NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - IOWA STATE VS UT ARLINGTON

March 17, 2022

Shereka Wright

Starr Jacobs

Terryn Milton

UT Arlington Mavericks

Media Conference

MODERATOR: We are joined now from UT Arlington by student-athletes. We are joined by junior Starr Jacobs and senior Terryn Milton. So we'll go ahead with questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Starr, could you talk about the joy? On the UTA website, there was a considerable video showing all of the celebrations that you guys were having. There were lots of long hugs on that court after the game.

Could you just talk about what it means to be part of the first UTA team in some time to make it back to the dance?

STARR JACOBS: I think it was a good feeling. We were all excited knowing that we were doubted. And to actually win and be number one, it felt good.

Q. Terryn, and then if I could have Starr answer as well. You guys have been a good road team this year. Why is it? What are the qualities that a team shows when it is a good road team?

TERRYN MILTON: I think we just come in focused and ready to play. When you are on the road, you have to be more focused. You have to be dialed in more. And so I think we have done that great all year, and I think we're going to continue to be great at that.

STARR JACOBS: I feel the same way. We all know it's hard to win on the road so for us to do that, it just shows how much better we got and how much better we're going to get.

Q. Thank you. Terryn, you have been part of the team for several years now and you have been a part of some great times and some heart breaking times. This season has to feel a little more special. Talk about the camaraderie that this team has with one another.

TERRYN MILTON: We're amazing together. We have relationships off court and on the court, so I think that is something that we have really taken advantage of as well. We play good together on the court. We're focused. We're dialed in. And we love to compete. We love to go out there and compete. I always say it's a great team, but we're always going to compete. We're good together on the floor. We're focused, and I'm just really excited to get out there with everybody and kind of put us on the map and show the world what we have to offer.

Q. Terryn, you talk about the camaraderie and how you guys wanted to be put on the map. Can you think of a story or something that really sticks out to you about the camaraderie and what exactly gives you guys a chance to knock off Iowa State?

TERRYN MILTON: As for the story, I feel like the seniors when everybody got here and everybody was coming in at the start of the summer, we all took time out of our days to go and greet everybody. And we were always planning things for the team to get together. And through that stuff we just kind of built the great relationships with each other. I felt like that is something that helped us out and that started at the beginning of the summer and just kept building up and building up. And now we are in March, and we all love each other, and we are excited to go out there and play for each other. I think that is why this season is so special.

Q. And then for Starr as well, something along the same lines. Can you think of something just special about this team on the court like why do you feel like that gave all that confidence that you can come out and knock off Iowa State?

STARR JACOBS: I feel like beating ranked teams gave us the motivation. If we want to talk about a story, I would -- beating South Florida was that, a game a lot of people were thinking it is UTA and we’re fixing to knock them out. If we want to beat that team, we showed them we can do this and we can compete and doesn't matter who you are.

Q. I want to go back over to Terryn here. Would you mind speaking to me on Starr and what makes it special to play with her?

TERRYN MILTON: Starr is amazing to play with. She's a bucket-getter. She's a person that, you know, she -- she demands a lot of attention on the court so when she is demanding attention it opens up things for everybody else. When we need a bucket, you know, we go to her. She's amazing. As far as defense wise, she's really good on defense as well. And she's really just taken our team to a whole different level this year. And she's done it every game. We know what we are going to get from Starr every single game. She's very consistent in that manner and going to leave it all on the court. That is what I love about her game.

MODERATOR: We are joined now by the head coach of UT Arlington, Shereka Wright. Coach, if you would like to begin with an opening statement, and then we'll take questions.

COACH WRIGHT: Absolutely. First off, we are so excited as our staff, administration, university has a lot of things to celebrate. And for me within the second year, this is definitely a tremendous honor be it as a player, as an assistant coach, and finally as a head coach to be able to experience this. This has been an amazing feeling. So we're just excited to be able to play against one of the historical programs in Iowa State. Coach Fennelly has done an amazing job with his program over the years. His culture, his standard has set the tone for that in women's basketball. And I'm just honored and pleased to be able to coach alongside of him.

