AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 7, 2022

Michelle Clark-Heard

Dickies Arena

Cincinnati Bearcats

Postgame Press Conference

Houston 67, Cincinnati 45

MICHELLE CLARK-HEARD: Yeah, first just want to congratulate Houston on a great game. Hughey does a great job. Their team played hard and, yeah, so just congratulate them.

You know, we fought back. We cut the lead to 11. I think there's something that we kind of have done all season. Sometimes we get off to good starts, sometimes we don't, and then we battle back. And then we just make costly turnovers. And so that's growing, that's youth. You know, you're not young anymore because we're in Tournament.

We've just got to go back and we've got to go to work.

Q. It looked like at the start of the third quarter you guys went on your best scoring run, about eight in a row. What were some of the things you were doing a little different third quarter that were working for you versus first half?

MICHELLE CLARK-HEARD: I think the most important thing is something we've got to go back and work on is consistency on our defense. I think we started getting some points when we got some stops. You know, we've got to get better in those areas, defensively and rebounding. So I think that that's something that we played in spurts and minutes. And that was just one of those opportunities.

I think just growing and learning and not taking defense and letting it lead into your offense.

Q. Thank you, Coach, for taking the time. I want to ask with the majority of your locker room returning, as pretty much everyone is not a senior, what do you anticipate the vibe being within the locker room after this game? Do you think this game is going to be remembered in the off-season?

MICHELLE CLARK-HEARD: Yeah. Most definitely. It has to be. I think that's something as a staff and I, we've got to make sure that we're making sure they remember this. And we've got to grow from this. We've got to grow and learn and put our self in better positions.

So, you know, if you look at a lot of our games, a lot of our games we were in and were close. But then there were, like, big mistakes and big runs that other teams had. So working defensively to get stops and do those things. That's what we talked about in the locker room. Off season is going to be really crucial for us in our growth, in our growth for our program.

Q. Would you say that you have an idea or a plan currently on how you're going to improve the defense for your team next season?

MICHELLE CLARK-HEARD: It's going back and going to work. And that's what we're going to do. If you look back over my career as a coach, that's what we've always done. And we've got to make sure that we go back and work to that. Meaning fundamentals. And then we've got to make sure that we are holding our kids accountable to what those things are so we can make sure that we continue to keep building.