ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 4, 2022

Courtney Banghart

Alyssa Ustby

Deja Kelly

North Carolina Tar Heels

Postgame Press Conference

Virginia Tech 87, North Carolina 80

COURTNEY BANGHART: First of all, I want to thank Greensboro. You guys really run a first-class event. Our athletes feel welcome, they feel supported, and obviously the crowd is ignited by these teams. I thought they got to see a really good basketball game today, two really good teams who have played six times in two years. So I'm expecting a Christmas card from you, Kenny, at some point, I've seen you so many times.

Q. When Kitley goes out in the second quarter, did that change your approach at all or the team's approach? How did that change the game?

COURTNEY BANGHART: Yeah, you know, we've played them so many times, there's been a very consistent lineup. Obviously it was the same team last year. We felt like we had our reads and how we were defending certain actions, and then when she goes out, although she's a premier player for them, that changed a lot of how we were going to defend on certain quadrants of the floor. So we had to change on the fly.

We should be able to do that. I didn't think this was a game that we earned. I don't think we defended. That gave the ultimate green light to both 5 and 2. Typically we were expecting Kitley to be involved in that, so we had some counter coverages that was different.

They had a tough time making the adjustment, hearing it and doing it, which you could say you expect from a young team. But I think the biggest help is that the whole March mentality of like the survive and advance, you know, you kind of don't -- unfortunately you don't really get it until it hits you.

This group has learned that when you're not good enough, it's over. We hope this is a good ignition as we get into the big dance here soon.

Q. Alyssa, in the first half you really took control, asserted yourself and had a good all-around game. And then the foul trouble. Did they start defending you differently in the second half? Did something change in the second half for you?

ALYSSA USTBY: Yeah, I would definitely say so. I think that I had a pretty dominant performance in the low post in the first half, and their defensive strategic game plan was to draw charges or in some cases flop. And that's something that I have to adjust to, as well, so that kind of changed my projection how I was going to go offensively.

So it definitely did change, and like Coach said, we need to make adjustments on the floor, and that was something that was a little more difficult for me to do personally.

Q. (No microphone)?

ALYSSA USTBY: The foul trouble didn't change the way I approached, but -- okay, maybe a little, just being a little more careful. But I knew if I wanted to score, get rebounds, I had to be aggressive and assertive in what I was doing.

Q. Coach, Coach Brooks said that you caught him off guard with that zone and you guys threw a lot of different looks defensively. Was that a function of Kitley going out or was that your plan coming in to throw a bunch of different defensive looks at them?

COURTNEY BANGHART: Yeah, we had looked at zone as a viable option, and more so with King going out, they weren't as effective. This team really shoots well against Carolina. That's been pretty consistent in all six of these games or in five of the six. That was part of it that we wanted to do. And then we had a little bit of a unique lineup in at times that don't know those slides as well. And I probably could have done it, should have done it a little bit later in the game than I did, but then you're giving hot shooters open looks, and then you can kind of look at your coach and say, Coach, and I didn't want any of those looks.

Those guys were so competitive. I thought man-to-man, it allows you to have some ownership of the matchup, and like I said, we just didn't earn it today.

Q. For the players, when Eva hit the three to tie the game and send it into overtime, she was mobbed and you guys celebrated. Was there an emotional letdown once you started playing again in overtime? And for Courtney, did you see any kind of change in the intensity or just kind of the focus after that?

COURTNEY BANGHART: I'll speak first so you guys have a chance to gather your thoughts. You know, no. I thought that -- as I told our guys, I play chess, you play hoop. We were able to get a good look, even knock it down, gave us a chance to kind of stay alive.

And then I think there were five fouls called. I'll have to re-look at them, and we've got to figure out what the rules are in our game that if a kid falls, it can't always be a foul. I know the men have addressed it with the non-flop rule and I know we've talked about as a business what rule do we want changed the most, and I know coaches feel pretty strongly about that one.

We're the only -- men have it, pro have it, all that. That made it a little bit -- made it a little tricky because now you've got a lot of stop and go.

But no, I felt like overtime -- especially when you're the team that hits the shot to go into overtime, I feel like it's a fresh start. I did feel like we were late to our defensive coverages all game. That was very consistent.

DEJA KELLY: Yeah. Eva hit that shot, we were excited that we had another chance in overtime, but I kept trying to remind my team in the huddle that the score is 0-0 now and that we just had to play like it was a new game and give everything we had in those last five minutes.

