NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - GEORGIA TECH VS KANSAS

March 18, 2022

Brandon Schneider

Holly Kersgieter

Taiyanna Jackson

Kansas Jayawks

Media Conference

Kansas 77, Georgia Tech 58

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: Credit to Georgia Tech on having an outstanding season. Just have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Fortner and the job she's done throughout her career. Couldn't be prouder of our young women in their fight and determination really throughout the entire ballgame.

Q. You jumped out to a quick lead and then they sort of got things together. And then what did you talk about to get back to playing your style on both ends, making things happen once they got it close again?

HOLLY KERSGIETER: I mean, they just kind of played harder than us, so we either had to -- we couldn't rely on them to stop making shots or to stop playing hard. We had to fix it ourselves. It wasn't really X's and Os, it was just kind of mental, like hey, we expect runs to happen, it's how you respond. Obviously we responded well because we took the lead at halftime and then we never lost the lead again, I don't think. So we did well.

Q. Seemed like when you got it back together, you were making one extra pass to find a high percentage shot, an unselfish play that made it really flow.

HOLLY KERSGIETER: Yeah, the chemistry today was really good. Just the penetration I thought was -- it was off at times, but that's going to happen. When we made the right plays, we finished and it was really good.

Q. There was a lot of talk about the bigs matchup. It seemed like it wasn't that much -- it was kind of an interior game but there was a lot of perimeter stuff, too, in that game.

TAIYANNA JACKSON: Yes, definitely. Our plan was to work inside out, and that's what we did. We had success inside and out.

Q. Holly, how much fun is it to play with Taiyanna doing what she does to make things difficult in the middle and on both ends, being able to find her in the paint on offense?

HOLLY KERSGIETER: Yeah, when you have that dependability in the paint, it's kind of like a relief, like hey, I know she's going to do her job. And there's obviously plays where she can go one-on-one and a lot of others aren't involved, so it's not a lot of -- there's more times where it's fun watching her, too. And just to have that presence in the paint, it's great to have her behind us when sometimes plays, we get beat and stuff like that.

I think her offense is the underrated part of her game. People see her as a defensive presence, and we know how much she's capable of offensively, and she's just as big of a threat. It's really fun to play with her, fun to watch her.

Q. You've mentioned that word chemistry, and I know the daunting stretch that your team had in the last five or six games against pretty much top-10 opponents. What did that do for this group to prepare you for this stage?

HOLLY KERSGIETER: Yeah, it built us. There are times and there are teams who see that and kind of go downhill, but we've just kind of put an emphasis on helping it let us grow. This team, we have a lot of veterans. We've been through a lot together, and we've never been here, so we were ready. We were really excited. It showed today.

Q. I was kind of trying to analyze that game. Besides the initial 10-0 and 12-0 run on their part, seemed like they couldn't get enough stops. You had kind of an answer. You hit key buckets. When they tried to make a run, you were hustling well on defense, and I thought that was a big part of it.

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: I think we were able to ignite our offense with our defense. We did a good job limiting them to offensive rebounds. I think they only had nine in the entire game. That was really important for us, was trying to get stops and then push pace as much as possible.

Q. Along those lines, it does seem like this group makes the extra pass to find the best shot and just does the little things that make you go.

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: That's how we have to play to be successful. We don't have a Big 12 MVP candidate on our team. We don't have a star.

But I think we've got a team of good players who understand that if they play the right way and have each other's back and try to out-team the opponent, then they have a chance to be successful.

Q. And the way you withstood that run kind of mid, late first quarter, early second, to then get back on track before halftime, how key was that, and does that go down to your veteran leadership?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: Well, it all started with an offensive rebound on the free-throw line which makes our skin crawl. So it was a hustle play on Georgia Tech's part, and I think they got a three out of it. And then a possession later, they got a loose ball where they were the first team to the floor, signs that they were just playing harder than us. You're never going to have success if you let somebody out-compete you. They might outplay you, they might out-execute you, but in those moments we were letting them out-compete us, and I thought that's when we had a change of mindset.

Q. What did you say exactly at that point or was there somebody who said something in the huddle that mattered?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: I think we all recognized it, and we've had stretches obviously in the year where that's happened, and we wanted to respond as quickly as possible.

Q. How much did that last stretch late in the season -- the opponents you played?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: You know, we had the toughest schedule in the country the last four games. Played three teams in the top 10 and then played Oklahoma who is a 4 seed and a top-20 team back to back. We didn't allow it to discourage us or to break us or to fragment us. We tried to accentuate all the positives in each one of those games and know that when you play that kind of competition, you can't simulate that in practice. When you play that kind of competition, it makes you better, and hopefully there was evidence of that today.

Q. Taiyanna had to sit in the first half with those two fouls. What did you think of her performance?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: I thought she was terrific and probably the primary difference in the second half. We really debated playing her with two in the first half, but we were fortunate to make a little run and not let it get out of hand. I thought she was terrific on both ends of the floor. One of her more complete games in particular in the second half of the entire season.

Q. Have you been able to watch any film on Stanford?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: I have not. You know, obviously we have the scouting report done on both of our potential opponents, and we have staff that are working on that, but I'll get to work on our next opponent obviously this evening. Players need to celebrate and enjoy this, but the coaches are going to work.

Q. Last season Tara's team couldn't even be on campus for almost 10 weeks. They practiced in a gym out in Santa Cruz that the lights went out. Can you from afar imagine how she did that and took her team to a national title?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: I think one of the most impressive accomplishments in sports. It was unbelievable. She's obviously a coach that we all look up to and admire and try to emulate maybe in building our programs the right way with the sustainability that Stanford has had for so many years. Kiana Williams was a point guard on that team, we recruited her and were very close to her. We were rooting for her to have success.