NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - FLORIDA VS UCF

March 18, 2022

Kelly Rae Finley

Zippy Broughton

Nina Rickards

Florida Gators

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with questions for the student athletes.

Q. Can you guys, just both of you, discuss how the team has been since the injury to Kiara, what the attitude is going into the tournament and how do you make up for that loss?

ZIPPY BROUGHTON: So I can personally say there's a lot of us stepping into roles that we once didn't have before. So everyone now has to play a different role. We have to bring more. Kiki led us in a lot of categories. But us as a team we know that we can have each other's back and we'll just bring the best of our ability of whatever that role is tomorrow.

NINA RICKARDS: As Zippy said, I think everybody is missing Kiki, but we definitely do prepare and make sure everybody's confident in the role that they have to play, whatever that is.

I think we've been preparing really well and I believe in my teammates and I know Kiki believes in us that we can make things happen.

Q. For both of you, the NCAA tournament sure seemed a long way away back when the season started. Now the last few days, knowing that it's here, just kind of what's the mood been like within the team to get ready for this?

ZIPPY BROUGHTON: The mood? I can say excited, ready just to hoop. You start off the season and all of the nicks and bruises, this is what you practice for. This is what you play for. If you're not doing it for anything else then why are you here.

So for us to finally have this opportunity to be here from all that we've been through this season is great. Ready to have fun, honestly.

NINA RICKARDS: Also as Zippy said, I think everybody's really excited. In the beginning of the season we all wrote down like a goal we wanted to accomplish and it was to make the tournament. So now that it's here like we're excited to be here. We're grateful for this opportunity and we just can't wait to play.

Q. Getting to play so close to home, I know you have a big group coming to support you tomorrow. How nice is that, again you've made it here, and now you get to play in front of your people?

NINA RICKARDS: It's really exciting. I have about 16 people coming, so if you guys see or hear some New Yorkers in the crowd, they're for me. They will make it known.

But just being able to play for the people like I'm playing for, which is my family, is an awesome opportunity and I can't wait to make them proud.

Q. Your campus is about 126 miles from UCF's campus and you traveled a thousand miles to play them for the first time in six years. Can you just talk about what it's like to have an in-state game up here in Connecticut and what it means in terms of the spotlight on women's basketball in the state of Florida.

NINA RICKARDS: I guess they wanted a challenge to see who is the best team in Florida, so we're going to give 'em a show. As you can see, there's a lot of teams from Florida playing in this tournament, so that means something really being in basketball there. So we're just excited to be here. Like we said, wherever we had to go we were going to show up and that's what we're doing.

ZIPPY BROUGHTON: She said it. (Laughing).

Q. From a matchup standpoint, obviously you didn't play UCF but Kelly was saying the other day, I mean they're a quick team, up-tempo. What have you guys seen as players that you're going to have to deal with in that matchup?

ZIPPY BROUGHTON: To deal with? I know from my standpoint I like to focus on us, not to disregard anything that UCF is doing, but you know especially with me being the point guard now since Kiki is out, how can I best execute the plays, how can I best orchestrate the team.

So we are here to hoop, man. Whatever matchup is necessary like we're just here to hoop, so, yeah.

NINA RICKARDS: I think Zippy answered that question well.

Q. So you mentioned it a little bit about seeing who is the best team in Florida. You guys are, as a program, I don't know if you know the history between the two schools, but you've never lost to UCF, 25-0. How important is it to keep that run alive and is there a rivalry? I mean, you guys are obviously not in the same conference. USF is more of their rivals than you guys. But is there kind of a rivalry, especially among the six teams from Florida that are in this tournament?

ZIPPY BROUGHTON: I truthfully do not know. It's my first year in Florida so I necessarily don't know the history of the rivalries, but I can say I've seen that Florida is, Florida Gators are undefeated in the UCF and Florida rivalry, but just like any other game we're going to go out with the expectation to win. So it's no different from any other game.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you, both. Coach, can you get us started with some opening remarks and then open it up for questions.

KELLY RAE FINLEY: Yeah, of course. First of all, it's a pleasure to be here. It's a tremendous opportunity for our team and for our program. We're excited to be in Storrs. The history and the tradition is great. And like Nina said, when we started this season we started out on a journey to be the best that we could be, achieve our potential together, continue to grow in hopes of making the tournament. And we're a group of competitors, we're not into consolation prizes, excuses or handouts. And I think we've earned this opportunity together, so it's a tremendous opportunity for us and we're excited to be here.

THE MODERATOR: All right. We'll start with questions for coach.

Q. Can you talk about the challenge of playing this game without Kiki and obviously there had to be some lows emotionally for the team when she went down and then the highs of making the tournament and how do you get your team prepared without their star for a moment like this?

KELLY RAE FINLEY: Yeah, we will miss Kiki on the floor. There's no doubt about that. But we prepare like we prepare every single day. We have tremendous group of student athletes who strive to be their best in whatever role is required of them every single day and that's what makes this team unique and really, really special. You don't always get that and I know that Kiki is extremely confident in the preparation of her teammates, I think she's excited to be here too, everybody's acting -- she's very much a part of this team and has a tremendous influence on everybody and an impact. One thing that makes her so special is her selflessness and her desire to want to win and uplift the people around her.

So you'll see if you come to practice today her encouraging, up lifting, seeing different things, different reads on the floor, but you know we'll miss her on court but we know that we're prepared.

