NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - LONGWOOD VS NC STATE

March 18, 2022

Rebecca Tillett

Kyla McMakin

Akila Smith

Longwood Lancers

Media Conference

Q. For both players, what was kind of last night like for you guys celebrating the win. First ever in school history. Did you hear from a lot of people? What was the celebration like?

AKILA SMITH: It was really fun just to go outside and see all of our Longwood fans out there supporting us. The celebration that we had in the locker room. Yeah, everything was really fun. Really exciting.

KYLA MCMAKIN: I know one of my teammates said last night that had said we were putting Longwood on the map. Not many people knew about Farmville and Longwood in general. I think the growth and us playing good has helped bring a little bit more attention to a well-deserved school and team.

Q. Akila, I asked you last night after the game who could guard you, and you gave a very humble answer, so that was great. That's our job to talk you up. Just in general, how would you describe your game? I do think this will be a little bit of a mismatch for NC State. How would you describe your game and your strengths?

AKILA SMITH: I don't know. I guess I could say I'm pretty versatile. It's really whatever the coaches need me to do or what my team needs from me that night, I can do it. Pretty versatile.

Q. I saw on social media the coach was talking to you about the history of the tournament and even breaking down the gender equity report from last year. What do you learn from coach and what have you learned about the history of the March Madness Tournament for women?

KYLA MCMAKIN: So we learned some of the strives that has already been made with the 68 games and the equal tournament experience for both men and women. But then we also learned about units that men get paid just to be in the tournament that women do not get. It's over periods of six years, just money that they get. So educating ourselves on that and then vocalizing that's something we want to add too. And something to making sure that we're not scared to say this. Even though it's a tough conversation and sometimes it's uncomfortable, it's important that we speak up and know these facts so that we can continue to spread news about it and hopefully get some things going.

Q. For both of you guys. Kyla, you are from Virginia Beach, Akila you are from Orlando. What was it during the recruiting process that you said Longwood is where I want to go to school? What was the selling point.

AKILA SMITH: For me it was a little bit different. I didn't want to go to school close to home. I kind of want to explore. No one I knew had been outside of where I'm from, so I wanted to take a new route. But I didn't get recruited by Coach Tillett's staff I was actually recruited by the last staff before she got there. But everything worked out. It's fine.

KYLA MCMAKIN: I had never even heard of Longwood. When I went there I was open and ready to experience new things and Tillett and the staff made it a family-like environment and it was a place I knew, I'm leaving home for the first time and I want to be comfortable. And the way they made it comfortable and making small details important. Trying to learn everything about you. It wasn't just you're a player who I want to just use as a player. You're a woman who I want to continue to grow and be a better woman.

Q. How you guys complement each other really well. Your game. Kyla and then Akila, how would you say specifically say you two complement each other on the floor?

AKILA SMITH: I just think that we work well together. Throughout our offense either one of us can score, so when we're working together and just running our offense it works. We're both great scorers. Any one of us can go off at any night. So I think that's what makes us special.

KYLA MCMAKIN: Yeah, I think we're just lucky that most teams only have one really good defender. It's either on Akila or on me. So if I'm getting face-guarded or having a hard night, Akila is hitting hook shots and three-pointers. If Akila is having a little bit of struggling, I can hit some shots. I think that just taking weight off each other to know no matter how we're playing at the moment, we have each other's backs. I think that's what really compliments each other's game.

Q. Obviously you played the First Four game but now you are going up against the number one seed. I know you will have fans there, but they might have a couple more. So what's your mentality going into this game, and I know you talked yesterday about mindfulness and things like that, how are you incorporating that into your preparation?

AKILA SMITH: I think it's pretty simple, just play hard, play for each other, play together. No matter what the outcome is, just commit to each other and play hard.

KYLA MCMAKIN: Yeah, kind of off what Akila is saying, I think we're just a team who loves the game of basketball, and we just kind of go out and play basketball because we love it. No matter who the opponent is, we don't really get scared. And that score could be 100-0 and we're still going to go out there trying to do anything and everything. I think we have a really good mindset. And we stay mindful and present that this is just a moment of many more moments.

Q. We were talking on the broadcast last night, you two are excellent players. There's a sense sometimes when you're maybe not looked at so much in high school that you go to a smaller school and maybe overlooked a little bit. How much of a chip on the shoulder do you guys play with and trying to prove something?

KYLA MCMAKIN: I had a huge chip on my shoulder coming in my freshman year, and I think that's probably a big part why I had such an explosive freshman year. As you mentioned earlier being from Virginia Beach, everyone I played with went to higher schools. Longwood was actually my only D1 offer, believe it or not. I didn't have that much attention. Coming in here and being able to be here now in March Madness, going to -- first time around it's surreal and it's kind of paying off all the anger I actually felt towards myself and others that I wasn't being able to be where I wanted to be. As a kid you always want to go to a top school. It's nice to be able to play with one of the greatest basketball players and one of the greatest teams and get here.

