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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 10, 2019James HowardDionna WhiteDorothy AdomakoChicago, Illinois Georgetown - 76, Villanova - 67 JAMES HOWARD: It was a tough game out there. We take our hats off to Villanova. It was very hard to play them again after playing them in that second game up there, and the outcome of that game, we knew our team was better than what it showed that night. I think our young women rallied around that and really came in with a different focus. Q. How would you describe what it's like when you and Dionna are feeding off each other like you did today? DOROTHY ADOMAKO: It was good. We know that we can play hard together, and we're unstoppable together. So when we start going, it's good, and it's great for our team, and it can get our team going, as well. Q. Dionna, it was a crazy first half. What was this game like just playing in it? DIONNA WHITE: I think it was fun. The first half we felt like we gave up a lot of threes. That's where they got most of their points from. So at halftime we really talked about just running them off the three-point line, not letting them get hot, and keeping our composure and just having fun. I think in the third quarter we really did that. We were playing together, feeding off of each other, and just playing ball. Q. Adrianna had 15 in the first half, scoreless in the second half. What changed defensively on her? DIONNA WHITE: Making sure that she didn't get hot again. She's a great shooter, so once she gets going, it's hard to stop her, so in the second half we really focused on not letting her get the ball, not letting her get in rhythm. Q. Dorothy, this team has won five in a row. Why has this team been able to put it together in March? DOROTHY ADOMAKO: We're playing together and having fun, just buying into what Coach asks us to do. Yeah, we've got to keep it going. Q. In the first half it was an offensive battle, back and forth, you guys would make a three, Nova would make a three. How did that fuel your fire offensively to just keep it going? DIONNA WHITE: I think we always have confidence when we're hitting shots, and just knowing that Villanova, they're a great shooting team. In order to keep up with them, we have to score the ball, too, and just having that in the back of our minds and being aggressive, everybody always tells us that we're one of the best scorers in the league, and when we really want to play, we're unstoppable, so just having that mindset. Q. Dorothy, Coach Albert says that you guys saw Captain Marvel; do you believe that Captain Marvel helped you today? DOROTHY ADOMAKO: Honestly, I fell asleep during the movie. (Laughter). Q. So is that no? What about you, Dionna? Did you fall asleep? DIONNA WHITE: No. Just, I think, in the movie, she fell a thousand times, and she always got back up. So just having that same type of mindset. We're going to be down, we're going to -- they're going to score on us, but it's how we come back from that that matters. Q. What was the biggest difference for you defensively in the second half that you were able to stop them? You held Villanova to 14 points in the third quarter, 11 in the fourth. JAMES HOWARD: I thought we started to play the scout a little bit the way we wanted to. They make Gedaka the outside shooter or not allow her or anyone else to get anything off of flips and cuts to the basket, which we were able to do. The thing in the second half, I thought we touched up on their three ball. They didn't get as many open looks as they got in the first half, and then once we started to get a lead, they started to believe again, and then their defense turned up even more. That's what it takes with our group. When they see that they're having some success, now we're hard to beat. Q. When you see them having that kind of confidence and wanting to guard someone else, how much confidence -- JAMES HOWARD: (Inaudible) coming out, and that young lady right there, I know we might have a different defensive Player of the Year, but when you play in man-to-man all year and she's locking down the best and players don't want to dribble the ball in front of her, she's one of the best defensive players in the country. Q. What worked offensively so well today? JAMES HOWARD: We had great flow. I think our kids came out and they hit shots early. And to withstand that Villanova run in the first, to get so many points, we was not able to do that up there. We couldn't score at Villanova. We couldn't throw it in. But when they're shooting the ball the way they shot it in the first half, Hahn hitting threes and then with Tucker hitting threes, we were able to score to stay close. And I think we went down four at the half, and that kept us in striking distance to go back in the locker room and make some adjustments, and those adjustments kind of worked in the second half. Q. You were just on the sidelines watching these two seniors will you to big-time play after big-time play. JAMES HOWARD: I don't know if we'll ever have two like them again because you're talking about Dionna White who's closing in on 2,000 points, Dorothy Adomako is about 1,600. They're special. They are very special. It's a blessing to have both of them. And each season your team looks differently. But I can -- I wake up every morning knowing that I've got two of the best players in the conference on my team and that they're competitors, and when you have that and they are playing together, as I said this week in all our interviews, the power of my three, the power of my three seniors is they're together, and Mikayla Venson worked defensively. It might not have looked like it in the scoring column, but defensively her leading was really huge. So the power of those three, if they're there every day and they're scoring and they're defending, we're hard to beat. Q. You just mentioned how special these seniors are. How is that a testament to this program with what you are doing, five in a row now that you've won, this push that you're making in the tournament? JAMES HOWARD: I think it's huge. Us coaches have to make decisions, and I know a lot of people probably wasn't happy about the decision that I made at Villanova when we lost almost by 50. But I pulled all my starters early because they wasn't in it. Sometimes people might say you're trying to send a message, but it's a learning. It's time to learn from things that we go out there and we compete every day, and this is not how we play. And I think since that game, they have rallied. We had meetings. We talked about it. But getting them to understand, this is it for you, this is it, you can't have a do-over, and if you have no more do-overs, what is tomorrow going to look like? Am I going to give it my best that day? And that's all we're saying to them. We're not doing anything different. We're just challenging them to go out and finish their season, their senior year in a fantastic way and try to do something. And I say try. We tried the last two years, as you guys said. First time in history, been to two semifinals. I want this group, and we started as -- Coach Bolton and I have talked, we started when we got the job that I want to do something special that never have been done at Georgetown. I want to win a Big East Tournament. One day I want to get to an Elite 8, not a Sweet 16, because those banners are there. We are here to try to do -- to turn this program around, and the culture that those seniors are leaving, two straight semifinals, I'm proud of them, and the rest of the kids who played night in and night out who have to work with them. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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