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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: SPOKANEMarch 26, 2018Muffet McGrawJessica ShepardKathryn WestbeldSpokane, Washington Notre Dame - 84, Oregon - 74 THE MODERATOR: We are joined by the West Regional Champions, Notre Dame. We'll begin with an opening statement from coach followed by questions for the student-athletes. MUFFET McGRAW: So proud of this team, where we came from, what we've overcome to get here, over a great Oregon team. Sabrina Ionescu, just a fantastic player. Did a great job on her in the third quarter, I thought was as well as we played defensively. That was the difference in the game. Got them to miss a couple shots, rebounded really well. Jackie Young particularly rebounded well. Kathryn, you expect a senior to be ready to lead your team, she certainly did that today. Balance in the scoring like we've always had. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student-athletes. Q. Jessica, you guys go to the halftime locker room down six. What was being talked about? What was the mentality you went in with the third quarter? JESSICA SHEPARD: I think the biggest thing for us as players was just going in there focusing, we knew we were a better team than them offensively, we knew it ultimately came down to defense, just getting stops. We knew that first five minutes of the third quarter would be really important for us. Q. Kathryn, as what point did you kind of realize they maybe weren't paying that much attention to you in the paint, maybe this could be a good offensive game for you? KATHRYN WESTBELD: I think from right at the get-go, the high post was really open, midrange. So I just kind of took what they gave me. We have four great players, other than me on the floor, at the same time. You have to kind of take away -- choose something to give up. I think they chose me to kind of leave me a little bit, double-team on some other people. So, you know, I just kind of took what they gave me. Q. Kathryn, how is the ankle? What has enabled you to log these heavy minutes through that injury? KATHRYN WESTBELD: The ankle's all right. It's sore. It's going to be sore. But this is my senior year, last round in the tournament. I'm just going to give it my all regardless of pain, injury, anything. I'm just going to fight, play with my teammates, fight for them, play for everybody in South Bend, family, friends, everyone. Q. With all that you have been through as a team this year, getting to this point, what does it mean for both of you? KATHRYN WESTBELD: I mean, it definitely means a lot, especially it being my senior year. Honestly, just what we've overcome this season with seven scholarship players, everyone really just fighting like till the end literally through everything, broken nose, sprains, black eyes, Marina's bump on her forehead now. I'm just honestly so proud of each and every one of our players. Just what we've overcome, how we've stuck together through it all, through the rough times, how we've overcome everything and came out on top. JESSICA SHEPARD: Yeah, I agree. Just proud of everyone in that locker room, from the four that tore the ACLs that are there every day at practice, giving their best for us. The walk-ons that come on every day at practice, practice hard against us, it's not easy. Just proud of this team. I think you look at what we do have, and that's really the key to this team. I think we're just relentless. We're not going to settle for anything less than our best. Q. Did you notice any frustration from Oregon on the court because they're not used to struggling like that offensively? JESSICA SHEPARD: Yeah, I think a little bit in the third quarter. You started to see that frustration. There were some unnecessary elbows here and there. The refs weren't calling them, which was fine. You could definitely sense their frustration. THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time, student-athletes. We will now move on to questions for coach. Q. You said yesterday your team maybe not the best defensively, and you would have to battle. Describe what did you see out of your team in that third quarter? MUFFET McGRAW: They proved me right in the first half, didn't they? The third quarter, I thought we guarded the ball screen a little differently. We tried to double Sabrina a little bit more, tried to get a little bit of a hedge. I think that was a little more effective than our Plan A, B, C in the first half. We dug deep to the scouting report to go to that one. Q. You talked about your pride with this team. Can you compare it to the other trips to the Final Four? Something more special about this group? MUFFET McGRAW: This one's just so rewarding because I think even though we're No. 1 seed, a little unexpected. I think at the beginning of the year, we got blown out at Louisville. We were down 23 to Tennessee. We had a stretch in the middle there that determined our season. We battled back from it. That's where you saw their character. I think that was definitely the game that turned our season. This team, they just never gave up. Q. When you have a comeback like that, the history of comebacks you have had, does a six-point deficit at halftime tonight not feel as daunting? MUFFET McGRAW: It didn't. We felt we couldn't be worse defensively than we were in the first half. Defensively we're on pace, doing what we were supposed to do. We didn't look sharp, but we were still scoring. We felt like we're in a good spot right now, we're not playing that well, and we're only down six. Q. Kathryn hasn't had many offensive games like that. Was she aware of the fact they were leaving her open early on? Did you point that out to her? MUFFET McGRAW: We pointed it out before the game, we wanted to attack the mid post area. Every timeout she reminded them to look for that spot. She's so good there. She makes good decisions. She can make that shot. I think the guards really had a little trouble finding her at times, but eventually they were able to see the open man. Q. What kind of testament is it to your team that you get big performances from every different starter in one of the two games this week? How does that compare in terms of the depth of different players? MUFFET McGRAW: It's hard to pick an MVP. You look at the whole starting unit, we couldn't do it without any of them. Certainly Arike has had a fantastic year, made a lot of All-American teams. We wouldn't be here without Jessica Shepard, without Marina Mabrey, without Jackie Young, and Kathryn. And really, Coco and Dani on the bench. We've needed everybody at times this year. I think everybody has stepped up and come through for us. THE MODERATOR: Thank you for your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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