NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - UMASS VS NOTRE DAME

March 19, 2022

Niele Ivey

Olivia Miles

Dara Mabrey

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Media Conference

Notre Dame 89, UMass 78

MODERATOR: Welcome to the Notre Dame's post-game press conference for the 2022 NCAA March Madness first round. We are joined by Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey and student-athletes Dara Mabrey and Olivia Miles. Coach will give an opening statement before the student- receive questions.

COACH IVEY: So happy! Our first tournament, my first tournament win as a head coach and my first tournament win with this group. I thought we set the tone early right from the beginning. I mean I'm so proud of this group. I felt UMASS played phenomenal. I felt like they really threw a lot of punches at us with their half-court shot going into halftime.

And then we responded, second half. Went up I think 18, but just the resilience of this group. We fought. And I'm just again so proud, so proud to lead this amazing team.

Q. For Olivia. You're now on a list of three players in Notre Dame history with multiple triple-doubles with Skylaar Diggins Smith and Jackie Young. When you see your name up there with those program greats, how does that make you feel? And how do you reflect on your game tonight?

OLIVIA MILES: That's crazy. You know, those are the all-time greats of Notre Dame. Both amazing players. So it just feels like surreal that, you know, my name can be in that company. And after tonight, you know, I felt like my team was hitting shots and that's the biggest, you know, area that helps me get these stats. So I credit it all to my teammates and feels so good playing with them and just running the court with them and they all had my back.

Q. Yeah, Olivia, I will stick with you. It looked like you knew as soon as the three went through that you had gotten the triple-. At what point did you realize you only needed one more assist? And then what was that moment like when you put your arms up in the air as you were running back down the floor?

OLIVIA MILES: Yeah, I think it was the timeout at like the 8:15 mark in the fourth quarter. I went over to one of my assistant coaches and I was like how many assists do I have because I checked the board and saw that I had 10 and 10 points and rebounds.

So I was like -- I told Dara and I told Maddy, I was like I need one more assist, like one of y'all are going to get it for me. And then a few minutes go by, and I hit Maddy on a wide open three and she knocks it down. And that feeling was just so great.

You know, just the connection. And the fact that it was an assist for the triple-double is just all the more special. And, again, that connection is just so amazing.

Q. This question is for both players. What was it like to have Abby Prohaska back on the floor? Felt like she kind of gave you a nice burst there in the first half?

DARA MABREY: Yeah, Abby's one of a kind. She's just one of those players that is willing to sacrifice anything for the betterment of the team. And she presented that right away today. Her presence is felt immediately on our team and the other team. And it felt great to have her back, you know, for numerous reasons. She just brings a spark to our team. She does a lot of little things that are hard to find sometimes. And she has confidence, you know. You feel her presence, and then everybody feeds off of it.

And her leadership as a senior, you know, she's been with this group a long time. She knows what it takes. She's been to the tournament. She made her run freshman year with that group. So I'm really happy to have Abby back.

Q. Two parter. First of all, Dara, how did it feel to finally be able to play that first NCAA tournament game? And then you had five three-pointers tonight. Was there anything about their defense that you knew you were going to have some opportunities early?

DARA MABREY: Yeah, going into it our scout was really good. We knew what type of shots we were going to get, and I practiced those shots all week. So it felt good to see those go through the net.

And as for the first part, I'm just really happy to be here soaking it all up but understanding that we're here to win and we got the job done tonight.

Q. This one's for Olivia. Going back to the triple-double. You know, usually the points and assists, you know, those are always there for you. Rebounds, you know, it's not -- you haven't usually, you know, obviously second time this year. But rebounds is not usually where the triple-double comes for you.

What were your feelings today on the boards, and what helped you get so involved?

OLIVIA MILES: I looked at the like the board and I saw I had seven boards. And I was like what the. I like I didn't even realize that I had that many rebounds. But Coach told us that us guards need to get in there. You know, our bigs were getting bumped around and fouled and not called. So it was super important that we were crashing the boards and just -- I like getting the rebound because then I can push it myself and just go. And that's how I got many of my assists which turned to points so it all just connects.

Q. Niele, you talk all the time about wanting to play fast and usually when you guys lose you say we didn't play our game, we didn't play fast enough. Tonight looked like a track meet. If you guys wanted to run to Norman, you probably would have made it there in time earlier this week.

