NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR - MISSOURI STATE VS FLORIDA STATE

March 17, 2022

Amaka Agugua-Hamilton

Mya Bhinhar

Mariah White

Missouri State Bears

Media Conference

Missouri State 61, Florida State 50

COACH AGUGUA-HAMILTON: Well, obviously excited. I love how we played today. Our toughness was just through the roof. The game plan was defend and rebound. That was the two things we really had to do, and we did that from the tip. I was proud of our attention to detail. We had people step up who usually don't. And points category, and also people coming in off the bench who stepped up. Played great defense. It was an all around team win. We wanted to prove a point we wanted to gain more respect and prove that we belong in the field, and I think we did that.

Q. Both players. Second quarter you couldn't stay in front of their guards. They kept penetrating, getting free throws. What adjustments did you make to cut that off? And particularly you just flat cut it off in the second half. What happened?

MYA BHINHAR: That was game plan from the get go. We knew who their shooters were. That is our defense. This is why it is hard for people to score on us I feel like is because of our gaps. We keep our defense compacted. They got away from us, but that's the game of basketball. Adjustments. You have to make adjustments in basketball to win games and we knew that when they were getting downhill that was a problem. When we went into halftime -- during the second quarter we were trying to make adjustments then, too. We definitely came in -- third quarters sometimes they killed us this year. We wanted to come in focussed. Third quarters, sometimes those can be difference-makers in games.

MARIAH WHITE: Yeah. I mean, I think she covered it. We had to make an adjustment and realize that even though one person might be on the guard and they might be getting downhill, but it's the team defense. They have to get through all of us. That's why we key in on gaps and whatnot.

Q. Mya, seeing people who haven't been here step up today. You see Nya having a great game, Jen having a great game, Mariah having a great game. What was that like for you to see? You have been here a few times. And they led the way for a little bit.

MYA BHINHAR: I'm overjoyed. I'm so proud. This is the best time of the year to play in these moments, and I was so proud, because especially -- she had five steals. She was all over the place. She was scoring the ball but she was crazy on defense. Nya, Jen they were insane. They stuck to the game plan and was focused. It wasn't perfect. I said that yesterday, too. We're not going to be perfect, but I thought when we weren't perfect, we were locked in and kept going. I'm so proud of them. I mean, that's a great first game for them. Great first game, get another built into this tournament for confidence. And it's just great. It was great to see.

Q. And, Mariah, for you, just being able to have that impact in your first NCAA tournament game, this is why you came here.

MARIAH WHITE: Absolutely. It feels good. Filled with gratitude knowing that we belong here. A game like this solidifies it for me, for us.

Q. Mya, end of the first half Florida State went on a 19-0 run and fought back at the end to tie it up. Put me in your shoes. Walk me through your mindset at the end of the first half, how did you tie it up?

MYA BHINHAR: Honestly go getter mentality. I want to do what my team needs at that moment. If that's points if I need to do that, if I need to get a defensive stop. I want to lock in on those things. And I mean, my teammates are finding me too. I created some shots for myself but Mariah hit me in the corner. She drew a lot of people in and she caught me open. I was happy I knocked down that three to tie it. This is March. People need to step up and I just want to step up when I need to whatever that is; defense, assist, scoring. I was just happy I could do that for my team and put the ball in the hole, honestly.

Q. Mya, throughout the game when you got into foul trouble, and separate players got in foul problem at separate times, is it hard to get into a groove when that happens? Maybe get a couple buckets and get a following you got to get out and stuff like that. And how did you guys maintain pressure and stay ahead when really, you know, some of you were subbing out frequently because of foul trouble.

MYA BHINHAR: It definitely is hard to get a rhythm. That's what's great about our team and our leaders on this team. We all stayed focused. People stepped up and multiple times like hey, we're okay. We're okay. We have to make sure whoever comes in the game Hey, we're locked in. Let's stay locked in. This is what we're doing. Know what you're doing. And that's what's important. That's basketball. Things happen. Like we were talking about injuries, fouls, things happen in game you just have to keep going and I think leading wise everybody there's multiple leaders on this team that stepped up to keep everybody checked in and that's why you saw Nya and Jen and people like that step up and Mariah -- I mean Mariah is locked in all the time to come off the bench first but that's what's great about our team. I think that's why we're really hard. You never really know everyone just stayed locked in.

Q. Mariah, pregame I could see it and mostly in that second half. Seems like when you are having a lot of fun is when you guys play our best. Can you explain that a little to me about how you are able to stay loose and have a lot of fun and then play that top tier basketball?

