NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR - DAYTON VS DEPAUL

March 16, 2022

Shauna Green

Jenna Giacone

Erin Whalen

Dayton Flyers

Media Conference

Dayton 88, DePaul 57

SHAUNA GREEN: Just really proud of these guys. It was fun to watch them out there today, and I thought that was our best 40 minutes of basketball. We put it all together, but for us it starts with our defense and just what an unbelievable defensive effort and execution of a game plan by these guys.

To hold a team like DePaul, the No. 1 scoring team in the country, to 11, 12 and 13 in three quarters is just all credit to these guys because they really locked in. And with holding this team and being able to hold them to one-and-done, now we were able to get out and run, and that's what we want to do.

We talk all the time, defend, rebound, run, and today was the best performance of that in a while because we were able to really get our transition going and got a lot of threes out of transition and played with great pace.

Just so unbelievably proud and happy for these guys, especially our senior group and our three super seniors and Kyla and Amari. These guys came back for a purpose and they came back to play in an NCAA Tournament. I told them, once you get in, you never know what can happen, and they showed that tonight.

Just so happy for them.

Q. Take me into your role of coming off the bench, and tonight how were you able to find it early from beyond the arc?

JENNA GIACONE: Yeah, my role has changed a little bit. Pretty much every game this year coming off the bench or starting. But doesn't really change my mindset with that. Coach makes the decision; I just roll with it, but just come in when my name is called and start playing my game.

Obviously I was feeling it pretty good from behind the arc, like you said. Erin was, too, so we just played free, played some Dayton basketball and ended up with a win.

Q. Erin, to follow up on that, in terms of the mindset as a team, how much did it motivate you guys coming up short in the conference title game? How much did that motivate you guys coming into tonight?

ERIN WHALEN: Yeah, it definitely fueled us. That was something that was in the back of our head. We knew we just wanted to get here. Once we got here we knew everything would take care of itself. This team does such a good job of prep. Our coaches are always so prepared and helping us, but we play hard, we're not coming here just to play, we're here to compete, and I think we were able to prove that tonight.

Q. Erin, you went through a stretch there late in the season, I looked, you were like 2 for 27 on threes. You probably don't need to be reminded of that, but then you started hitting some. What got you back in the groove?

ERIN WHALEN: Yeah, definitely very frustrating portion of the season, but my teammates were doing an amazing job of just keeping me positive. They continued to find me when I was open and just the motivation from, again, my teammates and coaches just to keep shooting, lots of extra reps, working with a sports psychologist, getting the mental side of it together. But yeah, I was glad to kind of figure that one out.

SHAUNA GREEN: So were we.

Q. Jenna, in addition to the three-point barrage in the first half, it just seemed like your size and not just in the post but your size really bothered DePaul. Did you have that sense when you were out on the floor?

JENNA GIACONE: I mean, I know I'm a bigger guard. I like to use that to create a versatile game of mine. I did just see that I had five blocks which I was not aware of. Might be a career high for me in a game. But no, I just was playing my game out there and was able to provide for my team.

Q. Erin, can I ask you about Jenna. Can you put a value on her role for you as a team this year?

ERIN WHALEN: Yeah, she's definitely a very crucial portion for our team. She's everyone's best friend on the team, so just on and off the court she is just -- she really does everything. She can even play point guard, which is insane.

But just her mindset, her work ethic. She is a true leader, and it's definitely been fun to be able to play with her these past four years.

Q. Jenna, I think Dayton had not won an NCAA Tournament game since like 2013.

JENNA GIACONE: 2015.

Q. Just to be a part of that, to be back in the win column.

JENNA GIACONE: Yeah, it's huge. Obviously being here in a Dayton uniform for six years, I've made it a couple times, but was never able to be a part of a win in the tournament.

Like Coach said, this is a huge reason of why I and the rest of our group came back was to make this tournament, and like Erin said, not just to make it but to get a win, get two wins, three wins, whatever we're going to be capable of, and we're just going to keep working every single day. Quick turnaround but we'll be ready to go.