Like Coach said, it was a lot of stop and go because of the foul calls so I don't think it allowed us to get into a rhythm offensively. But defensively our coverages were not good, especially on Sheppard and Amoore. They literally were able to do whatever they wanted.

So that's where our lapse was.

ALYSSA USTBY: I would say after Eva's shot, there was a lot of momentum obviously. Like you said, there's a big mob in the middle of the court, and I remember looking at Deja and we were both like, the game is not over, and we were just trying to kind of gather that momentum and take it into the overtime with us rather than losing our focus.

Like Deja said, our coverages weren't the best, and that led to open shots and great looks for them, and they capitalized on those.

Q. You were up eight with six minutes to go in the third quarter, and then Tech makes the big run the rest of the quarter and gets the lead, gets back in the game. What did they start doing better in that third quarter or what were you guys not doing as well when they made their big run to get back in the game?

DEJA KELLY: I think it was just our coverages. I think they started to capitalize on their shots that we let them have.

Sheppard and Amoore hit some really big shots, really timely shots. Sheppard is a really good player, so she found her openings, and that allowed them to go on their run.

Q. Coach or for any of the players, is this a loss that you're going to dissect and linger on for a little bit or are you going to fast-forward and refocus to the selection show?

COURTNEY BANGHART: No, I think this is a great learning opportunity. As I told them in the locker room, March is full of really good players, and your effort is no longer enough. That's kind of why you get to March, teams that are in this position.

Having to -- I told them you might be tired of my voice by now, and I get it. I'm actually tired of my voice, as well, so I told them I'll give you the weekend, but then I need you to re-lock into what I'm asking you to do. Because I thought we made some adjustments that weren't being adjusted on the floor enough.

No, I think we will show them. I think sometimes it's good to just move on and other times it's good to say, okay, like this is what happened so that you don't think about what happened. This is what happened, this is how we got into this situation both offensively and defensively. Here was our chance to win it, et cetera. And then to make sure that wherever we end up at the NCAA Tournament, we have this as an example, this as an learning experience.

It won't be my favorite part of the day to break it down, but I will like being in the room with them to say, here's how we can be better. Because I thought it's a good team, a really good team, and if you win in March, you're playing meaningful games in March, you're doing something right.

I think these guys know that they're doing a lot right, but I want them -- I don't want to have to walk back in -- I told them, actually, I don't want to walk into that locker room again and say that you got beat by yourself. And I thought we beat ourselves a bit today, and I said, I don't have it in me with how much I love this group to do that again. So we're going to learn from it and make sure whoever beats us beats us.

Q. For the players, can you just comment on the physicality of the game? It felt like from the tip, bodies were just hitting the floor, the toughness was turned up. Is that a product of March basketball?

ALYSSA USTBY: I definitely think that's a product of March basketball, specifically in this game, the environment was just ecstatic, it felt like the entire game.

For me personally I don't really notice like how hard I hit the floor, how hard my teammates hit the floor because there's so much energy around in the gym and we just keep pushing forward. Our guys are really focused on the goal, so a lot of those things, you feel your body after the game. Once everything dials down and the adrenaline is gone, you're pretty sore, but yeah, definitely a result of March Madness.

DEJA KELLY: Yeah, I agree. In March everyone brings their best. Everyone is going to be a little more physical, just be on their A game. You can't afford to not be.

You know, the physicality, the aggressiveness, the intensity of the game was expected, and you know, that just showed throughout the whole game, and I think everyone in the gym could see that, as well.

Q. Courtney, could you introduce your kids? And for Deja, down the stretch in regulation you made a lot of clutch baskets. Did it feel like this was going to work out, and did you feel confident coming in the last few minutes of regulation?

DEJA KELLY: Yes, I did. I started off a little slow, but Lys was dominating the low post early, so I figured that we kind of went on a little stretch where we didn't have much scoring, so I had told myself that it was time to take over. And that's when I started getting to my mid-range, which is what I am comfortable with, what I do best.

Luckily they went in, and I think that that put us up and that gave us some momentum to go into overtime.

COURTNEY BANGHART: Yeah, and my twins here, the boys are Eli, Tucker, and Gray is the little girl, and they're missing school today, which is a big deal, guys, because it was pajama day. I want to give my guys thanks for coming. I know you guys are the biggest fans of these Tar Heels, so thanks for sharing your mom so much.