|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: PORTLANDMarch 28, 2019Ruthy HebardSabrina IonescuSatou SaballyPortland, Oregon THE MODERATOR: We have our student-athletes from Oregon, University of Oregon. We'll go ahead and open it up for questions at this time. Q. Sabrina, five PAC-12 teams are in the Sweet 16. Talk about the strength of the conference overall and how playing in such a strong league as the PAC-12 has helped prepare yourselves to get to this point in the season. SABRINA IONESCU: I mean, I think it's awesome that there's five PAC-12 teams that are representing the PAC-12 playing in this tournament. We know that they are capable of doing that. We play those teams every weekend. They give us a game, we give them a game every weekend. I think that speaks volumes about the competition we face and how it prepares us for March. They're coming in night in, night out trying to beat us. They give us their best shot. I think that only makes us better. Q. For all three, you played so many games all year long, how much are you enjoying this particular point in the season where every game means so much? RUTHY HEBARD: It's so exciting to play. We know any given night could be our last night. We say we only have one game left guaranteed. Coming out, playing our hardest, making memories with our teammates is what we are focusing on. SABRINA IONESCU: I think that's what ultimately makes us better, knowing that you don't have another opportunity, you don't have another chance to come out tomorrow and try more, try harder. I think that's what makes us better. That's what gives us edge, just being able to come out with that mentality and mindset that you have to come out every game, play your A game or someone's going to beat you. You don't really have a lot of chances to make that up. I know from my standpoint and from our team, that's what we're really focused on, just giving 100% in every aspect of the game. SATOU SABALLY: Yeah, just adding onto that, just knowing what we've been doing all through the whole season, working since, I don't know, September when everyone was coming back. We knew where we wanted to be. We're finally here. We just want to keep going. Q. Sabrina, this is another trip to an extended level of post-season play. Talk about the confidence or comfort that you have knowing this whole bracket, you've seen them already. Does that give you a little extra confidence being comfortable with who you play? SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, I mean, I honestly think that's crazy that we've played, I mean, all these teams before already. But I don't necessarily think it's giving us confidence. I just think it's giving us familiarity knowing that we were able to go down there and compete against South Dakota at their place. So now watching film, we're watching film on us, the mistakes we made, the positives that came out of that game. I think that just gives us a little more confidence in knowing what we need to do better, what we didn't do as well. But, yeah, I do think that's a little funny we have played all these teams before. I don't know if that's ever happened before. Q. Ruthy, about South Dakota State, how have you grown since that game in December since it was a back-and-forth battle especially? RUTHY HEBARD: Yeah, since that game I think we've grown in a lot of areas. Our defense has gotten better, our offense has became more efficient. It's going to be fun to be able to play South Dakota State again and see all the changes we can make and how well we do. Q. For all three of you, can you remember and describe what the atmosphere was like in Brookings for that game when you played them before, how you expect it to be different tomorrow. SATOU SABALLY: I mean, we're going to have a home atmosphere here, so this is basically going to be a home game with a lot of Duck fans cheering us on. Over there, I mean, it was tough to have a really tough crowd. It was a tough game. I mean, it's always good to play at home. We see it as an advantage. SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, they had an awesome turnout, a lot of people came out to watch that matchup between us at their place. They were loud, they were amped up. Hopefully they'll get a turnout as well of people following them. I think it's awesome they've been able to get to a Sweet 16. They're a well-coached group, hard-working players. I think we're going to have hopefully a decent amount of fans here supporting us this weekend. I think we'll definitely use that to our advantage. RUTHY HEBARD: Yeah, when we played there, they had a great crowd, atmosphere. I've seen some South Dakota State fans walking around Portland already. It's going to be fun to see them and have our home crowd here, as well. Q. Satou, looking at that last game you played against South Dakota State, a bit of a track meet. Looking at the matchup, it seems like it favors getting out and running. Is that something you feel this is favorable for the offense that you like to run, like to play? SATOU SABALLY: I mean, last game was a close game. We had a lot of transition points given up. But we've done a better job in our defense in the rest of the season. I mean, yeah, we play best when we're loose, when we're efficient, when we're just like running in transition, passing the ball, sharing the ball. We're not going to change a lot. I guess