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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 6, 2020

Melanie Moore

Chicago, Illinois

Villanova - 64, Xavier - 56

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from Coach and then open it up to questions.

MELANIE MOORE: I'm just so proud of our team. We obviously came up short, not the end result that we wanted, but the fact that we got to overtime and they competed and fought for 45 minutes, I was really proud of them.

I just said, this is our first stone or brick in our journey together, and don't get used to losing, and that we will change Xavier Women's Basketball so that it is competing at a high level and that it's a sacrifice to win. Winning isn't easy, but we know we've got our work cut out for us, and we will get Xavier Women's Basketball back to what it once was.

Q. First of all, great fight today. I know we watched it in overtime of course, first overtime. What have you seen from the growth of this team being here your first season from the beginning up until this game?
MELANIE MOORE: Just how hard they did fight and brought it every single day. We never got caught up in our record, and a lot of referees, opposing coaches, they'd be like, wow, you're the best two and whatever or three and whatever team in the country. I just think we made it a mindset that we're not going to get caught up in the losses, and we're going to talk about winning every day and what that looks like.

So credit to every single player in this program and coach and my support staff, everybody came in ready to work. We never got caught up in the losses. It was about there's better days ahead. Let's keep fighting, keep grinding, and it will all work out eventually. So those kids bought into that from day one, and I think everybody in this room saw a change in them and just how hard they played, and they bought in.

So I'm really thankful to say that, that they fought the entire season.

Q. Coach Moore, you just mentioned your team fighting the entire season. That fight continued today, forcing overtime. What did you learn specifically about the fight that this team has in them?
MELANIE MOORE: That no lead is safe, that we can come back. We'll take a lot of growing pains from this and a lot to learn, but we'll learn from it. When we can get together again, we'll watch it together and just kind of break it down, but that we got down -- I don't know how much, but when they hit those two threes. But then our kids were able to regroup themselves and bought back in to getting stops, and then we got some scores.

I mean, the rebounding battle, I was proud of them. 21 offensive rebounds. We outrebounded them. We just couldn't convert, and I think that in the end is what kind of hurt us all season long is the percentages that we shot. So we've just got to get in the gym, continue to work, continue to grind, and eventually, hopefully, these are wins for us.

Q. I want to ask you about A'Riana Gray, led the team in scoring today. Just what has she meant to you your first season and over the course of the season?
MELANIE MOORE: Ari is so competitive. She brings that edge to practice every day, every game. You saw that. I think sometimes she gets a little frustrated out there, but the frustration was less this year, and we'll continue to challenge her to be the best. She wants to be a first team all league performer, but she knows that it ain't easy, and this conference is loaded with talent. It's one of the best basketball conferences in the country.

So we'll just continue to challenge her, have her grow on all levels, but we're so thankful we got to coach her for our first year. She's a fighter. I mean, a double double machine on any given night.

Q. I just wanted to ask about Aaliyah too. She's such a huge -- the only three of that -- you know, the 40 minutes was her, that last one that counted. Take me through that play and also what she has meant to you as well.
MELANIE MOORE: It was a stagger screen for Was to come off on the left side, and then we had Mo on a single side, but they switched all of the screens. So we tried to flare it. Then the time was running out, so Aaliyah just shot it, and it went in. But so proud of her. She's the glue of our team. She's the coach out on the floor. From day one as well, she's kind of been the voice of us with the team, and that change is good, and let's keep fighting, let's keep buying into this coaching staff. Can't say enough about her and what she means to our program.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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