Q. Can you take me into the emotions when you guys are hitting threes like that in the first half?

ERIN WHALEN: Yeah, it's definitely fun. I mean, it's kind of no feeling can describe it. But I think a big part of this game is just being able to keep your composure because there are so many highs and lows that go throughout the game and just being able to know next-play mentality and kind of having that in the back of your head, but yeah, it's always fun and gets the energy going.

JENNA GIACONE: Yeah, I'll second that. It's definitely fun, the free style that we play. Coach gives us confidence if we're open in our transition or our offense let it fly with confidence, so that's what we did, so definitely a lot of fun out there today.

Q. Since this is the first year that the women's tournament is holding the First Four, I was just curious if either of you have strong feelings on what it's like to be a part of that, to play in a play-in game and what you think it could mean for teams, too, down the line that are going to have an opportunity to play in the tournament where maybe otherwise they wouldn't have made it?

JENNA GIACONE: Yeah, I think it's a great opportunity to make it identical to the men's this year. We knew we just worked all week knowing that our name was going to get called. When we saw it was in the play-in game, we just knew we were going to be ready to go and do whatever it took to get a win to move on to that first round game, so we're just very excited for that.

Q. For both players, how does it feel to win that NCAA Tournament game, and what will you do to prepare and continue the momentum into your game against Georgia on Friday?

ERIN WHALEN: It's an amazing feeling for sure, but this being my first NCAA Tournament, I just was honestly super excited just to be here, but like I said earlier, we're here to not just play but to compete, and so we'll be able to kind of recoup and take that energy and momentum that we were able to gain from this game and just kind of push forward. But yeah, it's a great feeling for sure.

JENNA GIACONE: Yeah, again, I second that. Like I said earlier, hadn't gotten a win in the NCAA Tournament yet. My goal and my mindset all season changed to not just making it but getting wins in the tournament. Great feeling to be able to do that today.

Q. Coach, offensively you were able to get that type of production from players like Erin and Jenna; how much easier does it make it for you guys? Is it possible to do what you guys are able to do without them?

SHAUNA GREEN: I mean, they're a huge part of this team and this program, and they have been a huge part. Jenna has been here the six years I've been here. Erin has been here four years.

Then you look at what they do obviously on the floor but off the floor and their leadership and how they carry themselves but also set the standard and really have helped mold these young guys who last year we had five freshmen that are now important pieces as sophomores, and they're just unbelievable players but they're unbelievable people, and they do things the right way and just really blessed to have coached them for as long as I have.

Huge pieces, obviously, on the floor, and I'm just so happy that they played well tonight. I'm so happy E played well tonight because she did, she went through some hard times in the season, but never wavered, and that's what she's capable of doing is what you saw.

Q. Can you take me into why you guys decided to bring Jenna off the bench like that? And secondly, do you have a story or anything you can share that shows you her motivation to perform like she does?

SHAUNA GREEN: Yeah, I think with Jenna and Makira we've kind of went back and forth with them, who starts, who doesn't. I give Jenna so much credit. She's a sixth-year senior, she was first-team all-conference last year, was a huge piece to this team, and she does not question anything. If she comes off the bench, she comes off the bench. She's ready to go.

I really -- at this point we don't even make a big deal of it. It's just game-to-game who's going to start, who's not. A lot of it depends on match-ups, and I actually thought she played really well off the bench today. I think it may give her some time to kind of watch the game, see the flow of the game, and she came in and she was into the offense.

There isn't really a reason to tell you the truth. I think the story about her is kind of that, is how she is -- the kid has been here six years. She's been through multiple injuries. We didn't even know if she'd be able to play. If you would have asked me after her sophomore year if she would play her whole career, I'd say you're crazy. Here she is six years later performing at a elite level and a huge part of what we're doing.

It's all credit to her and who she is as a person.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Makira. Before you started that barrage of threes she kind of jump started you. How important was that to get you going?

SHAUNA GREEN: That's kind of why she has to be on the floor a lot. She's capable of scoring at all three levels, and she can get a shot off and get to the rim and score at any point and create her own shot. She was playing with even more pop to her today, more explosiveness to her today defensively, and she just played really, really well.

She had 16 for us, ran the point at times when AB got in some foul trouble and just was a huge piece on both ends of the floor today.