How awesome was it for you to see your girls play so fast? And then even with that lull in the second and the third quarter, you guys got back to playing fast in the second half, too.

COACH IVEY: Yes, we talked about playing our brand of basketball. And our brand of basketball is pace, pushing pace. And we talked about that all week. The last two weeks that -- in the ACC tournament we didn't play fast. And I felt like when we do play fast, you know, it's to our advantage. I like to average at least 20-25 points in transition.

And I thought Olivia did a great job of setting the tone, pushing pace right from the beginning. Like I said, it's something we work on all the time. We watch film on it, and it's something that I stress to this group. So they understand that. I think we're very dangerous in transition, especially with Olivia's ability to see the floor with her vision.

So I was really I was really happy with the way we started. And also, like you said, when we were on our little lull we finally got the stops and we got out and ran. I was really pleased with our effort and loved the pace today.

Q. Niele, what did they do to you guys kind of late in that second quarter that allowed them to make up some ground? Was it something that they did or something that you guys got out of at that point?

COACH IVEY: Yes, I thought we turned the ball over because of their defense. I thought their defense was really tough. I thought they started sitting off and clogging up the paint. And so we were trying to force the ball inside. And I just didn't think we made you know, great decisions. And then Breen, I mean she's phenomenal. I think she ended with 31 points. And also Taylor. I thought off of our turnovers they really executed and scored off of our turnovers. So I thought really it was their defense.

They switched it up, they were more aggressive in the beginning of the game and then they clogged off, they clogged the paint.

Q. What do you have to say about all of your young players in their first NCAA game? They came out absolutely firing. And then to shift the momentum after Breen's buzzer beater, what can you say about their mental toughness?

COACH IVEY: We talked about, you know, with them not having the experience, we've tried the last two weeks to really present and show and talk to them about what it feels like to be in the tournament with not having any experience.

We had long conversations, a lot of messaging from my entire staff. My entire coaching staff has played in NCAA tournaments, so we tried to prepare our young group to understand what it feels like. The atmosphere, knowing that it doesn't matter the seeding, everyone is playing with desperation. And so I was really proud of the way that they started this game. I thought Sonia got a foul early, got a little bit tentative. But then she fought through that.

I'm sorry, what was your second question?

Q. Just their response after Breen's half-court heave?

COACH IVEY: I mean I -- good few words in halftime to really try to stress the response of, you know, keeping our tone, keeping our foot on the gas. Making sure that we did a better job on defense. Having awareness of their shooters and also taking care of the ball. So I felt like they responded to that and took a while. I think we took a couple minutes before either team scored, either team scored. But then we finally kind of got into our sets, got into the action that we wanted, and then got up and down in transition.

Q. You mentioned Breen a moment ago. What was kind of the plan on her going in? And did she do a pretty good job of kind of working against it?

COACH IVEY: No, I thought she -- I mean I thought she was fantastic. She was somebody that we were really -- we've been focusing on all week. I put Maddy on her, was going to try to have size to try to bother her. But my game plan was to try to limit her touches. She played 40 minutes. I thought she played her heart out. She left it on the floor. She got 12-18. 3-4 from the three-point line.

We didn't do our job against her. But again, you know, she's got a lot of experience, a veteran. And I thought she played phenomenally well. So we didn't do a great job on her.

Q. Coach, you have been here as a player, you have been here as an assistant but never as a head coach. How do you feel? How special is this? And how are you looking to get the win in the next round?

COACH IVEY: Well, it's such a special moment. I had an opportunity to text Coach McGraw today and asked her for some advice. What advice can you give me, Coach, for my first game?

So we had a really good conversation. But again, I just feel so blessed, you know. This is a moment that I have dreamt of my entire life as far as being a head coach. And to be able to sit that one seat over and to lead this group, this team, is just a dream come true.

And then again, this is not -- like Dara said earlier, like I'm embracing the moment. I'm embracing every single part of this journey. But I'm also not satisfied, and I don't want the team to be satisfied to just be here.

You know, we're here to hopefully pray until we get two wins. But I'm just happy that we took care of business against a really tough UMASS team. We came together and found a way to win.

Q. This was the most frustrated we've ever seen Destiny Philoxy in her time at UMASS. Was there something in particular that you focused on this week to get ready for her aggressiveness?