Q. Coach, as you said, Iowa State has a certain brand that has been established over a long period of time. The Dayton players talk about, you know, playing the Dayton way. And when you ask them what that is, they say well, it starts with defense. Okay. You are only in your second year at UTA, but you already have incredible success there.

What is the brand of UTA women's basketball? And I guess both what it is and what it is that you would want it to be in the next five years?

COACH WRIGHT: Absolutely. Great question. For me, UTA women's basketball brand is two feet in. And what we mean by that is that we put everything forth when we step on that floor. We compete. We play with toughness. We play with passion. We play together. And so yes, in two years, yeah, a lot of things have happened. But in those two years, I have been able to inherit great players, great leadership. And that has made it very simple for me, that process. And so for me, in year two, it was important to be able to add those pieces to continue to be that way.

So that brand what ultimately I want it to be is to be able to be bigger, faster, stronger. I think that's the way the game is going right now in women's basketball. You see a lot of players are versatile. Not your traditional, you know, smaller point guards, true centers. Your centers now can step out and shoot the three. Your centers can now start the break and do all those great things like that. So eventually that's where I want it to go. I want it to be exciting basketball. I mean that's the big thing about women's basketball, right? People want to be able to see a brand that is exciting athleticism. Things to make people come out and want to see it more. So that's ultimately what it's about. And ultimately it's about developing young women. And that is what I feel like we have done in two years is develop young women to believe in themselves and have the confidence when they step on the floor.

Q. One more question. You shot the three pretty well in the tournament, in the conference tournament, a little better than you did in the regular season. But watching that game against Troy and seeing you guys get out, you know, Dayton last night shot, you know, 11 of their first 13 threes. But you have a team that doesn't necessarily have to be banking in a lot of things beyond the arc. Am I right?

COACH WRIGHT: You're absolutely correct. I mean obviously we talked about this before. Our offense starts with Starr Jacobs within the paint. I think that that's where you’ve got to look at and then it goes inside out. And I have talked about this all year long. Yes, in nonconference we did not shoot the ball very well and even the start of our conference play. But I knew eventually that would come to play. Again, you look at the versatility of our team, the size that we do have. We’ve got players that can absolutely step out and shoot the ball. And our run we made in the tournament started from us being able to hit outside shots, which opened up a lot of things for us in the paint for Starr Jacobs. So I do like the inside-out play that we do have. And I do think that that has been very important for us to having the success that we are having right now. And I do think it's very important to continue to have that within the NCAA tournament, especially against Iowa State who does shoot the ball very well. And so, you know, we have to be able to hit -- knock down shots. You know, Iowa State will play to tendencies and strengths and weaknesses of teams. That is what makes them very good. And so our team knows that, and our team expects that and welcomes that. And hey, this is what it is. You’ve got to knock down shots to be able to open up things in the paint.

Q. You lost your last regular season game. It was at home. I assume you had some senior night activities. So how did you flip the switch so quickly? I mean you played so well during your conference tournament.

COACH WRIGHT: Yeah, good question. Well, first of all, if you look at our record, when we suffered losses we've always came back with a win. We're able to bounce back. And that is the same mindset that we had all year long, is that bounce back. Our kids really, really buy into understanding the things that we did not do well in those games. And a lot of those losses that we have had, we did play well, it just may have come down to a couple of possessions. As we all talk about it, right, possessions matter. It could have been you know, missed free throws or, you know, easy buckets around the rim. So our kids have really done it. I think that's probably been a staple of ours is that we suffer a loss, and we bounce back, and we get back into the flow of things. I thought in the tournament what we did was we just locked in another level. I thought we were very aggressive. We threw the first punches. And I think that that was a big piece for us to have the success that we did in the Sunbelt tournament and then we got contributions from a lot of different players.

Q. What do you remember from your visits here with Tech at Hilton Coliseum?

COACH WRIGHT: I think fans. I think that's the biggest thing you talk about with women's basketball. They come out and support their program. That's an amazing feeling. That is something that is needed in women's basketball. And I know for years, I mean coming here as a player playing here and then being an assistant coach at Texas Tech, you remember great fan support and that's huge. You know, I talked to our players about that, is that you want to play in a great environment. 9:00 at night they're still going to be screaming, they're still going to be engaged, but this is a great opportunity for you to be able to just play who you are for people who don't get to see you within this region. So I think it's a great opportunity for us, and our players are looking forward to it.