Q. From talking to Zippy there she just said we're ready to hoop. What does that look like in your eyes, what's it been like the preparation leading up to this?

KELLY RAE FINLEY: Oh, it's been awesome. I think that we have a group of competitors. UCF's style of basketball is a little bit different than what we've faced, but we feel prepared, we feel confident and we're going to go out there and have fun. So when she says we want to go hoop, that's what we do, we talked yesterday, players make plays. Coaches coach, but the greatest coaches have the greatest players. I think we have a tremendous group of young players and I'm excited to see what they do on the court tomorrow.

Q. Being the first time for so many of these athletes to play in the NCAA tournament, again, it's a goal, it's a dream, it's what everyone in this position wants to be, besides Zippy who has already played, do you see that excitement level that they have brought into Storrs and playing at a place like they're playing at?

KELLY RAE FINLEY: Yeah, for sure. We want to have joy. That's what we've wanted to do all season. Today, tomorrow, is no different than anything that we've done over the course of the last six months. And when you prepare relentlessly you know we can't let this be bigger than the moment or bigger than the game. When the ball tips we'll lock in between those four lines like we do every night we play and embrace the moment and enjoy each other.

It's fun to compete with this group the way they look at each other, the way they feed off of each other, they're just fun to coach and they're fun to be around and that's what we see every day.

Q. You talked about how Zippy fits in without Kiki, like what's Nina doing right now to help this team and how far has she come along this year?

KELLY RAE FINLEY: Oh, she's come a long ways and I think with that, it's not to take anything away from her, but everybody has. Everybody has in their own way and their own right. And again, not to be redundant, but what makes coaching this team so special is their ability to understand their role and embrace it, see where their advantages lie and know that if that's what the game calls for in that moment, that they're ready to step up and they're prepared. You don't always get that.

And Nina is a tremendous competitor, we were talking on the way here about playing at Dyckman, a park up in New York City, and she shines in big moments. She always has, that's who she is, but you know what makes Nina special is she's willing to embrace whatever's asked of her.

If the game calls for her to defend the other team's best player, best scorer, she will do it. Some games this year she didn't score any points, but she had a tremendous role on the floor. Some games she got in early foul trouble and had to sit on the bench and empowering and encouraging her teammate it was like a tag-in, right? A tag-in. Knowing that together we're better than we are as individuals and she embraces that mentality every single day and because of that we're much better team.

Q. Can you talk about what it means to be playing a rivalry, in-state rival up here tomorrow and obviously six teams from Florida, everybody knows what Jose has done at USF and can you address a little bit about what Coach Abe has done at UCF and even Florida Gulf Coast last time I checked they were leading Virginia Tech. Just the basketball in Florida and the spotlight that this game shines on women's basketball in Florida.

KELLY RAE FINLEY: Yeah, it's been, it's really cool and it's very encouraging for the state after Florida and women's basketball as a whole to have so many teams in the tournament. And competing at such a high level I think it speaks to the talent to the level of coaching, to the recruiting, to the area, all of those things.

And Coach Abe has done a tremendous job at UCF, she's a very talented basketball coach and a tremendous person. And like Nina and Zippy said, I don't know, I'm not big into rivalries, honestly, I don't, I don't know much about that, I grew up in Minnesota.

But to be a Florida Gator is a tremendous honor and it should be treated as such. And within that we respect all of our opponents. Central Florida is an extremely talented team, they're athletic, they pose a lot of challenges for their opponents, that's why they have won a lot of games this year.

So, yes, Coach Abe is a tremendous coach and the state of Florida is shining and growing as a women's basketball state as a whole.

Q. Can you address, with fans back this year and you're in this venue where you walk into Gampel Pavilion and there's 11 championship banners hanging in the rafters a names on the wall that I assume all your players watched growing up, so how do you balance with them the business trip versus the first time that people have been able to of fun at this tournament in a couple years and having them embrace kind of that at the same time.

KELLY RAE FINLEY: Yeah, it's a great thought and a great question, thanks for asking that. I think that everywhere we've been this season -- you know, when we started this season -- you might not know this -- but we set out to create a great experience and I think we've done that. A great experience for our coaching staff, a great experience for our university, great experience for each other.

And so it's no different, it's not disrespect than anywhere else we've been. Everywhere we've been we want to enjoy the scenery, we want to enjoy each other, we want to play basketball and like Zippy said, we want to hoop. And we're going to do that with the same approach no matter where we are.

Q. Can you address, behind you the March Madness sign, it's something the women's tournament hasn't been able to use for some reason before this year and the idea of equity and the changes that they say are coming, what have you seen, is there a difference, was it easier to get up here, are they doing more for you, do you expect that to come later and what changes still need to happen in the next couple years to make women's basketball equitable with the men's tournament?

KELLY RAE FINLEY: Yeah, you know because we haven't been to the tournament in quite some time, I can't speak to that. But I do think that it's incredibly encouraging to have the same March Madness, to us as basketball players it's always been March Madness, and so that's something that I don't know how many, if you ask our student athletes they will be like, yeah, it's March Madness, like that's what we do, it's the time of year, you know?

And I think that we have seen a tremendous amount of growth and I think that as the game continues to grow, so will we, with equality and making sure that things are fair, that we do the next right thing and I think that if that's our focus we're going to have tremendous growth in our sport.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you.