we're at a really good spot right now this time of the season. Q. Sabrina, obviously you have a lot of media attention this week because of the triple-double. You mentioned you might have sort of missed that last basket on purpose. I was wondering why it was important for you to get that triple-double and what you sort of saw from the massive response? SABRINA IONESCU: It wasn't very important for me to get that triple-double, to be honest. I mean, I didn't really miss it on purpose. I had shot it and realized that I knew where the ball was going, so I followed it. But, yeah, I mean, it didn't really matter. We were winning that game, that's all that really mattered. I was just going to end up breaking my own record, so I could do that any time. Q. Sabrina, a couple years ago this was your team in the Sweet 16 for the first time, all new. Coach mentioned I think UConn said they didn't know it was supposed to be hard. Do you kind of get that similar feeling from South Dakota State, even though this is their first time, that's kind of an advantage for them, that they don't know any better at this point? SABRINA IONESCU: For sure. I remember that feeling like it was yesterday, coming in and not knowing what you're supposed to do, not knowing that you have media, not knowing any of the things we do know now. I definitely think they could use that to their advantage, enjoying where they are, enjoying the atmosphere, enjoy being in the moment, having fun with each other, playing, not really worrying about all the outside pressures that are going to follow them. I definitely think they can use that as an advantage. I think also now that this core group of us Ducks have been in this position, I think we know what to expect. We know how hard and difficult it's going to be to get to a Final Four, to get to a national championship. So I think that hunger is inside of us. Q. Sabrina, could you describe Coach Kelly's unique coaching style, the relationship with his staff, how that has impacted you both on and off the court? SABRINA IONESCU: Yeah, I mean, I think one word is just trust. They give us a lot of freedom and they trust us not only on the court but off the court. They treat us as regular people. I think that trust we have with them as coaches shows on the court. He asks us what plays we want to run. He asks us how we feel in this position, what we want to do. I think that just gives us the freedom to grow as basketball players and be able to be in those positions and not necessarily rely on a coach to tell us what to do, what play to run. It's not robotic at all. He gives us the green light to take whatever shots that are in range, we're able to take and practice taking. I think having that trust between a player and a coach is very important. It's almost family like. I think he's like a father to a lot of us. Just having someone that we can look up to, talk to anything about, whether it's basketball or whether it's life, is something that's really important to us. Q. I know Sabrina addressed the fact that you've already played all the teams in this regional. Can the other two of you comment on that. Also, is there a downside to that in that these other teams know you, as well? RUTHY HEBARD: Yeah, I don't think there's a downside. I think we all played each other, so we all know some of our tendencies. I think it's going to be more fun, more exciting to play a team we already played. It's going to help us grow in some areas. Yeah, I think it's just a good all-around thing. SATOU SABALLY: Yeah, I mean, I would just say our coaching staff does a great job in finding our own mistakes, finding the mistakes of our opponents. They're going to, like, do a great job, have been doing already in preparing us for the next upcoming game. We know what we have to do. We got to learn from our own mistakes. I mean, the other teams are really good teams. If not, they wouldn't be here. I feel like we're at a really good spot. Q. Are you planning to get together tonight to watch the men play? SABRINA IONESCU: We are, yeah. We're going to get back from practice and have dinner, then tune in to watch the men's team. We're super excited they're in the position they're in. Their coaching staff has done a great job, and their players have done a great job. It's awesome to see how much they've grown from the beginning of the season to right now. I don't think a lot of people believed in them, seen this coming. We're excited to cheer them on like they're excited to cheer us on. Q. Sabrina, a twin brother, one of the players on South Dakota State has a twin brother. What has that meant to have the relationship you had with your brother? SABRINA IONESCU: I mean, it's meant everything. I think it's definitely helped me become the person that I am, the player that I am. Growing up with someone that, I mean, is my other half literally, but just someone that I can turn to, someone that makes me smile, that really understands me, that I can come home to after a tough game, after a tough loss, after a tough win, to talk about the game with. He's going to be here this weekend and support me through the ups and downs. I think that's something special, really can't be replaced. THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you so much. Best of luck in the game tomorrow against South Dakota State. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|