NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - IUPUI VS OKLAHOMA

March 18, 2022

Jennie Baranczyk

Madi Williams

Taylor Robertson

Oklahoma Sooners

Media Conference

Q. Madi and Taylor, I wanted to ask you about Ana Llanusa. Obviously she's not playing in this tournament and hurt, but how much has she talked to you about her experience playing in the NCAA Tournament, given she's the only one on this team that has? And what's her attitude and demeanor been like this season as she's come back from her injury?

MADI WILLIAMS: I mean, Ana has been great. We haven't really talked much about her being in the tournament. I forgot that she even got a chance to play in the tournament. But I don't know, she's just -- her attitude towards this has been not like us, but like in a different perspective because she's not being able to play. But she just wants to make sure that we're able to have that kind of energy and just be grateful at the fact that we're still here playing.

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: In practice she's always trying to figure out what we need and how she can help with that and using her voice. So it's really cool to be able to have that coming from a player's perspective that isn't able to be on the court. And I know she's been really positive throughout the whole year ever since she got hurt, which I can't even imagine how that feels, but it's really cool to see her do that and to still be able to help the team.

Q. Taylor, obviously this is the first-time tournament experience for a lot of you guys, but especially the younger players on the team. Has there been a message to them about preparing and handling this, or is it just trusting them that they have the right mindset?

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: I think going into it, we're just trying to treat it just as another game. Everything is still the same. We're just going to try to be us and just try to keep everybody as level-headed and steady as we can throughout the whole game and the whole process.

MADI WILLIAMS: Yeah, for the babies, they haven't been here. I'm not even sure how much of it that they've watched. But I know that for me, the previous years just watching the tournament, I just know that that made me want to get here even more. I just know what kind of energy they have and I want to be able to feel that kind of stuff. I just feel like that's something that I can reiterate to my teammates, especially the babies, that it's March, and we're still here playing. And not a lot of people get to do that, and we haven't gotten a chance to do that, either, so you know, kind of match our energy.

Q. This is the first time that most of you guys have been in this tournament and getting to play on a stage like this. Is the feeling different from any other game? What's the mindset, just the feeling you guys are feeling heading into the tournament?

MADI WILLIAMS: Yeah, it's different, especially from the previous years, like I said. We've said this a few times, but we haven't been here, we've always been on spring break. About a week ago I would have been making plans to go on vacation somewhere, but I didn't get that this year. Now I'm forever grateful for that and grateful for the opportunity.

I just try to come in here and bring it. This is the time of the year where we have to turn it up a notch, where our focus has to be pinpoint, it has to be sharp. Not perfect, but it just has to be more than what it was over conference play and even before that.

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: It's very exciting. It's March Madness, and we finally get to play in it instead of watching it on TV. It's really exciting to just be able to be a part of it and to show what we can do on this stage.

Kind of like what Madi said, it's definitely -- we have to be really focused and do the little things a lot better than we have over the past few games.

Q. Did either one of you guys consider transferring after last season?

MADI WILLIAMS: No.

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: Never did.

Q. Why is that?

MADI WILLIAMS: I wanted to finish my few years out with Rob, and even Coach Coale I wanted to. Also, coming into college or going through my recruiting process, I knew that I wanted to go somewhere where I was going to stay. I didn't want transferring to be anywhere in the conversation. I mean, I got that.

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: Same. I knew what we had here with our whole team and with us two, we knew we had something special here and that we could win here, and we knew that we could do it this year. So never thought about it.

Q. How fortunate do you feel that in a time where a lot of athletes do get into the portal and especially with you guys going through a coaching change, how fortunate do you feel later with essentially the core team still intact?

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: Very fortunate. I think that just shows the character of every single person on our team, to be able to trust everybody else on the team and trust the people making the decisions for our new coach and all of that.

I think that just speaks to how special this team is.

MADI WILLIAMS: Yeah, and piggy-backing off of that, that just also shows the kind of love that we have for each other. I didn't want to go somewhere and try to make new relationships with other people. I like the relationships that I have here and the ones that I've built.

Q. Madi, I wanted to ask you something specific about IUPUI, Macee Williams on the inside. Obviously you've seen some talented interior players in the Big 12. How does she compare to some of those players, and what unique challenges does she present?

MADI WILLIAMS: I think Macee Williams, she's a smart player, and she's patient with the ball, and her teammates kind of feed off of her energy and the things that she does for them.

