NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - ARKANSAS VS UTAH

March 18, 2022

Lynne Roberts

Kennady McQueen

Gianna Kneepkens

Utah Utes

Media Conference

Utah 92, Arkansas 69

LYNNE ROBERTS: As this team has done all season, they stayed steady and just answered the bell. Obviously a great shooting night for us. I thought we turned it over a little too much. But still, to win and to do so the way we did, I'm really proud of our team and proud of our program and excited that we get to stick around in Austin for a couple more days.

Q. I guess that 10-0 start put you and the team at ease?

LYNNE ROBERTS: Yeah, I've been asked about that coming into this tournament, do you anticipate nervousness from the team, and they have never shown nerves this season. And I think that's a testament to our leadership, to Dru Gylten and to our upperclassmen, but it's also a testament to just the mindset of this group. We have bought into the concept of staying neutral this year, don't get too high, don't get too low. But before the game, shootaround today, practice last night, it didn't feel any different in terms of their approach, my approach, the scouting, all of it. We kept it really consistent, and I think that helped.

Q. How complete of a performance was that, and can you rank it among the others you've had this year? If you can look past the 20 turnovers like Coach said.

LYNNE ROBERTS: 19.

Q. My bad.

KENNADY McQUEEN: No, I think we played really well. We followed our game plan offensively and defensively, and I think we just executed. We knew we were down on the boards for a little bit, so I think a main focus for us was catching up to them on the board and not letting them get as many offensive boards. So no, we really executed our game plan.

GIANNA KNEEPKENS: Yeah, similar answer, but I think just we all know going into March that every team is a good team, so we kind of have to have a complete game. So we know where our focus has to be, and yeah, I think we showed that.

Q. Gianna, when they made a little run, did it make you -- were you concerned at all or was this just part of the game and you react quickly?

GIANNA KNEEPKENS: Yeah, I wasn't concerned. Obviously, I knew we had to be better and we all knew that, but we know that Arkansas is a good team, they're here. So they're going to make run, they're going to hit shots. They have great players on their team, so as long as we stay focused and stick to our principles, we would answer back, and we did.

Q. 15 threes, is that an off-night for y'all? You guys kind of live at the line.

GIANNA KNEEPKENS: I mean, we all like to shoot the three and all of us can, so it makes it a lot of fun. But we don't like to say we live by the three because if we aren't hitting, we find other ways to score. So yeah, it was fun being able to move the ball. And, Kennady, it felt like she didn't miss a single shot tonight, so that was super fun.

KENNADY McQUEEN: I agree. I didn't think it was -- it didn't feel like an off-night. I think we moved the ball super well, and yeah, it went well.

Q. Can you talk about how you guys were able to kind of keep Arkansas maybe off stride a bit from the three-point line and kind of keep them --

KENNADY McQUEEN: Yeah, that was a focus coming into the game. We knew especially in transition they looked for threes. And so I think just focusing on that and communicating really well as we're running back in transition, it kept them from getting a lot of open looks. And our goal was six or less threes for them, and we got that goal. It was definitely a focus the whole game.

Q. Kennady, is there such a thing as a bad three for y'all? Or everything is a green light if it's a reasonable look?

KENNADY McQUEEN: No, we definitely try for high-quality shots. So I think a lot what they were doing tonight is going under screen. So yeah, any time they go under, our guards have the green light to shoot that. That's a lot of looks that we got tonight.

Q. Gianna, you made that first shot, and then Kennady, you hit a three-pointer, and I think I saw a smile on your face after that. Is that kind of where you know, hey, it's going to be our night?

GIANNA KNEEPKENS: Well, I just remember -- because Coach always says throw the first punch, so that's like always a goal. But we knew we had to stay focused because like I said earlier, we know they're going to get a run. Yeah, it was fun to do that, but we knew we had to stay focused and make sure they didn't go and do the same thing to us on defense.

KENNADY McQUEEN: Of course, it's always good to hit your first couple of shots, so yeah, put a smile on our face to get going how we wanted to.

Q. Have you seen her birth certificate to know she's a freshman?

KENNADY McQUEEN: Yeah.

Q. You've seen proof?

KENNADY McQUEEN: Yeah.

Q. For both of you, did you want Texas, want to play them on their home court for the challenge and the test, being a 2 seed?

KENNADY McQUEEN: Yeah, I think that's so exciting. What a great opportunity ahead of us to cause an upset, and I think we have no doubt in our team and our ability. It's exciting. This is what March is about, and so to have that opportunity and to make a lot of noise in the tournament, it's very exciting, I think.

