BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2021

Jim Crowley

Providence Friars

Mohegan Sun Arena

Postgame Media Conference

Providence - 63, Butler - 61

COACH CROWLEY: Really proud of our group's tenacity and fight. You know, we had a rough second quarter with some foul situations, as well as missed some good looks. And then Butler bumped it back up to start the third quarter. But our kids, I think their voices were really strong.

We got really disciplined defensively in the second half, didn't give up many scores. And both Kyra and Mary had fresh legs in the second half. I thought that helped. And Alyssa was really solid throughout the game. And really proud of our bench production. Before she got hurt, Grace was doing a great job. Coop gave incredible minutes. Lauren Sampson really helped calm us when she made the shot to tie it and another shot when we were struggling a little bit.

Just a really good overall team effort that we needed against a really hot Butler team.

Q. Sometimes karma starts happening out of nowhere, when you see it coming. And you're going to play more kids tomorrow, certainly a tough opponent. But not necessarily a daunting opponent, where you won the game it would be a major shock, you know? It would be a nice win. How much does that help confidence as opposed to other situations you've had in the past tournament?

COACH CROWLEY: I think Marquette is a pretty daunting opponent. They're really good and playing really well. I know we have to think about them right away.

I just think our group is willing to fight a lot harder than they have in the past. I've been really proud of that this year. In a year that has been, as we all know, very different, very crazy, very challenging. They've stayed together and they just keep fighting.

We had a heartbreaker last week in a similar situation against Nova. And this time at the timeouts our kids were, hey, we're getting a stop, we're getting a stop.

So, Marquette is extremely good and they've had their way with us the last couple of years. So, I'm curious to see how our kids will respond. We're shorthanded but none of it matters. We've just got to go out and play hard.

Q. Alyssa looked really good especially in that first half. I know you wanted to see consistency out of her. Did you see enough of that out of her tonight? And what would you like to see moving forward into tomorrow with Marquette?

COACH CROWLEY: Yeah, I mean, it's going to be a great challenge for her with Marquette. With their bigs, they've done a great job against her. Alyssa did a really good job today not settling for living on the perimeter. She did a good job out there. She got to the offensive boards as well, as we've seen her do all year. Made a great play off the bounce late, where she made a play on a step-back and got the ball into Mary to get fouled for the last free throw that put us up 2.

So that's what we know Alyssa has. And as the year has gone on, she's continued to do it more often. So now the challenge is she played really well last year in the first round of the Big East Tournament. And the second game didn't go well for anybody. So really looking forward to seeing how she's grown in that. And, again, Marquette has been a challenge for us. So excited to see her competitiveness come out for that one.

Q. You mentioned a lot of upperclassmen in your opening statement. I'm wondering what does it mean to you to have them step up when the going gets tough in a moment like this?

COACH CROWLEY: We talked about it halftime. We knew we needed more from folks. We had gotten good shots and didn't finish them. We had foul situations. We just -- we need more. They have the experience, they have the talent. And they really locked into that. We were able to get Mary some scores early in the third quarter. Kyra hit big threes and got to the foul line. Chanell made big plays as the game went on. And Mary just took over at the end and her teammates were able to get her the ball.

They had done a great job of taking her away and really focusing their defense on taking her away. So the growth for her to stay with that and not get frustrated and to continue to work to get those shots and her teammates confidence to keep giving it to her shows a lot of our maturity. And it is something that I've been proud of all year for all -- and everybody's had difficulties. I'm not saying we have any more. But our kids have grown from that. And they've used it to get stronger and more together, which I am really proud of.

Q. Three consecutive years you've won a game in the Big East Tournament. I know that's not the end goal but what does that mean for your program?

COACH CROWLEY: We're taking really small steps, but we're taking them. We're walking like a toddler right now. We've got to start walking like an older kid very soon. But we are taking steps. And it shows.

It doesn't always show sometimes on the scoreboard but we're seeing the things, the kids are seeing the things, and they know that they can lean on that. And they did that today. They leaned on staying with who we were and trusting our defense all the way down to the final possession, which seemed to last forever.

But I do, I do think -- we don't want to just glance over that we're making those steps, even though they may not be as big as some folks would like. Our kids know that they're being made and have a lot of pride in it.

Q. You talk about taking those steps. I thought in the last couple minutes of the game, Williams comes down, she turns the ball over. But maybe a couple of years ago one play defines this team. But in this moment today you got a stop, then Williams in transition finds Baskerville for a transition bucket. How much is that an example of moving to the next play, maturation and not letting something define you in the course of the game and finishing?

COACH CROWLEY: And, by the way, that was -- I mean, that pass and catch, there's not a lot of folks who could complete that play. And then to score it.

But, yeah, it's what we've been saying. It's kind of like, when you can go through being stuck in a hotel room by yourself for 14, 17 days, you know, you can fight back when the ball's not going in the hoop for you. You can fight back when you pass it out of bounds. And our kids are seeing that, realizing that and doing it for one another.

And even Mary, tough first half and still wasn't really rolling. Went kind of from the first couple of minutes of the third quarter to then the end of the game.

And that's her maturation and the way they speak to each other. They are holding one another accountable, and we're going to need all that tomorrow and even more.

But we're certainly going to make sure we appreciate what folks did today and how hard they worked.

And just a couple quick notes. It's going to sound like I'm kissing ass, so I apologize for swearing and saying it, but credit to the referees in this scenario. They've had to deal with a lot crap for this. And it's not like coaches are taking it easy on them. We're still going crazy. They maybe can't hear us as well because of the masks, but really a credit to them.

And thank you to the Big East, the Mohegan Sun and the state of Connecticut for letting fans come in. I can't tell you what that meant to my players. I'm sure I could speak for every coach with that, to go through this year and at the end be able to have your parents and family and friends there, just really special opportunity. So I am really appreciative and thankful of that.