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BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 5, 2020Kevin McGuffJanai CroomsKierstan BellBraxtin MillerIndianapolis, Indiana Ohio State - 77, Minnesota - 56 Q. In the fourth quarter I guess it was kind of coming back to you on that long run. What were you seeing in that fourth quarter? KEVIN McGUFF: Well, we just finally started making some shots. I thought we got good shots throughout, but we were really kind of inconsistent with our shooting, and once the shots started going in, it kind of fueled our defense a little bit, too. Q. Just on that line, Dorka kind of had a little bit of a struggle on the offensive end. She had 16 rebounds. What did you make of her performance? KEVIN McGUFF: Yeah, she played really hard. I thought she was good defensively. She had some huge rebounds, and she missed some shots she normally makes, but that's the way it goes. Q. Do you see fatigue being an issue in this round? KEVIN McGUFF: Well, we'll see. They're young kids. Hopefully we can bounce back. I told them at halftime, don't worry about tomorrow, don't worry about anything other than give everything you have right now, we'll regroup tonight after the win and move on to the next one. Q. Balance has been so key for you guys all year long. It showed up tonight in a game where you guys just kind of got contributions up and down. How key is that? KEVIN McGUFF: Yeah, that's huge. We're at our best when we have balance in our scoring. I thought Janai in particular was great off the bench. I thought that was a really great performance by her, so we need more of that tomorrow. Q. You said you enjoy the team win, but what do you make of Iowa? KEVIN McGUFF: Great team. They can really score the ball. They're going to probably play a lot of zone, so it'll kind of be similar in that we're going to have to be really good defensively, and we're going to have to make a few more shots than what we made today. Q. They were running two bigs against you guys to try to counter your big people. What was part of the game plan to stop them? KEVIN McGUFF: Yeah, they can play a couple lineups. They can go a little smaller and spread you out or they can go a little bit bigger. We kind of tried to stick with what we wanted to do and just guard them accordingly. Janai Crooms JANAI CROOMS: It felt great. My teammates found me, got me the ball in transition and had confidence in me, and I just think my teammates gave me the ball, got me open, and just had confidence in me throughout the game. Q. You started out with a 17-point lead and then you had the big run at the end, kind of the iffy part in the middle. What did you see out there that were some of the positives? JANAI CROOMS: Honestly, our defense. I thought we were in the gaps. I thought we kept our man in front of us, and I thought that really transitioned into getting the ball in transition on the offensive end. Q. And for you, you've been coming off the bench for a while now. How do you feel like you've transitioned into that role? JANAI CROOMS: Honestly, just coming in the game and being there for my teammates and doing what I have to do on the offensive and defensive end. Coming off the bench is kind of different, but whatever it takes to get the W and playing together with my teammates. Q. With Rikki not being able to play this year, how have you seen her deal with that situation and still be a part of the team and all that? JANAI CROOMS: I mean, she's a really energetic kid on the bench, even in practice. We're always hyping each other up, and I like that a lot with Rikki. I feel like she does that all throughout the games and in practice. It is tough for her to not play with us this year, but next year I'm really happy to see her play and get on the court with us. Kierstan Bell Q. Kind of came back within a four-point thing and then you made a long run at the end. What did you make of tonight's performance? KIERSTAN BELL: I think we did pretty good as a team staying together. Just, you know, doing what we do best, executing. We got like a lot of weird shots but they was falling, so that was pretty good, and we just stayed in it. Q. It seemed like it was kind of one of those odd games where some weird shots were falling, like you said. Does that change how you play the game at all? KIERSTAN BELL: Not really changes the game. It's just kind of funny moments. But we've got to get back to our regular shots and just make sure they fall in. Q. How have you felt in these past two games? KIERSTAN BELL: Just feeling good being back part of the team. We've got Iowa tomorrow, and we're focusing on that. Q. You've played a little bit more power forward than you usually do. Does that change how you attack the opponent, if it's a big guarding you as opposed to a smaller player? KIERSTAN BELL: Yeah, I think that's a big difference. A lot of times when I'm in the 4, the person is either smaller than me, or when I'm a guard the person is smaller than me -- I meant to say the person that's the 4 is either taller than me, so I can just shoot the ball or if they're a guard I can take it to the rim. Braxtin Miller Q. (Inaudible) on a night like tonight when things maybe aren't going the way you want them to for the whole game? BRAXTIN MILLER: I think so for sure. That's one thing I've always really loved about this team and I think people can all kind of realize, any person on this team is able to have a great night at any time. So when you look up at the board and we're -- with 10, 11, 8, 15, 15, 9, that just kind of shows all the versatility that we have and how good everybody kind of is and what everybody can bring to the team. Anybody can step up at any moment, and I think that makes us a threat. Q. Obviously during games, you guys just find a win and you don't care who scores, but when you have so many players who can do so many things, is there kind of an edge a little bit to try to match what your teammates are doing on the floor? BRAXTIN MILLER: I don't think so. I think that we all kind of respect, like maybe some nights it's not their night maybe, so we're going to get it to the person that it is their night and so on. I think we all know that. From the very beginning since the team came together, we were all like, we are so individually talented, it's honestly insane how individually talented we are. So I think that we just kind of like feed off of each other and want to be better for each other, and we respect each other so much in our games, and so when we see somebody is having a really great game, we just want to keep getting them the ball. And we know that anybody can step up if things aren't going well. Q. Honestly by the end your offense was kind of clicking on all cylinders, but in the middle when you guys were struggling offensively, it seemed like you were still able to create pressure, create turnovers. How important is that ability to be able to turn the ball over and create additional offensive opportunities? BRAXTIN MILLER: I think that's crucial for us. I think we're really great in transition, so for us to have good defensive possessions and be able to get in the passing lanes and apply a lot of pressure, so that they might not be getting the best shots that they want and put us into fast transition really works well for us. So when our offense isn't really working out, it's crucial for us to get in passing lanes and things like that to get some transition buckets, which is probably our best asset. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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