NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - GONZAGA VS NEBRASKA

March 17, 2022

Sam Haiby

Jaz Shelley

Amy Williams

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll begin. We'll start with the players for 15 minutes and then we'll bring coach in as our normal process. First question.

Q. The Big Ten, PAC 12, and how they compare from your perspective, first of all.

JAZ SHELLEY: I definitely think it is quicker here and more physical in the Big Ten. I also think that the depth of the Big Ten, as in like the top 10 teams are absolutely incredible, and I think in the PAC 12 you have those couple of teams that are like dynamite and then it kind of like drops off a little bit. I think the Ben Ten's very consistently good.

Q. The competitiveness and how that schedule in the Big Ten has toughened you for the post-season.

SAM HAIBY: Yeah. Like Jaz said, every team's tough. Going into any game you have to be ready to play and be prepared. So I guess that just kind of prepares us from the aspect of you never really know who you're going to get in the draw for the NCAA tournament but you have to be ready to go. Your scout has to be good and you have to be ready to play.

Q. Gonzaga is a team that really kind of focuses on defense and you guys are a team that are having one of you are best offensive seasons in school history. Is it different preparing for a team that's going to really try and slow the game down and tighten the score up versus somebody who is going to try and match points with you?

SAM HAIBY: Yeah. We definitely just want to go out and continue to play our style of basketball. As much as the ball is going in the hole we still want to be aggressive on defense too and let that carry us to wins.

JAZ SHELLEY: I think to back off that as well we kind of let our defense run our offense so we really try and lock down on defense first to get things flowing in the offensive end, so it's more just to focus on what we're trying to do.

Q. Any key moment in this season that made you feel like this is going to be a bona fide tournament level team? You guys had some big wins this year obviously.

SAM HAIBY: For me our first top-10 win. That was a pretty big moment for us, especially on our home court. So just kind of doing that and then preparing to continue on the season that way.

JAZ SHELLEY: Yeah. I also think that the Big Ten tournament was a big telling moment for us as well. We had beaten top-10 teams previously, but to go ahead in the back end of the season to show we're still fighting and still ready to go into this tournament with that win under our belt is really important, I think.

Q. Obviously you've had a chance to scout Gonzaga now and what are your impressions of GU?

JAZ SHELLEY: I think that they run a lot of sets. They're a very well executed team. They're very good at finding the open player. They're very good out of on-balls. They like to push the pace. There's a lot of things that we need to lock down in scout and I think they're a very impressive team.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, ladies. We'll start with questions for coach.

Q. Can you talk about the conference a little bit, Big Ten, and how it's toughened this team. Obviously you competed very well.

AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah. I mean, we tried to do the best we could this year to put together a very quality non-conference opponent to try to prepare us for Big Ten play, and then we're very confident that the rigors of the Big Ten conference will prepare us for this time of year and tournament time.

I think the Big Ten this year, top to bottom, was incredibly competitive, and with the five teams that we played twice, the two plays, the way that it -- 18-game Big Ten schedule just is a grind and for us to make a little run in the conference tournament and knock off Michigan, get to the semi-final game, and I think built some confidence for our team and has sharpened us up and prepared us for hopefully what we're going to face here in the Big Ten -- or, I mean, in the NCAA tournament.

Q. You guys are averaging close to 24 three point shot attempts per game over the whole season. Is that an offensive philosophy of yours or just a result of having players that can shoot it?

AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah. No, I wouldn't say that that's just an offensive philosophy. I think that what we have really attacked is to be able to have balance and we want to be able to attack the paint. I think we have proven this year that we have won games where we've really dominated with points in the paint and we've won games where we've hit quite a few threes.

But I think a lot of it starts with inside/outside action and when we have teams and defenses that collapse on our post players and try to collapse on penetration, then that usually leads to some better looks from the perimeter for us. But I think our focus has always been consistently on having that balanced scoring.

Q. Can you talk about Jaz Shelley? And obviously she's an experienced player coming from the PAC 12. What difference has she made for you this year?

AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah. Well, we recruited Jaz Shelley very hard out of Australia, so we got to watch her play international basketball on a lot of different levels and for a long time. So we knew what a special high IQ basketball player she is.