Q. I want to ask, obviously this was the first year for name, image, and likeness for athletes. At a smaller school has that been something you have been able to take advantage of? Have you had any opportunities to get any NIL deals and what kind of talks have you had about that?

AKILA SMITH: I'm going to be honest, I really haven't looked into it. I don't want to say I don't care that much, it's not something that I'm interested in. But if the right thing came along I guess I would look into it.

KYLA MCMAKIN: So I'm a Bojangles girl. So me and my teammate are part of Bojangles. It's a pretty cool experience. You get gear and stuff and it's different to be representing two different places. It's cool. I think finding the comfortability, same with Longwood, same as you would with your NIL, and Bojangles is always fun. I like to be part of Bojangles.

Q. How did that come about? Did they approach you?

KYLA MCMAKIN: Yeah, Jim Whitehead is the owner of Bojangles in Farmville and he literally tweeted and he said, "Do you want to be on the Bo team." And I was like, "Free chicken, why not? So that's what basically happened.

Q. Akila, you didn't want the free chicken?

AKILA SMITH: I guess not.

Q. Akila, I know you're a senior, have you thought about if you're going to use your fifth year to come back to Longwood next year?

AKILA SMITH: I'm still deciding. I put some thought into it, but I'm not for sure yet.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, if you could start with an opening statement, please.

COACH TILLETT: Thank you for having me. Really excited to be here again, program first for our women yesterday. Just so thrilled for everything that our program has done this season and the four years it took us to get to that moment. So many women to be thankful for their investment and sacrifice for our university and our program. Really excited for the opportunity. 16 versus 1. Only been done once on the women's side and on the women's side first. Harvard upsetting Stanford in 1998. So we recognize the odds. Really excited for the opportunity, and what I know about our women is that they will go out, and they will play tough, and they are going to showcase our type of basketball and it's going to be a great environment and atmosphere.

Q. What was the celebration like last night winning the first ever NCAA Tournament game in program history?

COACH TILLETT: This group is so interesting. We're supposed to dance after we win. And we dance a little. They are very serious. They are very intense. I was reminding them in the last couple of minutes, you know, because I know how they feel about excellence. And I knew they were going to be frustrated with the comeback. And just kept reminding them, we made history, we did what you guys set out to do. Make sure you celebrate this moment for what it is. I thought they did a great job. Our bench was funny. Some of you know my daughter is on the team. She was like, "does she think we're not celebrating on the bench?" We have one of the best benches in the country. I'm comfortable in that, in terms of their enthusiasm. I thought they celebrated great. They got amped up for the cameras in the locker room. They had the right energy for that. After that they were pretty subdued. Turning their focus to what will be tomorrow what was going to be today. And we went and did a pool work out, got our muscles ready. They are so interesting because as joyful as they are on the court, they are very serious women.

Q. I thought Akila Smith was just incredible last night. And I asked her to explain her game and she just says, I'm versatile. Because I think that's just how she's always played the game. It doesn't seem crazy to her what she's doing. How have you seen her grow? I know she started slowly. You didn't recruit her but you kind of inherited her in a good way. How is she able to do what she does?

COACH TILLETT: I wish we could get you guys some footage. If you saw where she came from, when I got to Longwood we had really limited film, even for me to evaluate her. And so I remember this highlight and you see her bring it up on the court advancing the ball, like she does now . And I remember thinking, "We can do something with that. We can do something to that." When she got to us, she couldn't run. She was still recovering from an ACL that had been performed a year before but high school athletes don't have the same access to recovery as college athletes. So her knee brace, we got her fitted for a knee brace, it wouldn't even stay up. She was so tiny. Trying to jog, pull up the knee brace. You wouldn't believe where she came from. It's a testament to her. And I told this story a couple times. Maybe not to all of you. She's a woman, when she came in, we had to have some tough conversations in the beginning. This is what you need to do in order to be on the path that you need to be on. She's the type of woman that did everything we asked her to do. Everything academically. Everything physically to gain skill sets with her strength and speed, everything in basketball. Everybody knows her around campus because she's in gym at 6 in the morning, 7 in the morning. You hear about the great players, that's what they do. I always put it back on all of you guys. Imagine you did everything your mentors, or grandparents, or whoever is that huge figure in your life. What if you did everything they told you to do? That's who Akila is. And that's why she's able to do what she's doing on this stage.

Q. I was going to ask you about Kyla. She told us Longwood was the only Division 1 offer she had coming out of high school. What was it about her that made you say, "I want her on my team?"

