NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - VILLANOVA VS BYU

March 19, 2022

Denise Dillon

Maddy Siegrist

Lucy Olsen

Villanova Wildcats

Media Conference

Villanova 61, BYU 57

DENISE DILLON: Yeah, taking some deep breaths here. First want to congratulate BYU on a tremendous year and just such a great program. Learned a lot watching them this week in their execution, as did our team. So congrats to them.

And then to our group, just a tremendous effort from start to finish. Didn't come out executing great, but found a way. Talked to the team about making it a possession game, and they did just that and found way to come up with a huge win here in the tournament.

Q. Maddy, just want to get inside your head in the last two plays. You hit those two free throws to go up three and then you get the block on the three pointer. What was going your head?

MADDY SIEGRIST: Just with the free throws, just up and in. Just trying to get them in.

With the block, I can't give up any threes to No. 10. She already hit one in my face, so I knew she wasn't going to get a three off.

Q. Lucy, you got six steals today, five in the first half. Is that a part of your game you've been working on? What kind of led to that?

LUCY OLSEN: We talk a lot about defensive games so I don't know. I just want to do as much as I can to help our team win, and I guess steals was one of the ways today. I just wanted to work hard and do whatever I could.

Q. Maddy, you had a slow offensive first half; second half kind of poured it on. What was the change in mentality, if anything, between those two?

MADDY SIEGRIST: Just knowing like it's a long game. Keep shooting the shots you normally take and eventually they'll start to fall.

Q. First March Madness appearance, Lucy. What was the mental preparation like and how was it to be out there in the post-season?

LUCY OLSEN: Yeah, it's very exciting. I mean, I just like to play basketball. It's fun.

So the fact that we can keep playing the NCAA tournament, like I always watched it growing up. That I'm here playing with my team, it's really cool.

Q. It was a slow start to the game. You got two timeouts, media timeout and then you called one. What was the message to the players during those two time timeouts to calm them down?

DENISE DILLON: Just continuing to deliver the message of defense. We thought it would take us a little bit to recognize how they were guarding us, to get a feel for the game on the offensive end and what we would be able to execute.

Just so unfamiliar with this team. You're looking at them on film, but you're not aware of the strength and the speed. Delivering that message back to the team that the defense will ground us if we commit to that, and then the offense will come as we get more comfortable throughout the contest.

Q. Paisley had 21 points today. What did you see out of her and what was kind of was the plan going in to defend her?

DENISE DILLON: Yeah, well, obviously we thought she was a player who would get the ball off early in their possessions, and she can create on her own as well.

So we were just trying as best we could -- we were thankful we had a number of players trying to go in there to deny her the possession. Just her speed and strength, you know, capable of getting those looks.

It was just a team effort recognizing, trying not to bail out as much, making them work for the contested shot. Familiar through film, but making the adjustments as the game went on.

Q. Kind of the exact same question as the first one. In the fourth quarter, Maddy hits six straight points and BYU gets timeout and then media timeout again. What was your message on the flip side of the where you got that big momentum to close out the rest of the game?

DENISE DILLON: Yeah, bringing it down to the possessions, and we were thankful. It was a two-possession game at that point. The ball is going to fall in Maddy's hands throughout -- even in this the game we had it there, but knowing down the stretch, looking for her to make plays for us.

I think how she capitalized off an offensive rebound, put-back. Just staying within the possession and then just executing on the defensive end.

I was really pleased with how we were able to rotate, sub, offense, defense, get some players in there and do what was necessary. We did a really nice job switching screens, and that's communication we need to have.

Luckily we didn't foul early and had some to give and were able to run some clock off as well.

Q. Just curious, Maddy's second half, did you do anything adjustment-wise to get her better looks or opportunities from the first half?

DENISE DILLON: No. It's just still running our offense, trying to get quick hits as opposed to some of the continuity offense. I felt they did a really nice job taking her out the natural cuts or off some flair screens.

For Mad, it was really just a matter of settling in and seeing what was happening out there and then just feeling the game. I think she's done a tremendous job of that this season.

Her growth from last season to this season has been just that, just settling in, letting the game come to her instead of forcing things. She wanted it so badly, but realized the game is long as she just said in her answer in the question. She did just that, and it worked in her favor and certainly our favor.

Q. How crucial were the turnovers there in the first half? Lucy came in and got a couple steals. How did that spark your team's offense?

DENISE DILLON: Yeah, absolutely. As Luce said, it created the defense, created some offense for us; just showed that we were able to match up with them and guard them.

I think our team felt a little more comfortable and confident with what we were trying to execute on the defensive end by getting a couple picks there, and then momentum just shifted for us.

Then again, as I said, went back and forth. But we didn't let up on defense once that first quarter was coming to an end, and we got a couple of those big, big stops we needed.