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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: GREENSBOROMarch 29, 2019Wes MooreDD RogersKiara LeslieGreensboro, North Carolina COACH WES MOORE: Obviously we're very excited about being here. Very proud of what this team has been able to accomplish, and you know, again, it's great to be in Greensboro. The Greensboro Sports Committee does such an awesome job of putting these events together, and the volunteers, we appreciate all the work they put into it. Like I said we're excited about being here. We know we have a big challenge ahead of us. Iowa is a very well-coached and very talented team. We'll have our hands full, but again, we're glad to have another opportunity to continue our season. Q. After the win against Connecticut the other night, talking to DD about playing, her career might send and you said you'd prefer for us to keep it light. So what's light look around the N.C. State locker room and program? COACH WES MOORE: I think right now, you know, we're feeling pretty good. I guess what I'm saying is, don't really want to talk about the end. Because you know, again, these kids, obviously DD has been here four years and has put a lot into our program, so I want to keep it light. Let's enjoy is it and go out and play like we have all year and treat it like any other game. Q. Wanted to ask about the matchup with Megan Gustafson, what problems she presents and what you've seen on tape from her? COACH WES MOORE: You're talking about a young lady who is averaging 28 points a game and shooting 70 percent from the field, so you start there. That's a great challenge. We've obviously had a couple of days to prepare, but you know, there's no stopping her. It's just a matter of hoping you can slow her down a little bit, but obviously she's got a lot of great players around her, as well. If it was just her, you know, you could put about four people around here and get it done, but they have got a lot of players that can step up and hit shots. You know, they have got three young ladies shooting the three pretty well in their starting lineup, and Stewart is doing a great job. Her field goal percentage is very high, as well, at the 4-position. So they have got a lot of weapons, but you've got to start with Gustafson for sure. Q. The 70 percent shooting, that's a staggering number. COACH WES MOORE: Yeah. Q. That's got to be more than just getting shots close to the basket. What does she well around the rim or in that area? COACH WES MOORE: Well, she has good basketball IQ. She knows how to get seals and work angles. Very strong. Has a variety of ways she can score the ball. Her teammates do an excellent job of putting the ball where she can go get it and score it. But definitely, she's got a nice stroke outside. She hasn't shot from the three a lot. I think she could. Her shot looks good. She's more around the high post area, but again, it's mostly inside and just it's funny, you watch some film on her and they understand, to get off that left block, that's her area and let's get her the ball. Yeah, just, again, a great player. Q. You've beaten preseason projections every year you've been in Raleigh, and this year you guys were projected fourth, lost Ealey before the season even started and somehow through the mess of injuries, you still beat it and finished third in the conference. At the certain point, the next man up cliché doesn't cover what y'all have been able to do. COACH WES MOORE: Like I said, I couldn't be prouder of them. You know, I've told everyone before -- this is a close-knit group. We really strive on getting young ladies that are good people and consequently, they really care about each other. They are close. They spend a lot of time together. So when you have an injury, it's not just the physical pain that the person involved endures; it's the whole team emotionally as friends have to experience, as well, and to go through that four times in one season is really tough. Three of those obviously were in games. You try the first basket back, I think every saw them, a little bit down, and you fought through that practice, and then the next one, you just say, hey, you know, our expectations haven't changed. We've got to get back to work and we've got to do what we do. I'm proud, Kai Crutchfield has done an unbelievable job. Elissa Cunane, a local product here. She was already making contributions, but I think with the injury of Erika Cassell, she knew: "Now I have to do even more." And then just the whole team. You don't replace some of those great players with just one person. It's a team effort, and everyone's had to do a little more and maybe do something that they haven't been expected to do in the past, and they just found a way to get it done. Like I said, it's an amazing group of young ladies and I'm excited for them. Q. You just mentioned Kai. Obviously she's a local Raleigh product. Can you talk about her emergence the last couple games? COACH WES MOORE: Last ten games, I think she's 10-of-14 from the three-point line. You know, she's sometimes a little bit quiet or whatever. I'm on her all the time about being a little more aggressive, because Kai is blessed. I mean, she's a good athlete. She's got a great basketball body. You know, I think there's still more -- I always think there's more in the tank, you know, on every one of them. I'm on her sometimes, but the way she stepped up -- and to be honest, she did this a year ago to get to the Sweet 16 when we beat Maryland. She hit some big shots in that game, as well. Hopefully she likes this stage. Yeah, we're excited about, for her -- and you mentioned local product. Of course Kayla Ealey was injured, but Raleigh kid. And then Kai and then Kiara Leslie. Of course DD from Charlotte. KJ from the metropolis of Jamesville, North Carolina. We've got a bunch of North Carolina kids on this roster and I think it means a little more to them to represent N.C. State. Q. What advantage is that for y'all? COACH WES MOORE: I think having played over here before, and obviously, just playing over here a couple of weeks ago or a few weeks ago, gives you a little bit of a comfort zone maybe. We are expecting to see a lot of red out there hopefully. So I think that makes a big difference. Our crowds at Reynolds, they have been very vocal, very loud and I think that's been an advantage for us playing at home and we are hoping that we can kind of carry that over here, but I think Greensboro has always been very supportive of women's basketball in general. I hope everybody will come out and it will be a great crowd, great energy, and I think your kids play better in that atmosphere. Q. Has this group been loose the last couple weeks? Are they having fun and enjoying the ride so far? COACH WES MOORE: I think so. Sometimes in practice, you know, I'm always focused and on task, so to