COACH TILLETT: I got to go see her late in her senior year. It was senior night. I almost didn't go. We had an eval on her. It was good. I was knee-deep in our season. We were 3-27 and trying to win a game. I was like I got to go. Within six minutes, you know, know that she's this supreme talent and I call our recruiting coordinating, Tiffany Sardin, who is the head coach at Chicago State now, and said, "How is this possible? Is this real? Did she send me on a recruiting mission that's not real? It was such a special night. Just watching the way she played. She scored 1,998 points in high school and 1,000 rebounds in high school. Within minutes you know. She didn't play on the AAU Circuit at the time frame they are most recruited. She did play when she was young but not at the time when we're all out and about and getting visibility on them. I think we were really fortunate that that was the story. And I think for coaches, it's just that good reminder as recruiters you have to ask about other players. And it was a coach that both Tiffany and I knew. And tiff said, is there anybody else we should know about. And he gave us the name and we followed the lead. It's work on behalf of the recruiters, and really fortunate to find her level of talent. What a lot of people don't know about her, she's a computer science major. Really not a lot of women in that field, not a lot of Black women in that field. She's excelling. Her computer science class is sending her text messages, she's showing them to me. Of statistical categories she can break. And these are the men and women into the numbers. They are sending all these things. Really neat community. The Professor Marmorstein at Longwood is one of the main reasons she chose us as well because he showed her around the dark rooms of computer science. And she said "yes." So obviously we're all grateful for that.

Q. I read a little bit about it, but I wanted to ask about the parade that you guys had in Longwood. It was for both the men's and women's teams. What was that experience like and what is Farmville like?

COACH TILLETT: You know, when we told our women that it was happening, they are a little bit of okay, there's not that many people in Farmville. And the students were home because it was Spring Break. I think their expectations were this is great, we love this and our university is working hard for us, but how many people will actually be there? As we're driving into town, small town, you see people lining the road. And I think that's around the expectation of numbers that our women anticipating. And they are looking and waving out the window. I'm watching our women. I'm looking out the women and watching their faces. And they are getting excited. And then we pull into Main Street and there's people everywhere. And we're behind the men's bus and both teams are getting off at the same time. And there's just people coming up and hugging them, TV cameras everywhere, reporters. Just an experience that I don't think they even thought was something that could happen to them. And so then to be in it and have the community support them in that way and the university, I just kept watching their faces. This is so cool to see them receive this recognition for the work and the sacrifices and staying the course, which all college athletes know, it's a long season. And how you attack that long preparation is ultimately how you succeed in the end. So just watching the support and then the equal support of our women's and men's team is really important to me and really important to our women. So I think that was great for them to feel that love.

Q. Coach, I think we were able to get a lot of the different stories for the game last night. What does your shirt say because I seen that on your Twitter and I would love for you to explain what it means.

COACH TILLETT: We use a British pronunciation. So we are not pronouncing it the way some of you say it. We say arête. And what -- there's no equivalent in the English language. It means excellence of any kind and the act of living up to one's full potential. So we love the "act" part because you have to do it over and over and over again. Excellence is not going to rest, it's not going to wait for you, you have to get up, show up, and be excellent again over and over. We started it I think in year two here. And you will hear our women say, you know, whenever something becomes a part of your culture, then the language between coaches, players and program members. They will say something, "don't you want me to arête in the classroom?", or "don't you want me to arête in my outfit?" Whatever it is. They will use our terminology back and forth with us. It is something that really is a foundational piece along with empowering women. Pursuing excellence as a group, breaking barriers, go after your biggest dream and also do that with excellence all the time.

Q. Coach, just kind of turning it towards the game tomorrow. Obviously big challenge ahead. What are some of the biggest challenges that NC State presents to you guys?

COACH TILLETT: NC State provides a challenge at every position, every possession. I think what you will see from us, and you have seen from us other times, we're going to try to be as disruptive as possible in as many different ways as we can. We have a really, really intelligent group of basketball players that are able to -- the game plan for tomorrow is not like one we put out before. It might be a combination of three, four, five different game plans. And just try to disrupt. They are a very tough team like we are too. Who can make the tough play first? I think that will be really important. We track that. Hopefully we will be up in the toughness game against them and I'm sure they will try to be up in the toughness game against us. Obviously size especially in the post is a factor for us. Our guards are actually evenly sized. One of our coaches said "use your length to the small guards," and I'm saying "yeah, your equal matched length." But obviously in the post we're oversized. We have to have some creative ways to do that. Really look for disruption and try to figure out what we're in.

Q. How do you measure toughness? Is that something you track?

COACH TILLETT: Yeah, this is new. This is giving away a secret. We'll give it out. Just because we give it out doesn't mean people can do it like we do it. About seven, eight games ago we really felt like when we were facing North Carolina A&T in our league, who is leaving our league but were in it this year, that we had to out tough them in a game. So we added up all the toughness categories that we define as tough. You might define them differently. Charges we all agree on or dive for possession. We added all those up and then we're racing to see which one can we get first and which one can they get first and we keep score And we update them throughout the game.

Q. Charges taken versus charges they take.

COACH TILLETT: So who takes a charge first, Longwood or NC State? We've always been about those plays but honed their focus a bit.