MARIAH WHITE: I think it's the culture of being here. We want to make sure we're having fun, enjoy these moments, stay in the moment and then take care of business at the end of the day. We're all here to get things done. We're here in March to win games. We're not just here; we're here to win games. We want to have fun while doing it.

Q. This is for Mariah. I know in the first half you didn't score. But you went in with seven minutes left in the second quarter and went off. Talk about what flipped for you. Seemed like defensively you got into the person you are guarding. And this turned your whole game on at that point. Talk about that.

MARIAH WHITE: Yeah, I think keying in on defense helps me with my offense. Turning my defense into offense. That's the mentality of our entire team. When our defense is going, our offense is usually going. Going with the culture.

Q. Question for Mariah. Really feels like Mya is a leader of the team. If you can put into words what does she mean to the team, what does she mean to the group?

MARIAH WHITE: That would be the hardest question to put into words because Mya is a leader I've never had. And so I am so grateful for her, whether she's leading by talking and telling us what we need to do, our moral, it's so much behind the scenes. Or even if she's taking over games like the first half. It's hard to put in words how much Mya means to this team and just the type of leader as a point guard and everything that she does.

Q. Mya, what does it mean to you to see Mariah diving all over the floor, going for loose balls, getting steals and going into transition?

MYA BHINHAR: She's gritty. She brings that to our team. I told her right before half I went to her and Brice I said hey, this is your half. Like this is your half you're going to get it done. And she did. And she said hurt. She brings defense to this team. We have great defenders on this game, Brice, people like that, but she's brought that from day one and she's great. She brings that to the team and we need it and I'm just proud of her. She's always brought that and she brings that energy and she had a great game.

Q. Mya, how much did you notice that your experience playing on this stage come in today, especially when you are leading mostly a new group and them having to stand up today?

MYA BHINHAR: Definitely just say keeping my composure. We have a word we have to give Mox before every year, and I told her mine is composure. And she was like "composure"? And I was like, honestly yeah. I said we have experience and we have a lot of new people. And I said I want to be that person on the court people can look at me and know, hey, we're okay. We're composed. I want to bring that to our team. That's what I try to bring into this tournament. We have a lot of people who haven't been here and who have been here. Composure is key. And that's why you saw when I started making runs at times. We were composed and we came back we're in this game. So that's really just what I feel like I brought.

Q. Mya, I'll ask you. You are 11 seed now, going to play Ohio State on Saturday. How do you build from this win into a couple days from now?

MYA BHINHAR: It gives you confidence. It's good to get our feet wet for people that haven't been in this experience ago. We have been good as an 11 seed. It's exciting. We want to keep playing basketball. Anything can happen in March. Honestly, it's cool to be in the first game. It is cool. Yeah, sometimes you want to be automatic bid like that. I think it's good we had that experience going into this tournament and playing a six-seed. I think everything happens for a reason. I think it will be good for us.

MODERATOR: Now for questions for the coach.

Q. Coach, your two best players didn't have great games tonight. Brice didn't make a shot until eight minutes left in the third quarter. Abi never got going. Talk about just the bench play. People came in and filled those roles and got you back going. Didn't miss a beat.

COACH AGUGUA-HAMILTON: First of all we got a win in March Madness NCAA tournament. I think everyone played great in my opinion because we came out on top. I was pleased to see that Mariah stepped up off the bench. Nya stepped up off the bench. Paige came in in the first half and she didn't miss a beat. She played some really good defense and you know, kept us going. But Brice struggled a little bit but she she does a lot of great things and her defense is something that, you know, a lot of people have not experienced yet. The way she defended their leading scorer. She held number 24 to four points. She guarded her pretty much the whole game so I thought Brice played great, she showed a lot of toughness down the stretch. Abi, she forced them to do some things that they weren't used to doing. They were fronting her, they were doubling off her which opened up other people. So their presence on the court helped propel us to a win.

Q. What's it say about your team that they can fight back from all the foul trouble you had tonight. I was talking to Mya about, you had players coming in and out kind of the whole game, but for them to stay resilient and win in the fashion they did, what does it say about the group of women you have in the locker room and how they are playing right now?

COACH AGUGUA-HAMILTON: Character. That's the character of this team, that's the culture, that's who we are. All the adversity we had this year set us up for something like that. At one point I was subbing people in and out because they come in a get a foul and the next one gets a foul. People were playing with three fouls, four fouls, things like that. But we don't get rattled by that because we just been through so much. Our story is a little different than most. I don't know what everybody else has been through, but I'm pretty sure there's not many teams in the country that can lose their starting four and five player and still be one, pursuing championships and also dancing. That's a tough thing to do. Post players are hard to come by and we were able to combat all that adversity along with, you know, Mya who just you talked to. She sprained her ankle at beginning of conference games, she was out a few games. We had four kids that went into COVID protocol. All that adversity that we just had to weather the storm and persevere there helped us tonight, because we knew other people had to step up. We might have somebody foul out or we might have to sit somebody because of foul trouble, so the next person has to be ready to go.