Q. Morrow got 28 but she really had to work hard for that. What specifically did you try to do against her?

SHAUNA GREEN: You know, yeah, she had 28. She had nine of those from the free-throw line and then she was 9 for 25 from the field. I think our length really affected her. If you think about the league and what they're kind of used to, they don't see a lot of length. They don't see 6'5", 6'3", and we have multiple bodies that we can throw at her. She's an unbelievable player. I mean, seeing her live and watching all the film on her -- seeing her live a couple times, I'm just like, wow. She is a great player.

For only being a freshman, that's scary. But we never had to double her. We just stayed one-on-one with her, and T and Mariah did an unbelievable job of just affecting shots. They got a ton of blocks, and I thought we for the most part -- it's crazy because she had 17 rebounds, and I thought we did like an okay job on her. She just is relentless. It's really amazing what she's capable of doing.

Q. Is it part of the game plan to kind of get those open looks? Obviously you guys had an amazing reign in the first half, but offensively can you take me through what the plan was to have those opportunities?

SHAUNA GREEN: For us offensively? Yeah, I mean, that's what we want. I tell them all the time, keep shooting. Keep shooting. I'm always -- I've yelled at E more in her four years here to shoot the ball than to not shoot it. I want her to shoot it every time she touches it because I feel like every time she lets that thing fly it's going in.

We got the shots out of her. We executed our offense in the half court and we executed our transition break off of holding them to one-and-done. The difference is that the ball goes in today, and sometimes that ball doesn't go in, and when it does we look like this, and we look pretty darn good.

Q. If I can get your initial thoughts on playing Georgia on Friday night. Obviously you haven't had a chance to watch anything, but you guys were in the same tournament over Thanksgiving.

SHAUNA GREEN: Yeah, I saw them live. I watched some of them down in Florida when we played in that tournament. I know a couple of their players just from watching, and so I don't know a lot. I haven't obviously started prep. But we'll be ready to go, and we'll regroup and get prepared very quickly. I'm excited.

I think it's a decent matchup for us. They've got a true big, we've got a true big. I like the matchup.

Q. I was curious for your thoughts on being in a play-in game and having the women's tournament expand to 68 teams. Are you a fan of it? Do you like the fact it's going to be opening up opportunities for more schools? Or is it kind of weird to have to earn your spot into the round of or the field of 64?

SHAUNA GREEN: I think this is the NCAA Tournament, and the men -- you don't really talk about it being a play-in -- it's the NCAA Tournament. There's 68 teams on the men, there's 68 teams on the women, and I don't feel like it's -- we earned the right by getting selected to the 68 teams, and I think we earned the right with our body of work in the regular season, going 25-5.

I like at this and our team looked at this as we're not playing a game to get into the NCAA Tournament, we're in the NCAA Tournament, and we're happy to be here, and this is what we've worked for. This is what these players have worked for their entire lives and dreamt about, and now we're just here to play.

We don't look at it as that. It's the NCAA Tournament. There's 68 teams, and we're one of those 68 teams.

Q. You mentioned yesterday that you wanted to play fast but not DePaul fast. How helpful was that hot start against such a strong DePaul offense?

SHAUNA GREEN: Yeah, I knew our start was going to be critical, especially against a team that's this high-powered offensively. I knew we had to come out and hit shots and score early. I knew our defense would do what we do because that's how we defend, but the last time we were out in the championship game we came out and we couldn't hit shots, and then it kind of started going from there.

When we came out and hit those early shots, I felt really comfortable. I felt pretty good, and then just kept going from there.

So we knew and we talked about it and really stressed our first five minutes and that first battle, that we had to win that, and we did.

Q. Following up on that, how do you carry the momentum from this game into your next matchup on Georgia that's now less than 48 hours away?

SHAUNA GREEN: I mean, that's the fun part of the NCAA Tournament. We've been in this position before. I've been in this position as an assistant coach here. You carry the momentum when you have a game like this and they start believing and they start having that look in their eye, the confidence. It was the same thing when I was here in 2015 and we made a run to the Elite 8. You just saw this look and the confidence that they started getting.

We're going to take that confidence and momentum, and we're going to prepare and we're going to go play against a really good Georgia team. That's why it's called March Madness, because everyone has a shot and everyone has a chance.

We'll be ready to go, and I know our players will be ready to go, and they'll be ready to compete.