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

March 18, 2022

Joni Taylor

Jenna Staiti

Jillian Hollingshead

Georgia Bulldogs

Media Conference

Georgia 70, Dayton 54

JONI TAYLOR: Yeah, No. 1, Dayton is a really, really good team, and they just do a really good job of stretching you and I thought that we did a good job of walking in but credit to them. They are really good. They have been really good for a long time and we faced a really tough team tonight.

In terms of what we looked like I thought we did a good job of locking in and trying to take away what they do well which is shoot the three ball and they have three dynamic guards and I thought we did a good job of frustrating them and making it tough. We shared the basketball at our end of the floor and I felt like we had a size advantage and I thought we did a good job of just being aggressive and when we didn't make shots, getting offensive rebounds and giving ourselves second chance opportunities and to get to the free throw line. That's something we really talked about a lot, and tonight we got to the line 30 times which is really impressive and speaks to us being aggressive and rebounding the basketball. Just extremely proud of everybody who played tonight and survive and advance.

Q. Can you take me through your battle because such a great contributor, and what was it like to get back on the floor?

JILLIAN HOLLINGSHEAD: Through my process, it's been a lot but I just try to stay patient and being positive was probably the biggest thing, too. Getting confidence from my coaches, my teammates, just them believing in me and me coming out, like you said, missing a lot of games in the conference, coming out today just felt really good. Just really good to be back.

Q. And then before you left, we talked about how this is a chance to kind of get things back. How did you see that in this game to get it back to what y'all do best and perform?

JENNA STAITI: For sure, the SEC Tournament left a bad taste in our mouth but it's over. New season. Everyone gets a new start, fresh start, and my teammates and coaches got us -- we got ready and we had a couple weeks off and I think that was great for us, and tonight, all the work that we put in the past couple weeks, it showed up and you can tell by everybody that was on the floor tonight that something -- we flipped a switch.

Q. The size advantage, were you able to take advantage of that size and rebound so well in the paint?

JILLIAN HOLLINGSHEAD: We just do what we did best. We never gave up in the post. In the post it's hard, you get beat up down there, but you just never give up. Go up strong, go up with two hands, and it will just speak for itself.

Q. In terms of this team's confidence right now, how badly have you guys wanted to get to the point where you guys play a 40-minute game from start to finish like this and where do you feel like your heads are at?

JENNA STAITI: For sure, I think everybody is confident. I think the coaches did a good job of reassuring us in practice every day and you know even with me, I'll get in my head and Coach Joni, quick talk and we're right back at it. You should have seen me before the game today. Just a quick little talk it flips a switch. I just really think we give confidence in each other and the coaches obviously do, too. They just believe in us, and you could tell tonight, like I said, everybody seemed calm and collected.

Q. The last thing I have, Jillian was out -- how big was her performance tonight and what you guys were able to do offensively?

JENNA STAITI: I'm so proud of her. She's my Buddy. I kinds of try to be a role model to her. Every day I kind of talk to her, teller like it's coming, it's coming, we see how hard she works on the sideline. She wants to be in there. She's putting in the work. She wants to be out there. Tonight it's what we know she can do every single time. We are super proud of her and we know if the ball is in Jillian's hands, we're in good hands.

Q. How did it feel that everybody contributed and it was a total team effort tonight?

JENNA STAITI: I just think that's what makes our team so dangerous. It can be anybody's night, and when everybody steps up like that, it's dangerous. I'm super proud of what everyone came and showed up tonight.

JILLIAN HOLLINGSHEAD: I have to agree. One thing I do know that Georgia Basketball does is share the ball and that never has changed and we do that every night. Like you said, everyone had a lot of points tonight. So it just shows.

Q. How do you physically and mentally feel tonight?

JILLIAN HOLLINGSHEAD: I feel good. I had to knock some rest off but feel good. I feel confident and just to play with my sisters and go all the way.

JONI TAYLOR:

Q. I guess I'll start with, how excited are you as coaches, just waiting for Jillian to get back?

JONI TAYLOR: You know, it speaks to how -- what an important piece she is to our team. For her to not have played in the amount of games that she has; that she's trying to get back from her knee injury, for her to come out and do what they did tonight just speaks to her focus.

No. 1, I have to give a really good shoutout to Stacey Kisil, our trainer, to keep her playing and managing her the way that we have been able to manage her. We've always told Jillian, like just stay the course, stay the course, and for a freshman to be able to do that and be locked in, she gets minimal reps in practice just because of how we need to manage her right now.

So it looked like she had not missed a beat, right. So just really excited for her, really proud of her and I think again this is going to be a teaching point for our team, right, trusting the process, taking care of your business and doing what you're supposed to do; and not necessarily waiting your turn but because there's games obviously when Jillian was playing in the non-conference was really impactful, but making sure that you're ready when your number is called.

Q. Were you guys able to get her to a point where she could step up and be able to do that and then have an opportunity to come out in a game that's so important?

JONI TAYLOR: She's just got swelling, right. So it's a bit bizarre. Like nothing happened. She didn't do anything to it. Just it swells, right. So just managing the swelling around her knee. There's no pain. But you don't want to put her out there if her knee is swollen. It's managing the swelling. That's where Stacey has been able to just really rehab her and get the swelling down. That's why she has managed in practice so that we are not putting too much of the load on her because just it pops up. So obviously we will get back tonight and do some NormaTec and do some stuff on her and manage her tomorrow and see what she looks like.

Q. With Magassa (ph) not being able to play for Dayton, you had that size advantage, and Jenna and Malury was in there and everybody did their part. How were you able to hone in on that?

JONI TAYLOR: Well, I think the floor game of Jordan tonight, the floor game of Malury, the floor game of Javyn, it doesn't show up in the stats sheet in terms of in terms of points but just their ability to get in there and rebound the ball, get their hands on balls, put pressure on Dayton by going into offensive rebound, it just wears you out.

So when we have got five post players rotating in, that's to our strength. And so all of them play really well tonight and when they are all playing, well, sometimes it's hard figuring out who needs to go, right. It just depends on the situation. I thought Jordan did a really good job of guarding Whalen tonight when Whalen went to the floor. But when you have all five of them playing the way they are, it gives us options.

Q. You guys did what you guys like to do, scoring in transition, and you spoke about how you guys were blocked in. How did you guys really get to that point and kind of get that confidence back?

JONI TAYLOR: Well, I say this all the time, but the week between the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament is an important week for everybody, not just for us but an important week for everybody that's going to continue to play and for us it happens to fall during our spring break. It gives our young ladies a chance not only to our bodies, but to rest our minds, too, because they don't have an academic load to manage that week.

So we gave them a few days off and let them reset and refocus and we just turned the page. We turned the page. We have a mature team and we have a young team so we have a mix of both.

I think they know that there's an opportunity here that they want to take advantage of and so everybody is marching in that direction.

Q. What's it going to take to move to that second weekend that hasn't happened in almost ten years?

JONI TAYLOR: We just have to be locked in. We are going to go out now and scout them. We have two good teams in Arlington and Iowa State so we are going to get prepared and scout them and get ready to go tomorrow. That's what it is. It's a quick turnaround. This is where you last season on your leadership and your numbers and rely that everybody is going to be locked in and focused.