But we have just been pleasantly surprised with, she's brought so much more to our team than just an ability. Obviously she's had a couple games where she's scored over 30 this year. She's a great shooter. But the big thing, we knew she's a great passer. She sees the floor well. She makes everybody on the team better.

But she really, our media voted her on the All-Defensive Team in the Big Ten this year. I think her contributions on that side of the ball as well as the way she's gotten involved with rebounding for our team just shows the versatility that she has as a basketball player and she's been a catalyst without question for this group.

Q. You have another transfer from our neck of the woods, Bella Cravens, played at Eastern Washington, and now she's playing with you. What has she contributed to the Cornhuskers this year?

AMY WILLIAMS: She's such a special and important piece to what we do and she is just very aggressive rebounder. She does a lot of the dirty work. She is keyed into scouting report defense, a very smart player, picks up things very quickly, learns tendencies and game plans very quickly, and has not been 100 percent healthy throughout the season, so it's led to kind of some ups and downs. But when we get her back and now she's kind of playing healthy and just is a huge spark for our team and somebody that we will rely on heavy.

Q. Gonzaga is an offense that kind of has a few different players that can score rather than one player specifically. What's the difference between preparing for a team that doesn't really have a go-to person on offense rather than somebody who does?

AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah. It's funny that I just have been up here trying to talk about our desire to work for balance, and then you look at we're facing an opponent who has 10 players who score double figures and they really can come at you in a lot of different ways. Their high/low game is really, really good. Their post players play well together. They can shoot the three. They execute well. They can come off ball screen actions.

So when I think about the keys that we have to do to prepare for an offense like Gonzaga, it's like, okay, we got to be great at this. We got to be great at this. We got to be great at this. They can just hurt you in so many different ways and I think the thing I'm the most impressed with it is that they out-rebound their opponents by 10.

That's been something that we've really tried to focus on as a group and we're not anywhere near being able to out-rebound our opponents by an average of 10. So something that we're really going to be having to focus on is needing to keep them off the glass. Their ability to crash and get offensive rebound putbacks is impressive.

I also have a ton of respect for when I look at their roster, it's senior, senior, senior, senior, junior, junior, a very heavy experienced roster. We have a couple freshmen in our starting lineup and so something that we know that when you watch film and you see a team that's not being rattled, that's continuing to play with poise, that's generally due to some experience, and I think that's something that stands out when we have been preparing for them.

Q. You've got Sam Haiby, who is here at her first NCAA tournament. She's a captain. You used to have to rely on her to carry a load for your team, but now with your freshmen you just mentioned, with the transfer of Jaz Shelley, and just a really deep roster, how has her role changed and how happy are you for her as a captain that she gets to see the NCAA tournament after all she's been through with you?

AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah. It's really kind of hard to put into words just how special that is for Sam to be here. I know how much she's really put into this and she's had to really adjust her role in everything I've ever asked. It's like one year ago it was, hey, look, you're going to have to bring the ball down the floor under pressure every time, and you're going to have to score for us to be successful, and you're going to have to set other people up, and you're going to have to, and not only just scoring, but we need you to lead our team in rebounding and we need you to pirate the basketball and defensively kind of be our key.

Everything I've ever asked of that kid she has embraced it and just said, okay, whatever you need of me, coach. To see her sitting up here with the March Madness behind her, just pretty special, and just really proud of her and thankful for all she's poured into our program and now just excited to watch her be able to excel on this stage and really just bring it full circle.

Q. In the context of last year how are the workout facilities for the team this year here?

AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah. Thank you for asking, but to be honest, I really don't even know. We just kind of arrived pretty late last evening and just we're up for some film so far this morning and just really excited for practice session today.

And I think we'll notice some big changes to this year's tournament and I'm excited for that. But at this point we haven't really been in any of the practice or workout facilities just yet.

Q. You mentioned looking up there and seeing your players in front of a board that says March Madness. This year the NCAA is using the March Madness branding for the women's tournament. What does that say about the growth of the game and just where women's basketball stands today?

AMY WILLIAMS: Yeah. I think it's definitely a step in the right direction. I think there's been a lot of people that have been fighting hard to move the women's basketball tournament forward and we're grateful for all of their efforts.

And watching the first four games and having 68 teams playing in our national tournament for the first time and seeing March Madness branding and logos all over, I think those are definite stems in the right direction.