I'm interested to see how she compares to other bigs that we've played against.

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: I think that the Big 12 conference has a lot of great big players, and that kind of helped us prepare for this because she's a really good post player on the inside, and she's a really good scorer and rebounder, so we'll have to be ready.

Q. Obviously Macee Williams is a big threat down low, but they also shoot the three ball fairly well. What kind of game -- you guys have been able to win in different ways throughout this season, so what kind of game are you expecting tomorrow against IUPUI?

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: I think it'll probably be a high-scoring game because we like to push the tempo and get a lot of possessions. I think there will be a lot of scoring on both sides, and it should be a very fun and entertaining game.

MADI WILLIAMS: Yeah, agreed. I think it'll be fun. It's going to be whatever we make it, so whether we make it fun or whether we make it a game or whether it's not, it's our decision. We'll see how it goes.

Q. Going off of an earlier question, what went into you guys' decision to stick around for another year instead of graduating or moving somewhere else?

MADI WILLIAMS: Well, like I said, I wanted to finish off with Rob. Also Ana, too, I knew that she would be coming back.

And then also for me, I'm not sure what Rob's answer is going to be, but I just feel like the league is something that's not going to go away and college is. So just use it as much as you can, use up all of your time here. Yeah.

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: Kind of what I said earlier about this team being special and knowing that we could do something really cool here, I just wanted to keep being a part of that, and I just love OU and I didn't want to leave.

Q. The Big 12 men's side has obviously gotten a lot of attention in the past, but what does it mean to you guys that the women's side is now getting a lot of attention, Big 12 in specific?

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: It's really cool because the Big 12, it's a really good league on both sides. But I think on the women's side, especially this year, it was kind of wide open for who would win it. And you saw that even in the conference tournament, how almost every single game was close and it was really competitive, and I think that that's just going to continue to get better, and it's good for women's basketball.

MADI WILLIAMS: Yeah, and I think it's also good for the league here, too, that we're getting the recognition that we deserve.

It's a really tough league, really good players in the league, and we don't get as much recognition that the other leagues have. But here we are, and I think that we've done a good job this year kind of proving ourselves. Not just us but the league in general, that we can compete with everybody and we deserve to be talked about.

Q. Obviously a transition situation; what is it about your new coach that made it work? Obviously the players have to decide that it's going to work, but there's a transition also with the coach. How did she make it easy for you or did she make it easy for you?

TAYLOR ROBERTSON: She made it really easy. She's just somebody that you want to be around all the time. She's high energy, very competitive and passionate and loves what she does, and it's just whenever you're around her, you just feel it with her. It's just really fun to be able to have that.

MADI WILLIAMS: Yeah, and also one of the characteristics that she has is being patient, and she was able to be patient with us. She didn't recruit any of us, so she didn't know what she was going to get, and I think that just plays a part in how she was able to come in here and make it a smooth transition.

She's also -- I don't know if y'all know this, but she's a hooper. She's a coach right now, but at heart she's a hooper and that's all that she cares about.

Q. Madi, I wanted to ask you, when did you recognize Taylor's work ethic, just shooting endlessly before games? Also, do you see any of her superstitions before games?

MADI WILLIAMS: Since freshman year, Rob has been a hard worker, and she's always in the gym. Of course since freshman year I've seen those superstitions. She used to wear hand warmers -- she used to have hand warmers before games. She doesn't do that as much anymore. But now one of her superstitions is that we all stand in the same spot, sit in the same spots wherever we go. That's been a big part of her life, a big part of her career here at Oklahoma.

JENNIE BARANCZYK: Well, it's so exciting to have everybody here. Usually I'm in here with just a screen, so it's pretty awesome. We're just really excited to be at home and can't wait for there to be a great crowd tomorrow night.

Q. An update on Skylar Vann?

JENNIE BARANCZYK: So we still are not 100 percent sure, but it looks promising, so we're very hopeful today will be the first day that she'll be able to kind of try some things. So we'll have more of an answer tomorrow on that, unfortunately, but it's a lot more promising every day that goes by.

Q. Also want to ask you about Ana. Obviously the only one on this team with NCAA Tournament experience, even though she's not playing in it. How beneficial is that? How much have you talked to her or has she talked to the team at all about that? How has she handled what she's gone through this year especially as far as relating to her teammates?

