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NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FINAL FOUR

March 30, 2018

Columbus, Ohio

Notre Dame - 91, Connecticut - 89

THE MODERATOR: Joining us on the dais now is Notre Dame. We have Muffet McGraw, student-athletes Jackie Young, Arike Ogunbowale and Jessica Shepard.

MUFFET McGRAW: So proud of this team. We got off to a great start. We had a little bit of trouble in the second quarter and responded well. It was kind of a dogfight, I thought. Both teams throwing punches. They made some big plays, some good plays. We made some plays back. I thought it came down to rebounding in the fourth quarter in the overtime.

Jackie Young, I don't know what to say about her. I knew she had it in her, and to get a career high in the national semifinal against Connecticut, I don't think you can ask for a better performance than what she gave tonight. Big shot by Arike, unbelievable. She does it all the time in practice, so we weren't that surprised. Definitely an exciting big shot. And Jess was awesome the entire game.

Q. Arike, you said yesterday that you didn't remember the first meeting between these two teams. Do you think you'll remember this one a little bit more?
ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: I think a little bit, just a little bit.

Q. Arike, could you describe what the plan was for the last shot, and did you end your -- take us through that one.
ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: That definitely wasn't the play call.

JESSICA SHEPARD: Do you know what it was?

ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: Like we switched who was going to take the ball out two or three times, me and Jackie. And then Jess had the open lane, and Marina got it. And I was like, I guess I'll go get it, and my team trusted me to have the ball at the end.

Q. Did you know going in you made the shot?
ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: I mean, it felt good. I didn't know it was going in, but it felt good.

Q. Arike, I think you missed two free throws a little before that. Was it sort of redemption you could have put the game away then but now you hit the shot that everyone is going to remember for this game?
ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: Yeah, I can't really dwell on the two free throws. I have to just think next play.

Q. Jess, you know, you came to UConn as a freshman playing University of Nebraska. Talk about how much you had to learn that day. Do you feel like your journey has led you to this, and what do you think you've learned that got you to a point where you can come in and beat them tonight?
JESSICA SHEPARD: I think the UConn game my freshman year was a big wakeup call for me. As Geno said, I was out of shape and that's why I was missing the easy shots that I'd normally put in. For me, coming in this year I knew that was something that I wasn't going to let that happen. Just an unreal feeling to be playing for the National Championship on Sunday. It's unbelievable.

Q. This question is for Jackie and Arike. Guys, what gave you the confidence and faith that you guys were going to pull this out even after UConn takes back two five-point leads in regulation and overtime?
THE MODERATOR: Do you want to start that, Jackie.

JACKIE YOUNG: I think the coaches just really prepared us for this moment. They didn't let us get too hyped up whenever we had a lead. I think we were able to really just keep our composure and just get the job done.

ARIKE OGUNBOWALE: Yeah, I think sadly we've been in this position a lot when we were down by a big margin. I guess it really helped for this game because we were used to it. We've had to overcome large deficits before, so we didn't get down on ourselves.

Q. I've got a few for Jackie. First, two points against Connecticut in December. How do you account for getting 32 tonight? And when did you realize that you were on and going to be on fire? And one more question after those.
JACKIE YOUNG: I mean, from the start, they just left me open. And I think I hit my first shot, and after that, we came back down, and they just kept leaving me open. I was able to get going.

Q. How did it feel, after winning a state championship in high school, to win both state and a National Championship, if you can do that Sunday?
JACKIE YOUNG: Yeah, it would be a great feeling. Not many people have the chance to do that. The coaches are going to prepare us for Sunday. I think we'll get the job done on Sunday. It's really just coming out strong Sunday and just finishing the game.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. We'll continue with questions for Coach McGraw.

Q. Muffet, tell us about the last play, what the design was, what the plan was.
MUFFET McGRAW: The plan was to get Arike to go one-on-one and drive to the basket. We didn't think they'd foul. Tie game, we didn't want to put her on the free-throw line. We didn't want to isolate her on the wing. She had a little trouble getting the ball. Took a little while. We wanted to use a little clock and shoot with five seconds left. We were trying to run the clock down. Fortunately, the way they were playing defensively, we had no choice but to use the clock.

I probably should thank every catholic from coast to coast for all the prayers on Good Friday at the end of that game.

Q. I mean, you've played UConn 48 times now and just you had a lot of really good games. Where do you put this one in the lore of this rivalry?
MUFFET McGRAW: This is, I think, the second or third time we've beat them in the semifinal. That's been our lucky charm. Can't seem to beat them in the final. But this one, I mean, to come from behind -- well, to have a big lead, squander that, come from behind, and with this team -- I mean, this one's really special. It's got to be the best one.

Q. Muffet, you know you have a talented team, and you know you're not very deep, but what did they show you tonight that maybe you haven't even seen yet to this point in the season?
MUFFET McGRAW: I thought our zone was really good tonight. I thought we were active. We moved well. I thought we did a lot of really good things. We were on it with the press. We switched man to man at times, and we were really aware of where the shooters were. That's something we haven't done a great job of. But I think the resilience just really shines through and the fighting spirit that we had tonight.

Q. Muffet, I'm just curious, as far as Jess goes, to be able to get her and get her to be able to play immediately, you know what we're dealing with, you talked about it back in the fall, but have you reflected on how significant that turned out to be, especially being down so many players?
MUFFET McGRAW: Probably I would say every game, we have a toast to the state of Nebraska and Jessica Shepard for being with us because we wouldn't be here without her.

Q. Muffet, can you appreciate what kind of showcase this was tonight?
MUFFET McGRAW: Unbelievable. First time we've ever had two overtime games in the Final Four. Definitely set a record for what time the game finished. I think just great basketball. Both games, hard fought battles and exciting for the fans. That had to be a great TV game both times.

Q. Muffet, you've been in this game for a while. You said yesterday that Jackie Young might be the best guard in the history of Notre Dame when it's all said and done. I'm guessing tonight's game adds to that potential.
MUFFET McGRAW: Yeah, she showed what she can do. She definitely has the ability, and I'm so excited now. Maybe this will be kind of the first step for her to continue to be aggressive offensively.

Q. Coach, after they switched their defense up a couple times, what do you think your team realized, or what did they recognize to then kind of settle down and stabilize a little bit?
MUFFET McGRAW: They were changing defenses on us a little bit. I think that we didn't handle it as well as we could have in the second quarter in particular. We had some openings, and we weren't able to see them. We talked about it a little bit in the time-outs and at halftime. That bothered us a bit, the way they came out. And they're just so long. That was difficult. And I'm rambling because I've forgotten your question. I'm sorry.

Q. Just was part of that your forwards, Jess and Kathryn, they had 14 assists. Was that something they recognized as the game went on?
MUFFET McGRAW: Our posts are really good passers, and the way we run the defense from the elbow, it requires them to look for each other. Jess got double-teamed and found somebody open. I think that's definitely a big part of it, the way they have the vision to pass the ball.

Q. Coach, four players go down with ACL tears. What would you have said if someone said you have four players out with ACL tears and you'd still win the National Championship Game?
MUFFET McGRAW: I didn't think we'd have more ACL tears than losses. I think it's just an amazing accomplishment for this team and the resilience they've shown all year.

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