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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2019Cameron NewbauerFunda NakkasogluDelicia WashingtonNashville, Tennessee Missouri-87, Florida-56 THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Florida. Coach, if you could make an opening statement. CAMERON NEWBAUER: Hats off to Missouri. The last two games they've hit 28 threes. They played very well, shared the ball. 19 assists on 31 field goals. I think we kind of played five games the last 11 days. With a young, inexperienced team as we had this year, that's a lot to finish the season with. Kind of got the short end of the stick with that with how our schedule worked out. Couldn't be more proud of our group for finishing the way we did, battling, fighting, sticking together, trying to be better each possession. Proud of the effort we gave. Thought we fought and had some moments today where shots didn't go really down. Thought we had good looks, great execution. Probably some of that was the fatigue we've had from playing five games in 11 days. Even an experienced team, that would be tough on them, in the SEC. Hats off to Missouri. Proud of the growth we've shown all year, the two next to me, the leadership they've displayed with our team. Excited about what's next for us. Couldn't be more proud of Funda and what she's done in such a short, short time, in two years at the University of Florida. So blessed and grateful to have had the opportunity to coach you. Hope I get to coach more like you. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes, please. Q. Delicia, close game, what was working well for the Gators? DELICIA WASHINGTON: Staying in a stance, playing defense. Giving up good shots for great shots. Just taking the shots that we take every day in practice, continue to focus on what we can control and what we can't control, focus in on the small details, which is running the floor hard, hands up on defense, setting screens tight, communicating when shooters coming through, simple things like that. Helped us really good in the first half. Q. Funda, what did being a Gator mean to you these last two years? FUNDA NAKKASOGLU: I mean, it's more than you can put into words. I can't necessarily put it in words. But I feel like I got so much experience from it. I met so many great people that I wouldn't have if I hadn't taken this opportunity. I've just loved it. I literally call these girls family now. It sounds cliché, but I can go to them for anything. They always have my back. They have that unwavering confidence in me that I sometimes don't even have in myself. It's been incredible. I'm going to miss it. I'm going to cherish it. It hasn't 100% hit I would say that this is it. I know what it does, it will hurt. I'll kind of wish that I could get some of those moments back. Q. Coach was saying how much of a joy it was to coach you. How much fun did you have playing under coach? FUNDA NAKKASOGLU: He instills trust in me. He's wanted leadership out of me this year, which I hope I've provided for him and the players on our team. But it's been fun. It's been a fun ride. You never know what you're going to get thrown at you in this league, in anything. But he's always been there just cheering me on. Q. Delicia, what are some of the things you learned from having Funda with you? DELICIA WASHINGTON: Having that leadership role, I never had to play that leadership role. Funda is one of the type of people that I can find of being a leader and helping me get through those ways of trying to be a leader for our teammates. Like coach say, we have a young group of girls. Funda has been in this program for a little minute. We know what it takes to play in the SEC. Being able to have Funda on my back, teaching me the ways to be a leader, become a better leader, it helps me to be able to provide for my younger teammates. Q. Delicia, when you think about what's coming back for next year, what enthuses you about your senior season? DELICIA WASHINGTON: Still being able to play with a group of girls that I can call my family, call my sisters, knowing that they're going to be behind me each step of the way, having coaches that believe in me. I have people that comes in that's ready to go get it. Just playing hard together, focusing on what we can control at that moment. Just playing hard for the University of Florida Gators. THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you. We'll continue with questions for coach. Q. It seemed like a pretty back-and-forth game going into halftime until there was the 10-2 run. What allowed them to end the half on that note? CAMERON NEWBAUER: I thought we were being effective when we were sharing the ball, making good decisions offensively. We took quick shots that led to really, really quick transition on their part. We got in trouble not getting matched up in time, which led to some open threes they got, made us pay. But I think it was the derivative of just the shot selection we took, no pass shot or one pass shot. I think we had four of those in maybe five possessions. They make you pay for that because they do such a good job spreading the floor in transition. Q. Your team held Missouri to 56 points earlier this year. What did you see differently today out of them offensively versus January? CAMERON NEWBAUER: That was a problem at halftime. I noticed they had 42. They were focused, they were fresh. They were very aggressive. Thought they would come out aggressive. They missed their first handful of threes, too, I think tonight. Then they kept finding a rhythm of where they were going to get their shots. They kept shooting them. We didn't mix up our defense early enough. I think they got really comfortable. We wanted to mix things up, disrupt them. We didn't do that early enough. We just didn't adjust quickly enough. Q. Looking over this season, what is one thing you're truly proud of this team for how much they've grown from the start to finish? CAMERON NEWBAUER: You said it, they've grown, the growth of the individual players, the growth of our team. You look down our roster. You have a handful of players that have never played anywhere near what was asked of them this year in terms of minutes, in terms of roles. Then to do that and to not have a winning season, not even close to a winning season, keep fighting, keep competing, keep climbing that mountain of adversity every single day, it's hard. I'm a 40-year-old man. It's hard for me to do it. So just seeing their youth, their energy, their enthusiasm to want to be better, just makes me proud and excited for what's to come. I just appreciate so much the character that they displayed all year through these tough times just trying to be the best Florida Gators we could be as a team and them as individuals. Q. How important was the experience that was gained by the youth of the team this year? CAMERON NEWBAUER: I think just even going through an SEC season. You look at how Zada has grown with her confidence and ability. Look at what's happened to Kiki ^ . Even Delicia her last two games, and she had experience. Look at Danielle, Arie, Paige. Even Kristina who broke her arm this year, was done for the year. You see the growth with Delicia. She had two years of experience, let alone all the other players that didn't have any experience. It just makes you excited about what's to come because now all of a sudden it's not brand-new. When those bright lights come on, there's people in the stand, on the road in a tough environment, it's not brand-new. You open up at home, not brand-new. So many things were brand-new to us this year, that we had to experience to learn and to grow, to try to become better for what's next in front of us. THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us. CAMERON NEWBAUER: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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