JENNIE BARANCZYK: Yeah. It's a really good question just in terms of Ana. She's such an integral part of what we're doing and how we've been able to do some things this year. It's unfortunate that this is a little bit familiar territory.

I think from her standpoint, it's been fun to be able to watch her growth as her voice has continued to get bigger and bigger as the season has gone on, so I think she's done a great job of being able to provide some insight.

She's healing quickly, as quick as you can with that kind of an injury, but she's just as much a part. So I don't think there's as much -- this is how the NCAA Tournament is, and playing at home in the NCAA Tournament is a whole different element. But she is definitely -- her voice continues to shine as time has gone on.

Q. The portal is something that a coach has to deal with -- for someone who's sort of an institution, 10 to 15 years on the job, it can change year to year. For a new coach coming in inheriting kids they didn't recruit, it is almost a fact of life, and yet this group is solid. It's a core essentially from last year. Are you surprised by that? And how much do you appreciate that a year later when so many kids could have made so many different choices?

JENNIE BARANCZYK: I think right away -- and you've heard me say this time and time again. When I first got here it's not like every player -- I didn't recruit anybody. We haven't have a previous relationship. But I think it's a true testament to Madi Williams and Taylor Robertson in terms of their leadership and the fact that they have kept this group really together. There have been a lot of people -- there's been a lot of change during their time, but that would have been a very easy time a year ago to jump ship and go somewhere else, and everyone would have welcomed them with open arms.

I love coaching them. I'm obviously incredibly grateful that they didn't. But I think there's a lot more credit that's deserved in terms of the foundation and chemistry of this program than maybe some people have thought. And I think from that standpoint, when you have an incredible culture that's the only thing that you can do.

Those women in that locker room are in charge of that, and I think they've done an incredible job, and I'm really thankful and blessed that I've gotten to coach them this year.

Q. So you didn't come in with any preconceived strategy or anything like that?

JENNIE BARANCZYK: No. The only strategy I came in with is the second that you become the coach those are your players, so it's not let's go change. I'm not transactional, I'm not, here -- obviously we need size. We've had to deal with that in a variety of ways, but it wasn't just, hey, I'm going to come in and go get some size and cut people. We had a full roster, so that's something that -- you don't have a lot of opportunity to do that if you make that decision.

To me, the decision was when you come into a new program -- I know we all want to win. I understand that. But the number one thing was to really meet your new players because they are yours now, to build relationships with the new players, and to really identify what that culture is. And that culture was never, let's just cut, cut, cut and get what we want. It was, okay, we're going to love what we do and we're going to love how we do it and we're going to love who we get to do it with, and that's the strategy.

Q. Most of the players on this team don't have tournament experience, and this is their first time being in the NCAA Tournament, and you have gone to the tournament multiple times with Drake before you got here to OU. What are you telling your players now and throughout the week what the tournament is like, what to expect, and what the feeling is like of playing in these games?

JENNIE BARANCZYK: Sometimes there's a beauty in the unknown, and I think that's really where we're going. There's not, okay, this is what this year was like and so then you compare it to the next year and then it's this is what happened here. We have no idea.

I think sometimes there's a really fun element in that, and that's where we're at.

We celebrated the heck out of everything on Sunday night, but then we got back to work on Monday. And we know that we're playing a basketball game, and we're playing a very good team, and we get to play a team that doesn't know us and we didn't know them, so that's the NCAA Tournament. That's March Madness.

You look at yesterday. Fortunately or unfortunately, we are like the last game of the first round tomorrow night, right, and so there's been plenty of basketball between the men's tournament, between the women's tournament that we've been able to watch all these games and you watch the excitement.

So for us, yes, you get to be part of it, but you also don't want to get too into that hype. It's a basketball game, and we get to play at home. How cool is that, that that's our first tournament experience is to be able to play at home? I think it's incredible.

So that's really where our focus has been.

Q. You and your team have done a pretty good job of exceeding expectations all season long. I don't think many people would have expected you guys to be here hosting a game as a 4 seed. Has that been just kind of a motivating factor for you guys, all just tried to exceed expectations and now you're here trying to do that again?

JENNIE BARANCZYK: I think our focus has been less about proving people right or wrong and more on let's just continue to focus on getting better and have fun playing, and we want to play our style.

I don't know what Madi and Taylor talked about, but I can guarantee you at some point they were talking about just focusing on us and being our best, and that's literally what we focus on. From that standpoint, it's not about proving anybody right or wrong. It's just about us.