Q. You kind of mentioned it the other day, maybe yesterday, about Nya and Jen and how much they stepped up and how much they need to step up. It seemed like we saw that tonight. Just how incredible was it to see them do that in their first NCAA tournament game?

COACH AGUGUA-HAMILTON: It was awesome. First of all, Jen's intensity. I haven't seen her play like that all year. I think she set the tone. She was guarding that big kid, number one. She started the game off great. Nya came in and had to get settled a little bit. Once she did, she really helped us. Both of those two haven't played significant minutes at this level, division one level, and let alone in an NCAA tournament. For them to step up, that was huge for us. Brice said in her press conference yesterday that she went up to them after the UNI game and told them that we don't get where we are without them two and them sacrificing what they need to sacrifice. Jen is playing through previous injuries and things like that, and she told them that they are a big reason why we are in the position we are in. You have your six-year leader telling you that, you are going to be inspired.

Q. Mariah, she was able to kind of weather some storms there throughout the game. Great defensively to see her have that performance. When you said all year this is why she came here.

COACH AGUGUA-HAMILTON: You know, to see her flourish in that moment, my heart was smiling. For all of them, but Mariah specifically came here, one, to be a part of something special. She loved our culture, she loved the players and the coaching staff. But she never played in the NCAA tournament. She'd done a lot of things she was Defensive Player of the Year twice in her league. She averaged 19 points, had the green light. She done a lot of things. She wanted to win a championship and play in the NCAA tournament. She was having so much fun out there. Because this is what she wanted to do in her career. This took her five years to get here. A lot of people take things for granted. It's not easy to make this field of 68. It's just not an easy thing to do. When you get here, you have to seize the moment. I mean, what I wrote on the on the board was carpe diem, you know, seize the day, and I think we went out there and did that.

Q. We talk a lot about Mya's leadership here in recent weeks and just watching you listen to her speak there. You can see the pride in your face. Just the composure and everything that she's brought to this team where have you seen that the most and be unable to lead them to a win today?

COACH AGUGUA-HAMILTON: Her leadership is hard to put in words. And I said it yesterday in the press conference. When I listen to her, she sounds like me. She sounds like what I try to convey to our team, things we talk about, pushing through adversity, coming together, just the culture. She's evolved so much and matured so much. Everybody on the team looks up to her. We have great communication during the game. She understands the scouting report. She will come and tell me different things. She's a coach on the floor. She's being so present. She knows this is her last year of playing basketball. She wants to go into engineering and higher education. And she's just staying present and she doesn't want any regrets. And especially down the stretch, if you look at games where we're struggling to score, where we're in a situation where we're down, Mya stepped up. And that's something she has done consistently. What she did at the end of that first half was no different.

Q. So, coach, your team is shorter, not as long, not as athletic as Florida State. From a basketball perspective, how did you overcome those deficiencies from an X's and O's standpoint?

COACH AGUGUA-HAMILTON: Well, Jen is 6'4", Abi is 6'3", Nya is 6'3", Wilson is a 6-foot guard. I think we have a lot of length and athleticism. Brice, you saw how many rebounds Brice had seven rebounds. She's an athlete. We have a lot of athletes on our team and I think we have a lot of length. And we were able to do what we have done all year and defend and rebound because we have heart, that's how we play and we're physical and we can match up with athletes. This is not the first power five that we have beaten all year. We beat USC who is ten times bigger than them. That's probably the biggest thing we've ever played. I referenced that in the locker room and I said, we have played teams that are big. We have played teams that are athletic. But we have heart and we were blessed with some of those talents as well. We feel like we get overlooked, of course, and especially now losing our two starting post players, people don't think we are going to win or we deserve to be here, and we just wanted to go out and prove that we do.

Q. You guys start hot, they make a comeback, and you come back over them, you have some foul trouble, all of this that happened tonight. How do you carry that into Saturday?

COACH AGUGUA-HAMILTON: Like Mya says, basketball is a game of mistakes. We were able to make mistakes and recover and keep playing and stay together. That's what we're going to do. It's not going to get any easier. Ohio State is a six seed. They are a six seed for a reason. They won the regular season in the Big 10, they will they shared a title and they're a high powered offensive team. We have to have attention to detail, know the scouting report and understand that when we go into the game, we will make runs but they are going to make runs too. When they punch we got to punch back and vice versa. We have to continue to fight and stay together.