Q. Would you rather -- so sounds like you would rather play in an environment where there are a lot of fans even though they are cheering against you than a so-called neutral place that might not have a crowd?

COACH WRIGHT: Well, I think it's big. I mean neutral spot or you're playing, you know, a hosting site. I think in women's basketball that's one of the things that we're trying to get to is to get the fan support no matter where it is. I think where we're headed to the next couple of years is in these neutral sites, it's important for us to bring that excitement for fans to be able to come out and support. So we will continue to keep doing what we're doing. We have great voices. You know, obviously coaches that are stressing the importance about coming out and supporting women's basketball. But as you can see right now, the parity within our game is bringing a lot of excitement. So I think that it's going to continue to grow as we grow.

Q. Going back to that national championship game 2001. You were playing and Niele Ivey was playing for Notre Dame and now both of you are coaches in the NCAA tournament. I mean you think that's kind of a cool thing?

COACH WRIGHT: Yeah, I tell you, it's full circle. And you're talking about as a freshman who is playing on a team who had already won a national championship with Carolyn Peck. And to be able to get there, you know, our freshman year. You know, we actually had played Notre Dame in the nonconference earlier that year and they had beat us. And to get back to that game, right, because we're thinking we're playing UCONN. They had such a big lead on them. And then Notre Dame comes back and wins. So you talk about obviously the journeys that different coaches and players have had. And obviously Niele has had a tremendous journey, you know, being able to go into the NBA and be an assistant coach. And then come back to her alma mater and lead a program which she won a national championship with, too. So it is -- for me, it's just a full circle piece and something that I smile about because, again, you have these experiences that you get to share with your players, and you talk about. But it's different when you're in that seat as a head coach and you know what to expect. But it's a little bit different, right, because as a player you get to kind of have that fun and excitement. And I just wish I could get out there and play. Probably could play about five minutes, but that's about it. But, you know, I enjoy the fact that I get to see our players enjoy the experience.

Q. For what it's worth, Bill said he's glad he is not playing you one on one.

Q. Coach, we talked on the Coach's Show on Monday, you have been a part of some great teams, some March Madness teams. Now that you are the head coach, what separates this from being -- what makes this one so special for you?

COACH WRIGHT: Well, I think first off, Josh, I think it is because you're a head coach, right. And the players make it special for me. They welcomed me. And that is -- that's a big deal, you know. You come in and then to a program who obviously -- and I always give Krista a lot of credit because again she brought those players in and they believe, they have a standard and they took a chance at believing. Because, you know, it's not easy when you have coaching changes. They took a chance. They were patient. So I think this is what makes this group so special to me is because they took an opportunity to buy into what I was asking them to. And then the recruiting class, my first recruiting class, to be able to come in and be a part of that is big and huge for me, too.

So you are talking about a two-fold piece that, again, it's the players that have welcomed you and then the players that bought in and believed in you to come to UT Arlington and to say hey, listen, this is a special place, come make this program special again because it's been done before.

Q. Seemed like this season after a setback that we always talked about that this team always regained the focus. And you didn't have to do a whole lot with those seniors, with your entire team, they were focused from the get-go. Terryn said that earlier in this press conference that they know what they wanted to accomplish this season.

COACH WRIGHT: Yeah, absolutely. Again, it's -- I'm very transparent with my players. We had transparent conversations. I think that that's also a piece with this program that makes it unique. And I don't hold back. I allow our players to be able to tell me how they feel. I understand. I've been a player, I understand that. And the only way I know how to be is transparent with them. And we tell them, hey, listen, like this is a critical game for us. This is a game that we've got to bounce back from. They understand that. But they wanted to win. And I always go back to this, our first year when we lost to App State in that first round against in the Sun Belt tournament. We talked about that feeling, we talked about how do we get over the hump. And it's about the tough, it's about the sacrifices. Not being afraid of success, as I've talked about before. They trusted that. They believed in the process, and this is why we're here today.