Q. You touched on Taylor and Madi just a minute ago. Heading into this weekend how important is it for them to set the tone for the entire team?

JENNIE BARANCZYK: Well, I think it's important for them to not try to overdo it with everybody and make sure everybody is ready, but for them to just come in and play and to be able to -- Madi has got just an incredible presence, and Taylor has an incredible presence, as well. When they get on the floor, everyone tends to go to their level. But it's difficult, right, when you're a leader on a team and it's the first time and nobody really knows anything. There's a tendency at times to really try to make sure Kelbie is good and make sure Nevaeh is good and make sure everybody is good. We're at our best when we just play.

For them I think that's the most important thing that they just step on the floor and they enjoy this moment and that they just play because man, it's fun to watch them when they do.

Q. You've talked about the faster pace of play that you play with. When you get into the tournament are there times when the pace slows or is there not much of a change in that regard from regular season play to March Madness? And is that something you have to account for, or do you feel comfortable that you can still control the pace how you guys want to?

JENNIE BARANCZYK: We still want to be able to play the pace we want to play, because again, that's Oklahoma basketball, being able to get up and down and being able to be full court, up tempo but also in the half court. So that's, I think, where we've really tried to learn as the season has gone on. But you're also playing an opponent who sometimes tries to control the pace in a different way, and I think that's where we've seen some challenges throughout the year.

Again, we go into every game thinking we want to play at that same pace and we try to do that as much as we possibly can, but it's fun. I'm excited for us to continue to just play and to be able to step on the floor. Again, it's our home floor, and play at the pace that we want.

Q. You mentioned the leadership that stayed in place, but there's other elements obviously to making a basketball team. You had a style of play that you brought in. We just talked about that a little bit. It looks like the pieces fit together like a puzzle, just flawlessly. Did it fit together as easily as it appears that it did, and if so, why?

JENNIE BARANCZYK: Yeah. Yeah, it did. It has to be all of it, right? It has to be every piece. But I feel like it's one of those things -- when I was at Drake and I said, okay, I thought I was going to stay there forever, and then you started to get an itch of -- especially around tournament time and you get to watch these teams, and we're always playing on someone else's floor and doing all these things. But I never had that, oh, this is the place I want to go. This is where I want to go. This is my dream job, this is where I want to go.

So when Oklahoma opened up, it was still one of those, who wants to go there, because no wants to follow Sherri Coale. So you have that whole element. It's like, no, no, no. And then you start to talk to administration, then you start to feel -- because you don't get to talk to the players in the process. You don't get that. So you have to get a feel of people and just the environment as much as you possibly can.

But I will tell you this: This was my Dream Team, and so from that standpoint, that has been incredible. We have probably found each other. I don't know if they would say it like that, but this was the perfect team, from an on-court standpoint, yes. And yes, we would like a little bit more experience and a little bit more size and a little bit more whatever, but I also love that we don't focus on the things that we don't have. We just focus on the things that we do, and we focus on each other.

You talk about team and culture, this team is special. Look what they have done this year already. It's incredible, and it's literally because of a Madi Williams and because of a Taylor Robertson. Because they have been incredible leaders, and right away they were open, and it was awesome. It still is, and yes, it's 100 percent as awesome as it seems from the outside. It's probably better inside.

Q. You mentioned earlier this week that the first step in this process was for you guys to work on yourselves first before even thinking about IUPUI. If you could touch on what key points were you guys hitting. And now that you have looked at IUPUI, what are you expecting from this game tomorrow?

JENNIE BARANCZYK: Yeah, so there's a lot of things that you want to really continue to focus on. Obviously from a standpoint of even -- you look at our conference tournament and we shared the ball so well in one game and we didn't share it as well in another game. So really honing in on some of those things. Defensively obviously defending the paint, that's a huge thing for us to be able to do, which obviously translates to our game tomorrow.

And obviously being able to defend off the bounce, I think that's something that we've got to continue to work on. So that's something, again, it's going to translate tomorrow.

But in terms of some of the things that we really want to continue to focus on, I've liked our rebounding a little bit at times, and we still need to work on that, and obviously our pace. There's times where we are at a great pace and we're -- there's a difference of being at a great pace and it's a quick shot and being at a great pace and taking a great shot. So those are some of the things I think we're still focused on.

But if it's an open shot and we've set each other up, 100 percent we want to be able to take it.