GIANNA KNEEPKENS: Yeah, I echo that. Any challenge, I think our whole team is up to. We look forward to those opportunities and we aren't scared and we won't back down. Either team we play is going to be fun. It's March.

Q. Kennady, how would you say your leadership role has developed as the year has gone on? And Lynne, how do you see -- it's been clear as someone who's followed the team for the whole season that Kennady has really stepped up and been a leader this year. How do you think she's done in that role?

KENNADY McQUEEN: Yeah, I think there's definitely been progressive changes of leadership role coming from last year. And then just seeing that opportunity develop in front of me and just trying to follow Dru's leadership. She's the best leader I've ever followed. Like high school, club, out of everything, she sets the example. Dru is awesome, so just being able to follow her example.

I think I'm less of a vocal leader, doing things more by example and I am a hardworking leader, so I think really focusing on that this year.

LYNNE ROBERTS: Yeah, Kennady has been phenomenal this season. I think the thing that she is is just really tough. She has no quit. How many offensive boards did she get there in that first quarter to kind of set the tone for us? She's fearless. There's not a single possession I can remember where she doesn't give it her all. What a luxury to be able to coach a kid like that.

I'm really proud of her. She had a great night tonight, didn't take a single shot that wasn't great. Rebounded the heck out of it. Just played hard defense.

She had the fun task of guarding Ramirez a lot of the night. Yeah, I'm incredibly proud of her, and the sky's the limit for her.

Q. Lynne, how did you develop your philosophy on using the three-point shot so extensively?

LYNNE ROBERTS: I did a -- I'm not trying to be contrite here, but three is more than two, and so I really am trying to get how many points per possession, points per shot attempt, the analytics of it. And how do we get -- I think you've seen the NBA move that way, professional basketball is very much that way, and so I just did -- total geeked-out this off-season and studied -- that's the simple part.

Then the next layer is how do you get a system that plays to that. Luckily I've always recruited kids that can shoot it, kids that can score, and so we had a roster that was built for that.

I don't know which one of them said it, but we don't want to live and die by it. But if we're given any three that's a good shot, we're going to take it. We don't quantify makes and misses, we quantify shot quality. So you can miss five in a row, but if they're great shots, that's a good job. And then just laws of percentages.

If you're not reliant on a shooter or two shooters, if you have a whole group out there that can shoot, then it's pretty tough to defend.

I enjoy it. It's fun. The kids -- especially at this point in the season, they know what a great shot is, and I think players enjoy playing in that kind of system where anyone can shoot it at any time if it's a great shot for our team.

Q. How big a concern are the 19 turnovers considering that's how Texas makes its living?

LYNNE ROBERTS: Yeah, it is a concern. I'm not naïve to what Texas is great at. That's a concern. I don't think that our turnovers tonight were -- I don't think the majority of them were forced necessarily. I mean, Arkansas does a good job, but a lot of things, like balls ripped from our hands or a sloppy outlet pass or just a couple moving screens, those kind of things, that's not defense-related.

But yeah, we're going to have to not turn the ball over like that against Texas if that's who we play.

My heart says I'm happy to win and we'll be ready to play whoever it is on Sunday.

Q. You guys did have 20 assists on 32 buckets. The question I asked the players about the completeness, where you would rank this, do you want to take a stab at that?

LYNNE ROBERTS: I mean, for it being everyone's first NCAA Tournament game, I'm pretty proud of that. I thought we played true to form. We just shot the ball really well.

But the way we moved it, 20 assists on 32 baskets, that's pretty stinkin' good. No one on our team is selfish. No one is trying to do too much within the system. They're taking their shots. It was good. I thought defensively we did a pretty good job. We really did. We know we have the ability to get hot from three and we know they get to the free-throw line.

We did a really good job defending the three and not fouling because they have some athleticism where they can turn the corner and beat us just on foot speed, and we didn't bail out. We didn't do the bail-out foul.

Yeah, it was a very complete game against a really good team.

Q. It was 74-62, I assume you noticed the start of the fourth quarter, and I think it was a 20-0 run. I thought you were going to shut them out there for a second the rest of the game. What does that speak to as far as one of the main qualities of your team?

LYNNE ROBERTS: We just talked about we wanted to win the fourth quarter. Like 0-0, let's win the fourth quarter. That's what I just kept saying. We talked about taking care of the ball, let's get a great shot, and we adjusted some of our defense, pick-and-roll coverage, just so we could protect ourselves from fouling.

I think our depth was a key today, too. We didn't seem to get tired. I think in that third quarter they got a little tired, and we were able to just kind of keep pushing.

But yeah, great fourth quarter, and it's a fun way to win.