|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPMarch 7, 2020Kim Barnes AricoNaz HillmonHailey BrownIndianapolis, Indiana Ohio State - 66, Michigan - 60 KIM BARNES ARICO: I thought it was a great basketball game. Disappointed to come out on the losing end. Ohio State played well. We did a pretty good job, I thought, of defending them, but they did a pretty good job of defending us, so it was a battle on the defensive end for sure, and we just had some mishaps down the stretch, and they made plays down the stretch when they needed to. I think two great teams, two great teams that will represent our conference moving forward. Q. Hailey, it looked like some of the shots that really won the game against Northwestern today just weren't falling down the stretch today. Why do you think that was? HAILEY BROWN: I mean, all the shots that I was taking, they felt good. The release point felt good, and a couple times they just went in and out. I think I had good opportunities, I was wide open for some of them. So I mean, it was just tough, they didn't fall. Q. For either player, last night Ohio State had to play a completely different game. They took off running last night but you really slowed them down. What did you do to make that happen? NAZ HILLMON: Yes, that was definitely in our game plan. We definitely saw how many threes that they had last night and we didn't want them to get hot. I think we did a really good job of defending that but that also makes our defense a little bit more spread out. But in terms of our defensive game plan, we definitely didn't want them to get hot. Obviously threes are more than twos, since a couple of ours weren't falling, we didn't want to play that game with them. So definitely tried to slow them down in terms of getting the three-point off. Q. Ohio State had very balanced scoring tonight. Was there anyone you could focus on and really not -- KIM BARNES ARICO: Well, I think when preparing for this game, that was probably the most difficult part is that they are balanced and they have seven players that are pretty much averaging the same, between 14 and 10 points. And I thought that was really the difference when they brought in Crooms in the first half. I thought she did a great job for them, and you're always afraid with Bell that she can make a play at any time. I think we did a really good job on her, but they give them really great minutes. You know, it seemed -- and maybe because they had a little bit of an easier game last night than we did, maybe they were a little bit more rested than we were. There was a spurt where we couldn't get anything going, and maybe it was the beginning of the third quarter where we really, really seemed fatigued, and I took Naz out for a minute and kind of tried to pump her up a little bit because I know that our team feeds off of her emotion, and she went back in there, and we really dialed it up on the defensive end, which led to some easy buckets on the offensive end, and that's when we tied the game -- we had the ball, we tied the game and we turned it over and they got an easy one off of our turnover off of their time-out. I thought we fought incredibly hard after playing three days with not a deep bench, but they made those big plays down the stretch, and I think it really speaks volumes to their attack is balanced, and when we took one person away, another person stepped up and made a big play. They made their free throws, too; we didn't. Q. Naz got going early but no one else really did out of the gate. What was Ohio State doing to prevent that? KIM BARNES ARICO: Yeah, that was tough. We talked about that at halftime. I think she had 12 points at halftime and everybody else 1-for-5, 1-for-6, 1-for-6, 1-for-5. Ohio State's defense, and I've been playing against Ohio State for years, obviously, since I've been at Michigan, and we have had an easier time scoring against them in the past. I think their defense is much improved, and I think they're long, they're athletic. They present a lot of defensive match-up problems, and they did especially with our point guard, too, and I think that disrupted us a little bit. But you know, in the second half, Hailey was able to get going a little bit, but we need more than Naz to be able to score for us to be successful, obviously. Q. What will be your final thoughts of this season? What do you think overall after getting a chance to breathe? What will be your thoughts of this whole entire season? KIM BARNES ARICO: Well, one is, golly, we were so close. We were one possession away from playing in the finals, and that is something that this team deserved. We've had a lot of adversity this year and we've battled through a ton of different things, from losing our No. 1 fan to cancer earlier in the year, to losing our senior, who has been an All-Star for us to an ACL tear, and it kind of seems as if it's been one thing after another. Just I think when I reflect, just how proud I am of the kids to