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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: STANFORDMarch 22, 2019Unique ThompsonJaniah McKayStanford, California THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student-athletes. Q. For both, for Janiah, this is your third trip to the NCAA tournament. For Unique, your first, just talk about what it means for third one for you and your first. If you would go first, Janiah. JANIAH MCKAY: I think it's just a big deal just for our program, getting Auburn women's basketball back on the map. I'm really excited as far as for my underclassmen to get a chance to experience this for the first time, we're just really excited to be here. UNIQUE THOMPSON: I would say for me it is really exciting as well. We have only heard the upperclassmen talk about it, so we're just ready to experience it for ourself. I know I am. Q. Janiah, coach was just mentioning how this group missing out on the tournament last year it wasn't something that was discussed necessarily, but everybody knew what the goal was and this is where you gals belonged in March. How much was that journey to get back here and how much did it need to be talked about or not? JANIAH MCKAY: We talked about it a lot. It was definitely a hard long journey. Basketball, the basketball season is so long, but we know we had to stay engaged, our coaches can't shoot hoops for us, so we had to stay locked in, stick to the game plan, and then just play hard. We play in a tough league and I think that's prepared us for this moment. Q. Did you speak up along the way a lot or what was sort of the message that you shared, because you've been there before. JANIAH MCKAY: I definitely spoke about it a lot. I played on this stage as a freshman and that was overwhelming, I would say, for the first time. But missing out on it last year, that hurt and so I wanted to continue to keep my teammates engaged, talk about the importance and how great it feels to be here. You are one of the final 64 teams and now you get to prove that you're good enough to beat other great teams in the tournament and I think it's just an experience that you only have so often and some people never get a chance to actually be here. So it's definitely a blessing. Q. We asked coach about the theme, team of excellence, when she was up there and she explained her thought process behind it. What does that mean to your team and how have y'all exhibited that with your teammates? UNIQUE THOMPSON: It means everything to us. It's something that she's just instilled in us all the time. We talk about it literally day-in and day-out. So we know that not only do we have to represent Auburn but we also have to represent women's basketball and representing women's basketball is being excellent. So that's just one of the main things that we have to do, not only on the court but off the court as well. So we just try to stick it out for Coach Flo. JANIAH MCKAY: I think it's about just playing hard playing putting your best foot forward at all time, Coach Flo is very classy and that's how we like to be on and off the court. It's not about being perfect, but just constantly like working hard and knowing that you have to do the right things at all times, even when no one is looking and that's the biggest thing about being excellent. It's not just when Coach Flo sees us, it's when anyone sees us off the court, whether we're in an Auburn uniform or not. Q. Unique what, did it mean to hear from Janiah throughout the season, just to keep everyone engaged as she mentioned and also what do you like about this matchup? Defensively the challenges of having a six foot seven woman inside and several talented three-point shooters. UNIQUE THOMPSON: Well, it meant a lot to us hearing from Janiah because she's a great leader and so we knew the goal and we knew that it was something that we had to work hard to get to. So knowing that we have actually executed one of our goals that we can't just stop now, like we made it but we have to stay here. And that's one of the things that we want to do. So as for us, we all said we have to play for our seniors, knowing that this is her last year, so we just have to do everything that we can for our seniors and for our team as well. Also the matchup on tomorrow, we're just ready to just play ball, honestly. I mean, we know what we have to do and we know our game plan, so we just have to execute. Q. What kind of conditioning or stamina level does it take to play the kind of defense you guys play for 40 minutes and were you ready for it when you got to Auburn? JANIAH MCKAY: Oh, that's something that you can never actually prepare yourself for, transitioning from high school to college. But we do a lot, we work on our press every day, we run outside, in the gym, it's just about like playing hard and it's not so much about just the running it's like mentally staying engaged. It's like we might feel like we're tired, but it's like my mind is never going to get tired. So it's just staying engaged at all time I think that's what separates us from a lot of teams and that's why teams can't play our style of basketball because it does take a lot, it's not just physical but mentally you have to stay engaged at all times because you're creating mismatches, putting two on the ball so you have to be able to get back and recover quickly so, yes, sir. Q. Unique, what did it mean now that you had a little bit of time to process it what did it mean to see your name pop you up on the screen and to see that were you coming to Stanford? UNIQUE THOMPSON: Well, we really didn't know where we were going, but we had all kind of predicted it so it was funny because me and Erin one of the freshmen we were sitting on the couch and we didn't pop up in the first screen so I was like Erin we're going to Cali, like I'm just tell you we're going to Cali. And she's like, you don't know that, and I said, I'm telling you. So when it popped up, me and her like we just was like, okay, our name's on the screen and she's like, we're going to Cali and so that's when I actually started celebrating for real because I was like I've always wanted to go to California and now I'm not only going but I'm going to do something that I love, so it was just really exciting. Q. Coach Flo talked about Emari Jones' impacts on the team both on the court and then she got injured and her leadership off. What does it mean to have someone not eligible I guess to finish her senior year and does that drive you guys to play a little bit for her? JANIAH MCKAY: It's definitely, that was probably one of the hardest things that we had to overcome this year, I would say with losing Emari. But it was almost not a loss because she was still there and while she was working rehabbing her knee, we were working just as hard on the court. And we knew that we had to play extremely hard for her because she can't get that time back and she can't get a chance to play on this stage. So it's really important for us to play extremely hard for her, especially being her fellow senior, I want to give her the best experience possible even though she's going to be cheering on the bench for us. Q. You've been in the SEC wars for like two and a half months straight. How is it to now jump out of that and see somebody totally different, style and personnel that you're not familiar with? JANIAH MCKAY: It's extremely exciting. I think that's the beauty of the game of basketball, sometimes you're in your bubble league and once you get to step out and see all the great basketball that's played across the conference it's like it's really exciting. I'm really excited to get a chance to play BYU, I never thought I would actually get a chance to play them, so it was really exciting. We know they're a good team, they have great guards and so we're just ready to get out here, execute our game plan, you know, may the best team win. Q. Janiah, you're 8th in scoring at Auburn and your name is all over the record book. Reflect just a little bit on the last four years, making the tournament in three of four and having a shot now to really make a deep run. JANIAH MCKAY: Oh, it's been a long, tough journey. I've had my highs, I had my lows. Coach Flo gave me a chance, just a little kid from Gainesville, Florida, I never thought I would be able to make such an impact on Auburn, on my teammates, on everyone at our campus. It's just extremely exciting and I'm not too big on like awards and I'm almost shocked every time I hear that I'm like in the record book books or I won this because I just never expected it. I just want to be the best player I can for my teammates, for Coach Flo and for the university. THE MODERATOR: Thank you ladies. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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