NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - STEPHEN F. AUSTIN VS NORTH CAROLINA

March 19, 2022

Mark Kellogg

Zya Nugent

Aiyana Johnson

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks

Media Conference

North Carolina 79, Stephen F. Austin 66

MARK KELLOGG: Well, first, congrats to North Carolina. Really good basketball team. We knew that coming in, how talented they were, that it most likely was the most talented team we had faced all year, and they were.

But at the same time I'm so proud of our group. I think we were up two going into the fourth quarter and didn't play particularly well in that quarter, but up until then I thought our kids battled. I thought there was no moment too big. We settled in and played and played really from the tip. That's all we had asked them to do and give ourselves an opportunity and a chance to win it late, which we did, and we just didn't find a way to get it done, and that's okay. That's the way the ball bounces I guess from time to time and unfortunately it didn't bounce our way there late.

But yeah, really, really proud of them. Proud of these two up here. They were really good through most of the night. I thought Brittingham was really good there in the first half and gave us a great spark.

Foul trouble I thought was a little bit of the key for us. We lost some rhythm a little bit with some of the fouls, but then a few defensive lapses in that fourth quarter. We don't give up 20 very often in a quarter and we gave up two of them in the second half, but credit North Carolina for making the shots when we made a mistake.

We have five seniors that I couldn't be more proud of. They've changed the complexion of our program from where we were five years ago, four or five years ago, which was still really good, to where we are now. It's not just the seniors but they certainly started it, and then the juniors like Zya and everybody else is going to continue to take it to another level.

It's hard to get here, too. These one-bid leagues, it's really hard. It's really, really hard, and this group has been here back-to-back, and that's pretty special and something we don't take for granted, we don't take lightly, and that I'm certainly very, very proud of.

Hopefully on a national -- we're still trying to get some national love a little bit here, and I hope we earned a little bit more of that. We'll keep knocking on the door. I said that with the conference tournament a few years ago, that we need to knock it down to win that thing, and I'm going to say it here again, we keep knocking we're going to get one of these tournament victories here pretty soon. Hopefully again we opened some eyes to the brand and what SFA Lady Jack basketball is all about.

Q. Aiyana, wonderful career for you. You've been such a key factor. You led this program to two back-to-back NCAA Tournament seasons. Talk about the body of work that Coach always talks about and how special the ride was this season alone.

AIYANA JOHNSON: I mean, the structure of what he created for us is something that we bought into from the beginning. Our slogan this year was "all or nothing," and I think that's what we did. We gave our all no matter what each game. He got on us when we weren't in practice or anything like that, so I think that we just bought into what he wanted, and that's what made the ride so special.

Q. Zya, your fight is so known, every game it's so passionate in a really positive way, and your team came up short tonight. What stood out in your eyes down the stretch in this game?

ZYA NUGENT: I with would just say how we stayed together even though we didn't come out with the win, but I think that's how we got through everything this year, how we just stuck together through everything, through the adversity, just through anything. We built our sisterhood, and I think as we continue to build that, this team and this program will always be special.

Q. Coach also mentioned just now continuing to really build the brand. What does the SFA Lady Jack brand mean to you and how is that showcased to you?

ZYA NUGENT: I love the showcase, I love the spotlight. Just like he said, building a brand, building a legacy, being on the national stage. We put SFA on the map and I think we'll just continue to do that.

Q. Talk about the pride you have in the program and how that impacted you coming into tonight.

AIYANA JOHNSON: I would say we knew we were a great team and we had no doubt coming into this game the pride that we held in this game was like any other game. It's another team; it doesn't matter what conference they're in.

I think that's what we walked into with we're a great team and we're part of a great conference and we have a great coach that sets us up for every game, so we definitely came in with a great confidence, and that's what he pushed for us the whole season.

Q. Talk about the pride you have in those two ladies.

MARK KELLOGG: Well, really pride in all of them. My job is easy with this group, to be honest. It's a self-led locker room, and I've said that all year, and as a coach that's what you strive for, it's what you want. It allows me to go to work and truly be a basketball coach and put them in a position to have success.

Yeah, there's pride. There's pride in our community with Lady Jack basketball. It's a tradition rich that goes back a long, long time, well before me and my time at SFA. We're just trying to carry it on.

Certainly it's different now than it was a while back when it was really, really good at SFA, but yeah, we want to get it back to that point, and we thought we were a possession away last year losing in overtime to Georgia Tech and they make it to the Sweet 16.

We'll build off this one again and we'll realize we were up two going into the fourth quarter against a team of the caliber of North Carolina, and we'll keep knocking and keep trying to kick that door down.

But certainly, yeah, pride for our community of Nacogdoches, SFA as a university, and certainly the athletic department and then Lady Jack basketball in particular.

Yeah, it hurts and it stings now, but every team is going to feel this except one over the next few weeks, so at the same time we'll be okay and we'll recover from it.

Q. Was there one turning point in that fourth quarter that you look back on?

MARK KELLOGG: I don't think there was one. A little bit even in the third, I just thought the rim -- they got some open looks, and when you do that I always say the rim starts to get bigger and bigger when they see shots go through. We made some defensive mistakes, and you can't do it -- we were so dialed in I thought for the most part other than transition defense a little bit that whole game, and then they just made us pay, and that's what they can do, teams of North Carolina caliber. They make you pay when you make a mistake.

We made a few too many, and that rim got pretty big and they got going, and we just couldn't stop the run.

But yeah, to have it where we did, we had every opportunity. We kept talking about it at every time-out and we were built for that moment, and yeah, it just didn't happen.

Q. One thing that you've mentioned all season is the point of emphasis and how phenomenal your senior group is and how they can catapult the entire game. How will that example go into next season?

MARK KELLOGG: Well, yeah, you just hope they've left the legacy, and who knows, we've got four of them that have a decision to make and we'll figure that one out, too, so they may or may not be done, and I don't know anything. I don't have any information. But we'll figure that one out, too.

If they do decide to go, then yeah, that's all you ever want to do is leave it better than when you got it. We're better now than we were when they got here, and that's what they've done. So that passes down, but that's what allows us to have the player-led locker room is because they do that. They pass it down.

I guess seven years ago now, you put in kind of what you want to be about and what your program is, and then you hope that they carry it on, and that's what they're talking about. They have the same pride as I do, they have the same expectations that I do within our program, and then I can stay out of the locker room and let them manage that and I'll stay upstairs in our office area and make sure I can game plan and just keep the whole thing running.

But incredible staff, incredible players. It takes a village to do this. But yeah, it's a special senior class. If those five decide to go, they'll be remembered for a while, I think.