Q. This is a lot of them their first experience of March Madness. How are they enjoying the trip so far?

COACH WRIGHT: Oh, it's been awesome. You know, again, you get here, besides the weather piece of it all. I told them we play indoors so it really doesn't really matter about that. But I think the thing is that you are one of 68. Everybody can't say that piece of it all. So these are memories that they get to talk about that other players don't, some athletes don't get a chance to talk about. So you know, again, I know they'll probably be a little bit nervous, but more so than anything is that you get to put that patch on, the NCAA patch. And to say that I'm participating as one of the 68 teams that made the tournament.

Q. You talked about earlier a priority for you was developing young women with this program. You have seven seniors on the team. What have you seen from the seven seniors? And the rest of the team as a whole, but mainly those seven seniors what have you seen from them development wise?

COACH WRIGHT: Well, I think first off one of the things that I have seen is that they have become -- and this may sound a little bit backwards -- but uncomfortable. In development, right, you know, we’ve got to be able to take chances and do things that they don't normally do on a day-to-day basis, right? It's the sacrifices that, you know, they may have not known that they had to make. I challenged them in the nonconference in the preseason of things that I asked them to do, you know. As leaders, right, you know, there are different things that I need them to do. So individually, we spent time and we talked about the things that I needed them to do. And those seven seniors bought into that. Their roles -- some of those roles had to change. You know, we had players come in and their roles changed differently from what they were previously. So they bought into those roles and more so than anything is that they became vulnerable with me. And I think a lot of times when they knew they could be vulnerable with me they would run through a wall for me. And that has shown. And so those seven seniors were critical, which also led to them being able to be great leaders for those freshmen that had to learn the process, right. As a freshman, you don't really know what to expect. And you're talking about freshmen that come in, and it's a COVID year and they probably didn't have a high school season. They haven't been away from home. So those seniors were very, very critical for me to be a voice when I was not around. To be able to speak up when things may have not been going the right way or just to be, you know, that person saying hey, listen, I'm here to help you out. So the development piece of it all is critical because after this is all said and done I want them to be able to be normal, you know, women that they stand strong, they stand tall, and they believe in what they’re doing.

Q. So earlier on your players have spoken about how you guys were doubted at times and things like that. But they also spoke about the camaraderie of the team and how you guys are so connected in every way. Can you speak on how that gives you a chance against Iowa State and also how you guys have picked up those wins over like a USF and the ranked teams? How does that help you going into this?

COACH WRIGHT: Yeah, absolutely. Well, first of all, I talked about this. It was important for us to challenge ourselves in a nonconference. When you look at this roster, you know, one of the things that I was excited about is I felt like we have a lot of versatility with a lot of players. And I'll just give a perfect example, and she does not get talked about a lot is Katie Ferrell. You look at a kid that is 6'1" that has an unbelievable ability to see the floor, to handle the ball. We can move her around the floor. You don't see that a lot. Especially, you know, you consider us a mid-major. You know, a lot of teams come in and they say hey, you know, this is a team that we can go in and beat. But if you look at us across the board, you know, again, we have players that can average double figures for us. When we have four players in double figures, I think that makes us very tough to defend and guard. We can move players around to where we can do different things. So I think the doubt piece is a lot of people just didn't know probably a lot about UT Arlington. And so I think that that's, you know, kind of the things that you walk into. But we, you know, played a very good South Florida team that had beat UCONN and had beat Oregon prior to them coming to us. And we talked about with the players, what that could mean for our program. And so I thought they just took the challenge. They played with a chip on their shoulders. They carried each other, and it led to us getting that. So I think with Iowa State it's the same thing. We have nothing to lose at this point, but we're prepared. Obviously, again, our Sun Belt Conference prepared us for this, too. There's a lot of parity within that as well, that had teams that had great wins against other teams. Power Five levels as well. So I am excited that I know that our kids will step on that floor, and they will complete. I don't doubt that one bit.

MODERATOR: That's all the time we have with Coach. Coach Wright, thank you so much for joining us and good luck.

COACH WRIGHT: Thank you. I appreciate it.