ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 4, 2021

Janelle Bailey

North Carolina Tar Heels

Postgame Press Conference

Wake Forest 82, North Carolina 71

JANELLE BAILEY: Just wasn't a good game for us. Like Coach said, we took off without the gas and weren't playing team ball at all. The entire game, the ball wasn't moving. I'm not sure why, but that's what we kind of built towards over the last six games I would say was ball moving and playing together, not playing together, and then on the defensive end conversely where we usually lock in, we were not locking in and they scored over 20 points over their average, I think. Yeah, just wasn't a good game for us at all.

Q. With the freshmen doing so well today, do you feel like that's a bright spot, and can you talk about how you as a player have kind of built the atmosphere in the program for them to be able to flourish so early?

JANELLE BAILEY: Yeah, the freshmen did well today. The only person that really stuck out to me was Alyssa Ustby. Like my coach said, it's very disrespectful that she got left off the All-Rookie Team. I personally think on this team and in the league, she's one of the very best freshman, I think she is the best freshman on this team. So for her to be left off the list is completely disrespectful. But we have to move on from that, it happened. But yeah, no, it definitely is a bright spot for them to be doing so well in the ACC, which is year after year considering the best league. So yeah, it's a bright spot.

I've been in that position and I know -- in a sense what pressure it is. You play a lot of minutes and you have to do well, you have to perform night in, night out, I know Liz puts in the time I would see her whenever I would walk in the gym, she's first on the floor, getting shots up by herself, rebounding her own shots. Yeah, I definitely feel like the hard work has paid off for her.

Q. You're also third in the nation in double-doubles, another double-double tonight. How are you able to be so consistent?

JANELLE BAILEY: That's just what I do. I think what I had prided myself on when I came into the league, like I'm not going to lie, when I first started playing basketball it was offensive minded, but going into offense also means offensive rebounding and then you go back on the defensive end you have to rebound as well. My mom always makes a joke with me, I've won a lot of championships over the years, a lot of things that I had, she says, No rebound, no ring. She texts me that almost every game. That's why I just pride myself, I know it's important and I know rebounding can change a game very quickly and you look at that stat and that's extra possessions on the offensive end for us and no extra possessions for the other team. I just tried to just pride myself on that ever since I started playing basketball, it's something I'm going to continue to work on because I feel like you can never stop rebounding or find another way to rebound, rebound out of your area. So yeah.

Q. Did they play their zone differently today than in December? Was there anything they did with their zone that made it so tough for you offensively?

JANELLE BAILEY: No, they didn't. I just felt like, yeah they were active in zone, I feel like you have to be active in zone, you're kind of packing it in, so you have to use your hands, you have to stick your body out here or there to get steals to stop whoever you're defending. I feel like it was the same. I feel like, like I said at the beginning, the ball was just not moving time-in and time-out. And they were desperate for a win.

We had talked about that before. As soon as we found out we were playing we knew they were going to be desperate and we were not desperate for a win. Was their zone -- I don't know if you should say, was their zone very good or was our offense very bad. I don't know. That's the honest question for me. Yeah, I feel like they just came out with more firepower. I don't know how else to say it.

Q. Coach Banghart has referred to you as a leader on this team and after such an intense offensive battle today in this game, how are you going to help motivate and reiterate especially the young freshmen on the team motivate them going into the NCAA Tournament?

JANELLE BAILEY: Move the ball. I feel like that is the only way you score more points is to get everybody else going and to help your team get going. And for those coming off the bench, you're setting the example. The first five are setting the example of how the game should go. So moving the ball is key.

And offense tonight was not working for us and defense wasn't working for us either. Especially when you're not getting stops and you go down and you have a chance to score and we're not converting, it was just like a complete circle, just over and over again. I feel like going into our next game I feel like we are a tournament team and I feel like we made our case that we have to move the ball or we will not win a game. Like I said, over the last six games we made strides of moving the ball and getting each other open shots. It's just something that you have to do. That's just how you win games.