is. We cannot allow her to make plays in transition. We just can't. We've got to sprint back. We've likened it to UCLA with Jordin Canada, those kids are airplanes, jet airplanes. When they take off, we can't catch them. We've got to make sure we take care of the ball so that we can all get back and take away any driving lanes that Arike might have. I think those three are the key. Jackie Young is a terrific player. Have to keep her off the glass. They kind of have with Westbeld, by committee at that four spot, they're solid. I think the key, though is transition D, eliminate those easy baskets, make them work for everything, and keep them off the boards. We gave up two offensive rebounds yesterday. If we do that tomorrow, we lose. Q. Satou goes over five from three, but also seems unfazed. I would assume it's fair to say you feel confident in her? Also Ruthy, how much better is she prepared this year compared to last year for a physical post matchup? KELLY GRAVES: Ruthy, those that watch us on a daily basis have seen just her growth. It's incredible. You see it game to game with her. She's still got a lot more to give. So I think she's going to be fine. I mean, she's going to be ready for this. I think looks forward to it. If you've noticed Satou this year, she sometimes has struggled in the first game of a weekend. I think she went scoreless against USC, came back from UCLA and scored 35. Against the Beavers the first time she maybe had two, then came back with a 24-point effort two days later. That's kind of been her MO. I don't want to tell the Irish anything here, but that's her MO. She's been a good bounce-back player, which shows maturity in her. She knows we have confidence in her. Q. Do you have depth as a potential edge with their injuries? Is that something you can try to take advantage of? KELLY GRAVES: I always feel like we have an advantage when it comes to depth. We really do play a deep bench, sometimes not a ton of minutes. We try to get all our players some rest. Yeah, I think any time you can get rest this late in the season is a positive. I know they have to, to play a lot of minutes. They've handled that so well all year long. To me it actually is amazing that they can play at the pace with which they play and the skill, just how efficient they are with relatively no bench. I mean, that's a true testament to some awesome players and a phenomenal coach. But, yeah, we'll always try to use that as an advantage. I love our bench. I trust our bench. Q. Oregon and Notre Dame have not played in women's hoops. Do you know Muffet from anywhere? KELLY GRAVES: Yeah, actually she may not remember. It was actually a pretty good game. My first NCAA tournament as a coach was against her, her team, down in Baton Rouge, back in 1997. It was a close game. One-possession game late. They ended up beating us. That's when they had Ruth Riley, Niele Ivey. That was my first NCAA tournament as a coach. We later played when I was at Gonzaga back in 2010, in the '10/'11 season, with Skylar Diggins, Courtney Vandersloot. That year they went to the championship game, we went to the Elite 8. If you would have watched that game that night you wouldn't have guessed either team would have done what we did. It was an ugly game. It was a post Christmas game and both teams played like it. Yes, we've gone head-to-head twice. I've been on the short end both times. But both good games. Q. I saw you retweeted this last night, so I figured I'd ask you about this. Would you rather try to guard Ruthy in the post with pun possession or stick your head in a box filled with wasps for an hour? KELLY GRAVES: With all due respect to Shea Sarrano know who has become a Ducks fan, I would try to guard Ruthy. I'm not much for sticking my head in a wasp's nest for an hour. It's pretty neat that he's jumped onboard. He's a great follow on Twitter and a great author, so... I retweeted that? Okay. THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time, coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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