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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 4, 2020Courtney BanghartTaylor KoenenShayla BennettGreensboro, North Carolina Wake Forest - 83, UNC - 73 THE MODERATOR: We are joined by North Carolina, Taylor and Shayla. Coach if you could start us off. COURTNEY BANGHART: First of all, I want to thank the Greensboro people across the board. This event is totally first class. It fun for me as a first-timer. A lot of people have been at this tournament a lot so you're looking at it from fresh eyes and it's a first-class operation with a lot of people that care about basketball both in the stands and in the hallways, and what pride I have to represent North Carolina in an event like this that loves basketball. My goal will be to get here later next year and stay longer but for the day I was here it was impressive. Hats off to Wake Forest. Raca, what did they get? 27-13. She was just a warrior tonight in all forty minutes. She gave us a real fit and I also want to give a real shout out to our group because they just kept battling. I told them in the locker room after the game I thanked them for trusting me and giving me what they got and they are the first class that will start this new North Carolina basketball tradition. Q. For the players, was this like the season where it was promising for so long and got away from you? TAYLOR KOENEN: I mean, we just went out there and we wanted to fight. I'm proud of our fight and obviously it didn't end the way we wanted it to but I like our fight. We didn't give up. We tried to play as fast as, get some steels and get up under them and I guess we just wish it would have been a different outcome. SHAYLA BENNETT: I think the difference was our three-point percentage. It went down and like Coach said hats off to Raca, she gave us trouble in the first half and second half. But like Taylor, I'm proud of our fight. We never gave up and the seniors and the freshmen we never gave up and we played through all forty minutes of the game. Q. Coach, this was a 1-point game in your favor, 1:25 left in the third. What did they do in the fourth quarter that allowed them to take the lead and continue on? COURTNEY BANGHART: It was a key possession late in the clock they got out of our trap and threw it to Sharp, I'm sorry to Raca, which is not her skill set. She is basically below 30 percent, 3-point shooter in conference. A total bummer there. Our margin of error isn't very big, right? We know that. There is not a lot of -- as the game wears on you're at 1:36 of full court with Taylor and Shay and Dino and a lot of our guys so we know the margin of error gets smaller as the game wears on. You need to hopefully make shots and use the energy it takes. They spread us out and made shots and they scored 32 in second-chance points, 20 offensive rebounds, last game we held them to 7. It's a good rebounding team. We have struggled all year to understand the importance of a blockout. We're second to last in the conference if that area and, again today. It's an area that we're going to have to put our hard hats on this summer and make sure our kids understand that position. Q. First season is over, what are your take-aways and where do you see the program moving forward? COURTNEY BANGHART: I have a lot of take-aways. I think some of it will come in a point of reflection. I told them in the locker room, good teams stay in the moment, good leaders stay in the moment and I kept trying to find ways to help this team progress and put them in the best position to win. Some of the obvious take-aways are I'm at an institution that cares about women's basketball and whether that's the other coaches in the department that are pulling me along or the administration who continually shows up or our student-athletes that take bride in the greatest highlights are wearing the jersey. As a basketball coach, you are living the dream if you are in a place that loves women's basketball. I think also the conference. I'm excited that as I go through my first off-season I know what everybody's got and I know what the length of this season looks like. So I have great affinity already for this place. It's a place they take that gets into your heart and it has. I have a huge roster change over at the end of the season, because we're not just losing these two we're losing a bunch of guys. We will regroup as a staff and relook at our roster and figure out the best way to play in their strengths. In terms of the immediate reflection, my affinity to the University of North Carolina and the appreciation I have for it's love for basketball and I'm really proud and humbled and like I said I'm more driven than ever to come back here and be here so that you're tired of hearing my voice after every game. Q. For the players, you guys, you know, Coach talked about how this is a transition and y'all are heading out but how do you feel about the foundation that you've set for Coach Courtney Banghart's future teams and how you've left this team? SHAYLA BENNETT: I think there is not only room for improvement from here. Coach has a lot of great kids coming in and she is a great person so I think it's only forward from here for this program. COURTNEY BANGHART: Thanks, Shay. Coming back for a fifth year? SHAYLA BENNETT: I wish. TAYLOR KOENEN: I think Shay said it. We tried to turn it around with the help of Coach at the beginning and we were up high in the standings and it didn't end the way we wanted it to; but like Shay said, Coach will make the changes she needs to make and the future it is bright for Carolina basketball. Q. Coach, obviously Janelle not 100% today. Talk about the difference that she makes to this lineup when she is healthy and ready to go. COURTNEY BANGHART: You know, the post position, the game is played from the inside out, guards win you championships but the game is played from the inside out. Before she was out of the play she was on minute restriction so we haven't had her for a while and that means they have been able to guard the arc tighter because we don't have an anchor inside. Malu has done a tremendous job and wasn't quite ready to be a dominant 5 in this league. So we had to change our style and these guys really tried to do that. I give credit to Janelle. She could have said I'm going to hang 'em up until next year. She was literally crawling up the doctors and the trainers saying come on, come on it's our seniors and she didn't practice in full and she played today because she wanted to give the senior the best she could. That kid gets a bad wrap because she has that phase that's angry, but if it's a story about Janelle, it's she played today because she rode herself to play today for her seniors. She wasn't conditioned necessarily to do so. We will look forward to building around her in the year ahead. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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