NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - DELAWARE VS MARYLAND

March 17, 2022

Jasmine Dickey

Paris McBride

Lizzie Oleary

Delaware Blue Hens

Media Conference

MODERATOR: Good afternoon.

Q. What are your thoughts on coming here and sort of playing a road game right away against a team like Maryland? I'm sure you're familiar with some of what they've accomplished over the years?

JASMINE DICKEY: Just continue to play Delaware basketball. We got here with our defense and making shots and just working together overall. So just making sure we stick to our formula and playing basketball.

LIZZIE OLEARY: I think Jasmine got it on the dot, like we're going to continue to play the way we want to play, even against a great team like Maryland. And we're going to come in tomorrow and just, yeah, play Delaware basketball.

Q. Jasmine, with your time as a Blue Hen coming to an end with you declaring for the WNBA draft, can you describe how your time has been with the Blue Hens over the past four years? What will you miss most about Delaware and what are your fondest memories there?

JASMINE DICKEY: My time here has been amazing, honestly. I've gained sisters, obviously. The coaches have been great. We got a CAA championship, so that's always good. And we still got more basketball to play. Even though it's coming to an end, we still play Friday, and we're hoping to survive and advance, and that's the main focus right now.

Q. Jasmine, I just wanted to know about the timing of announcing for the draft. Some players have said in the past like they want to do it to focus themselves and motivate themselves before the postseason. Is that the same thing for you?

JASMINE DICKEY: Not necessarily motivation. I wanted to get a championship, and that was the main focus, getting a CAA championship and then declaring and then playing more basketball. There wasn't really a sequence in that.

Q. And for all three of you, in your prep for Maryland what has really stood out about the challenge of defending them?

PARIS McBRIDE: Well, Maryland, they're a good basketball team, and they're long and lengthy. So we just have to like focus in on preventing them from rebounding and running transition and just pushing the ball up the floor. On the defensive end, we're just going to lock in. We want to play Delaware basketball, and a part of Delaware basketball is playing defense. So anything we have to do on the defensive end, we're going to get it done.

LIZZIE OLEARY: I think with any team you have to make adjustments. You can't stick to the same plan, because every team is different. So we're just going to make the necessary adjustments we have to and then go in and just lock up.

Q. How do you guys simulate the length and the size that you alluded to with this Maryland team, because that's obviously as big a team as you'll face all year long? How did you prepare for that?

JASMINE DICKEY: Being long. I mean, using your arms. I mean, that's like the best imitation we have. Just trying to prepare ourselves with each other as best as we can. So, yeah, that's mostly it.

Q. In the NCAA tournament, teams are flying all over the country, but you three have actually played in this building. Does that familiarity for you give you any sense of a difference when you're seeing teams going all over the place, but you get to play somewhere that you've already played?

LIZZIE OLEARY: I think it's nice being able to play somewhere that you've already played, and we do have that familiarity. And it's kind of just like -- it's like another game here. We're obviously so happy to be here and be at March Madness, but we're just going to take it like another game. So that kind of helps that we've already been here before.

PARIS McBRIDE: I would agree with Lizzie, but I think the bigger factor is like it's up the street, so we have fans coming in. And a lot of people on our team are from this area, so there's more fans coming in, so it'll be a better atmosphere for Delaware basketball.

Q. Paris, you mentioned that you didn't want them rebounding and running. I know you guys are really focused on getting offensive boards, something you guys have done better than pretty much everyone in the country. Do you have to change your mentality at all, your schemes, to make sure you're not letting up transition opportunities while still hitting the glass?

JASMINE DICKEY: I think overall it's just about sticking to what we know. We don't have to necessarily change anything. Like Lizzie said, it's just tweaking it a little bit to make sure that we're doing the necessary things in order to win the game. But sticking overall to Delaware basketball. We rebound. We run. We score and all that. So sticking to that formula and just making sure that that's sustained throughout the game.

Q. Can you walk me through the process of this week, coming down from the high of the championship and getting focus back on obviously the unfinished business at hand?

LIZZIE OLEARY: I think it's definitely a quick turnaround, and we've been in quick turnarounds before, but never at this level. So I think we're kind of trying to just take it day by day and just trying -- we're still celebrating our win, but also remembering we have another team to play; we have more basketball to play, so we just have to keep focused on that, too.

Q. Jasmine, I just wanted to know, you're going to be on a bigger stage than you have been throughout the year. You're going as the WNBA draft. What do you want people to take away from who you are as a player and what do you hope scouts see in this?

JASMINE DICKEY: Well, this game, it's not like a personal thing with me. It's just about playing with my teammates and having another game to play. So that's the main thing. I'm going to work hard, of course, to get the W, of course, but just overall trying to win the game for my teammates and I and trying to advance.