BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2021

Melanie Moore

Xavier Musketeers

Mohegan Sun Arena

Postgame Media Conference

St, John's - 65, Xavier - 57

COACH MOORE: What a tale of two halves. We felt at halftime we didn't come out like we should. We looked more excited, anxious and we turned the ball over. So we got settled down. We came out really fighting hard in that third quarter, went on that run, outscored them 20-8, and then it was back and forth with the fourth.

We talked about how the fight was there for 40 minutes. But we can't spot a team like St. John's or anybody in the Big East 16 points in the first half.

But to that senior class, I thought A'Riana Gray, especially maybe our last four games, really turned it on and ended her career on top and gave everything she had.

I think Dunham as well, just our glue, our leader, our fighter, gave everything she had this entire season. And then our other seniors, Leyendecker and Deja Ross, gave everything they had too.

Happy with our fight, but we let this one slip away with how we came out in the first half.

Q. In the third quarter, what did you make of what your team was able to do defensively to get back in the game?

COACH MOORE: Yeah, so we went to a 2-3 zone and our kids bought into that and had high hands. We had length in that back court with the back line of our zone. And Nia Clark and Dunham were just active out front. I thought Dunham was that little pest and just getting her hands, getting deflections on a lot of balls, and that led to run-outs for us. It was our stops -- I think at one point I think we said we had seven out of ten stops.

We wanted to keep doing that. We took what Travis and what his guys do with the kills. I think at one time we had four kills, which is three continuous stops four times. Our kids bought into it on the defensive end which got us going offensively.

Q. I know that Leilani Correa was a big person you were on the lookout for coming into today's game. She got in foul trouble early. Sat out almost an entire quarter. How pleased are you with how your team was able to do against her today?

COACH MOORE: That's great. They were locked in and responded and executed that game plan. We knew, all-conference player. She can get buckets score in bunches. We knew she was a key matchup for us. The fact we got her in foul trouble that's really when we went on our run and they looked a little out of sync a little bit without their best star on the floor. So kudos to our kids for getting that part executed.

Q. With everything that happened this season, was this the most challenging but maybe the most rewarding season?

COACH MOORE: Definitely. If you look, out of all the teams in the Big East, I think we had the most pauses and the least amount of games. We played half of our Big East games. Half. If you go back and think about that, when you even look at the standings and a lot of teams got 20 games in and we got 10 in, I think it definitely was hard.

But we were rewarded with how we came out to end it. A lot of teams could have just stopped playing, gave up, especially when we hit that second quarantine, it was a deflator. It was an energy-taker. But our kids, starting with that senior class, said, no, we want to finish, we want to play games.

And we came out and, I think, played five games in ten days but our kids didn't complain, not one time. They were just thrilled to be together. They were thrilled to be in practice. They were thrilled to be on the court. So it is rewarding that our fight until the very end in this game, you know, that's a huge brick in our foundation of where we're moving forward with Xavier women's basketball.

Q. Just talk about Kae today. For her to go out on this season, 6-of-11, 22 minutes -- she got a little more minutes in; they were in a tight game. You were able to come back a little bit and fight through a tough start. What kind of tone does that set for her maybe going to the offseason and into next year?

COACH MOORE: It's huge. And Kae came here to get Xavier women's basketball back and to win. And Kae is from New York, she knew most of this St. John's roster. It's huge for her confidence moving forward. We're kind of building the program around her and Nia Clark and our freshman class. This was a huge confidence booster against St. John's that she can do it, she can score and she'll help us lay that next brick in our foundation.

Q. In terms of having a little bit of fight here, as you get out of the season, in retrospect, getting back on this group that you were able to play, this year almost worked into sort of almost an exhibition season, if you will, four of the next (indiscernible) that's going to come up. What kind of positives can you take out of the group of games that you were able to play this year?

COACH MOORE: When we finally got to be on the court together, we grew and we matured. And that's the biggest thing, and culture. It's hard when, year two, from March, you know when we ended the Big East Tournament last year, we didn't see them until July. And then we see them, then we had multiple pauses. So it's hard when you're trying to get that next step in your process and your culture, where you're going, and your standard of excellence. But this group, they continued to be there. They continued to buy in. They continued to trust and trust their process.

So I'm proud of how we ended with our fight, and we know that if we bring it for 40 minutes. This could have been a different outcome.