persevere and to not quit and to fight and claw to get to the semifinals and beat a lot of good teams. Our league is stronger than it's ever been before from top to bottom, deeper than it's ever been before, and I think our team really represents our university in the best way possible and our program, and I feel blessed to be able to work with them every day. This was a special group. It's a special year. It's kind of a bummer to end on a loss, but I think we put ourselves in a position with this tournament and with our schedule all season long to be an NCAA Tournament team. Obviously our RPI is outstanding, and we just beat Northwestern last night, and our strength of schedule is one of the best in the country. So I would like to see us on the national stage, as well. Q. Coach, in those moments where the offense couldn't seem to get it going, what was Ohio State doing to be able to fluster your team that much? KIM BARNES ARICO: I just think they took away the passing lanes. I think we didn't make shots, too. Like yesterday we made shots. We won the game. If it was that easy -- we didn't make shots early, and I think when you don't make shots early, that messes with your confidence a little bit. I think our confidence wavered when we didn't make shots early, and then Hailey and Akienreh got some to fall, and then we just started to go to Naz as much as we could. I mean, she put on a display. Obviously she is one of the best players in the country, and at her position she's just a monster. For her to finish the game with 22 points and 16 rebounds and pretty much face two people on her every single time she touched the ball is really impressive. So you know, we just needed more of a balance, and we've kind of been a balanced group with obviously Naz leading the charge, but we weren't that balanced group tonight. Q. Did you see Danielle's hand injury impact her game tonight or during the tournament? KIM BARNES ARICO: We talk about the season, so we lose Kayla Robbins to her torn ACL, her replacement goes down with a broken hand and six pins in her hand, and I think it's four weeks maybe to the day, and she's out here playing in the Big Ten Tournament. So that just kind of shows you what kids that I get to coach every day and how committed she is to our program. But obviously she's not 100 percent. I mean, if you ever watch her catch the ball or if you ever -- she has a broken hand. She has a pad on her hand. But she's a warrior, and she would give anything to help our team be successful. She was a kid that was playing 30 minutes before she hurt that hand, and now she's trying to just get back in to give us a couple minutes here and there to maybe give Amy a break. I don't think she's 100 percent. I don't know if I could play with a pad and a wrap on my hand and be 100 percent, but she came in today and she gave us a spark and she made a big shot, and she's an emotional leader, and she's just a tremendous kid. Just so thankful she's in our program and thankful she was able to give us a few minutes this weekend because we're going to definitely need her in the NCAA Tournament. Q. Naz got her thousandth rebound tonight as a sophomore -- KIM BARNES ARICO: Point. That's okay, she's probably going to get 1,000 rebounds pretty soon. Q. Is there any limit to what she can do? KIM BARNES ARICO: Holy cow. Well, Sarah just said she hit 500 rebounds today, too. 1,000 points and 500 rebounds as a sophomore when you're facing double teams on most nights is really impressive. I just think she's -- and you know the thing is, she's going to be mad because she probably took 21 shots, it says on this thing, and she didn't make 100 percent of her free throws, so she is going to come in and say, Coach, I'm taking too many shots. I don't need to take this many shots. That's how she was in the beginning of the year, and I said, no, Naz, actually you need to take a couple more shots. I think her greatest gift is that she's such an incredible teammate, and she's another warrior, she's a worker, she's extremely talented but extremely hard-working. We tried to celebrate for a moment her thousandth point, and she's just really upset, a kid from Ohio doesn't like to lose to Ohio State and really left it all out on the court, so she's kinda bummed about the game more than anything. But she's a special player, and I think obviously our conference has taken notice of that, being a unanimous pick, and hopefully people around the country have had an opportunity to watch her on TV because she's undersized, so you might be like, okay, she's -- but then you watch her play, and her ability to go rebound the ball is incredible. When we were deeper before all of our injuries, she was at the front of our press. She gets tips and deflections. She has a 6'7" wingspan. She's a kid that can do a little bit of everything. But her greatest attitude is she's just a tremendous kid and a tremendous teammate. 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
|