speak. But I think this week, I think we've enjoyed it. Like I said, I'm proud of them. I'm excited about this opportunity. And so we've had Ray good time with -- you know, we came over yesterday, and had a good meal last night, and just being around them, I think everybody's loose and feel good about where we are and how we're playing, and -- and hopefully, kind of savor the moment. Q. It's not random or happenstance that N.C. State is second in the country in fewest fouls, but going back to last year's Sweet 16 game against Mississippi State when the foul trouble hit early second quarter, their big player took over, and the game was almost done at that stage. With that established, have you had any other conversations with Elissa about defending the post of Gustafson this week, and what kind of moves does Gustafson possess that you want to make sure that doesn't attract or doesn't draw fouls from Elissa tomorrow? COACH WES MOORE: Yeah, that's a big challenge, no doubt. We're going to have to -- she's going to be a point of emphasis. I don't think that's any secret. You're going to try to provide a lot of help there. So hopefully we don't leave Elissa on an island too much where she's the only person between her and the rim. But yeah, it's definitely something you worry about, because she is a very physical player. She's going to attack, you know, the defensive player and try to get seals, and unfortunately sometimes when that happens, they call the fouls on the defense. But she's just going to have to be smart and we're going to have to be smart about mixing up the defense maybe, and giving her a lot of help so that it's not quite as easy to get her one-on-one. Appreciate it. Thank y'all for being here. Q. For both of y'all. I just wanted to ask, you guys obviously have suffered quite a few injuries this season, but somehow, you know, still beat your preseason projections. Still finished third in the conference. It's just been unbelievable watching this team just keep reloading and keep kind of changing to fit the new personnel as they come in. What has that been like for y'all as far as adjusting to different people and changing your games, and how has things in the locker room kind of helped that process along? KIARA LESLIE: I think that just we knew once we started losing the players that we all had to come together and contribute a little bit more in different areas. I think that we have all done well, especially the freshmen, Elissa and Kai, playing major roles and coming in and starting late in the season, and I think they did a really good job of that. DD ROGERS: Yeah, I'd agree with Kiara. I think it's just a matter of people stepping up in the roles that we lost, and I think that everyone needed to, did a very good job of doing so. Q. DD had a long conversations about this in the locker room, so I'll ask your opinion. Is this team loose? Who is the person keeping you guys laughing in the locker room away from the court? KIARA LESLIE: Well, I would say Grace Hunter used to do that, now, it's hard to say. I mean, we all joke around when we want to, but no one was as really a big goofball as much as she was. Q. After the adversity you suffered at the start of your college career, how much more does a season like this mean? KIARA LESLIE: It means a lot. Coming from where I came from, not a lot of people know my entire story. So just conquering and every coming what I've been through has been a blessing. This senior year has been going great, but we're not finished yet. Q. Several questions. In your time at Maryland, the year after the final four, your freshman year, your sophomore year, you played Iowa a couple times the regular season. Gustafson was a freshman then. I know your roles were different then but do you have any recollections of her as she moved from the bench to a starter, and did you have any visions that she would become the player that she is today? KIARA LESLIE: Over the years, she definitely has improved a lot. I didn't know she was going to be this great in her senior year and we were going to be facing her. It's definitely going to be a great challenge. I think we're up for it and we'll see how it turns out tomorrow morning. Q. Can you talk about how Kai has stepped up the last two or three games for you guys? DD ROGERS: I think Kai has done a great job. She shot really well in the last couple of games. I think she shot well in the ACC Tournament, as well. She's just, you know, accepting the role that she's in and doing all that she can to help the team, and it's definitely showing. Q. You're likely to be matched up against Stewart a lot tomorrow in N.C. State's man offense, man defense. What have you seen from her as far as her skills as they pertain to you? DD ROGERS: She's really good 15 feet and in, so I just need to get to her from there, yeah. Q. Obviously Iowa runs a lot of man-to-man defense, 2-3 zones, triangles-and-two that we've seen in the tournament so far. How much of the emphasis in practice these last few days has been on the zone offense, on the junk offense, if they throw those at you tomorrow? KIARA LESLIE: We've definitely seen a lot of this throughout ACC play. So I think Coach prepared us way back then. I think that we're going to run through a little bit of that today to freshen up, but I think that we have some things for all the defenses that they might throw at us. DD ROGERS: Yeah, what Kiara said (laughing). Q. Last year, the same level, the same part of the tournament, you faced a team with a very dominant center. What lessons can you take from the Mississippi State game into this game tomorrow? KIARA LESLIE: They are both similar and different in many ways. They both have a dominant post player that we need to try to take away, and they also have outside threats, as well. I think that Coach has definitely prepared us for what we might see tomorrow, and we have to work together to get this win. DD ROGERS: Yeah, like Kiara said, they run most of their offenses through their post player, but we can't just rely strictly on trying to shut her down completely, because like she said, they can easily kick it out and have shooters outside the perimeter. Q. The overtime game against Virginia Tech earlier this season seemed like a moment for this team in terms of being able to take a good couple punches and come back and really persevere and gut out a win. I was wondering if that felt like kind of a turning point to y'all, and if not, can you point to a game where you really felt like everything was clicking? KIARA LESLIE: Definitely that game was tough. We went into overtime. But I think that the way we pushed through overtime and the way the game ended showed our toughness, and that we are capable of competing against a lot of people. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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