COACH IVEY: Yeah, well, she's leading the team in free throws, so we talked about trying to stay in front of her, trying to contain her. And then sending her to Maya. Maya's our rim protector. She's somebody that we know that can help us. And I thought Maya's just presence sometimes I think frustrated her, you know. And she had I think six turnovers. And again, she does such a great job of getting downhill, but I definitely think that our presence in the paint helped try to contain her.

Q. We mentioned, you know, some of the Notre Dame greats that now have multiple triple-doubles. When you see Olivia with a performance like this, how high do you think her ceiling is? Because obviously you know all of the players whose name she is now next to in the record book.

COACH IVEY: I don't think she has a ceiling. She's so special. I knew she was special from the moment, first time I saw her, and also when she decided to come to Notre Dame. I knew that she's different. Her flair, her style of game. She's -- you know, she has great vision like Skylaar, but she plays different, just with her flair, her swag.

But I mean it's just incredible that she can come into her first tournament game and get a triple-double. And I didn't even think -- I think she still has so many areas to continue to grow. I'm just really proud she came in, she was mentally focused. She was ready. And she, you know, she's engaging. Always asking questions. She has a super high I.Q. and I'm so proud of her. For her to help us to lead this team to our first victory and for her to have that individual accolade.

Q. Coach, today you did a really good job spreading the ball around. Obviously all of the starters but Sonia got over into double digits points. Sonia herself had nine.

You know, what do you think you did, you know, against UMASS playing man to man, you know, really space the floor and get everyone involved?

COACH IVEY: Well, my goal was to establish our inside game initially. So that was the goal. I really wanted to get out and run.

I thought we mixed it up perfectly. Like you said, we have great balance. Four of our starters in double figures. I thought we shared the ball really well. So they sat off and really tried to clog the lane. And I felt we did a great job of making the extra pass. And that extra pass really helped us. And then, again, we had the opportunity to share the ball in transition. So I thought that was phenomenal today.

Q. Coach, two parter here. Can you comment on Maya Dodson's game for me? And second question is did you get more out of Abby than you expected? I mean she came right in and was instant offense and energy right away.

COACH IVEY: Right. Well, Maya, you know, first of all, she has really transformed in our program from the moment she stepped in South Bend onto our campus. She has such a great presence inside. She's such a hard worker. Her athleticism is through the roof. And I thought she was ready. She set the tone, she helped us rebounding. And I thought honestly -- she had two fouls. In the past couple of weeks, she struggled being tentative with two fouls. And I thought she found a way to still stay aggressive. So I thought her play was amazing. Especially with having, you know, she was getting backed up down there. So I thought she really did a great job of trying to finish with contact and getting to the free-throw line. She got to the free-throw line the most today.

And to comment on Abby Prohaska. We were so happy that Abby's healthy. Just seeing her in the gym the last two weeks working on her cardio, working on her -- just getting her rhythm back. She's ready. I mean she's got shades coming on the bus like she's ready. She's a senior, she's waited for this moment. She's battled so many injuries this season and had a lot of adversity. And she's just ready to play, she's ready to contribute. She's my toughness. She gives us that toughness and that energy that we need. She is an incredible spark off the bench and I'm just so happy that she's back with us.

Q. Niele, following up on the previous response, what was the advice when you texted Muffet, that she gave you, if she gave you any? We suspected on Wednesday that you might be a little nervous even with preparation. Did you feel nervous at all?

COACH IVEY: Yeah, well, my question to Coach was what advice do you have for this first one, for the first round? And she just talked about just making sure that we set the tone and to stay aggressive and to start fast. So that was her advice.

And no, I didn't know how I was going to be today. And I wasn't nervous. I felt like we have been working really hard to prepare. I watched a lot of film on UMASS, so I felt comfortable. Not just listening to the scout, but also just feeling -- just feeling the rhythm of UMASS and figuring out my in-game adjustments if I needed them. I felt really comfortable. And again, I felt excited. It was just the energy, you know, being here. It is just -- I was ready.

Q. Niele, it seemed like this game had a little bit of everything. Obviously, you guys started out hot. They made a run, had a buzzer beater, had an opponent going off for 30 plus points. How much does all of that kind of help you guys moving forward and saying okay, we've played in an NCAA tournament game, we've seen all of this, now we're in this thing and we can just go play our game?

COACH IVEY: I think it's going to be great because we have film now that we can show different areas that we need to get better. Our turnovers. Our defense. Having awareness of their shooters. And also, again, like the momentum of the game, like you said. Setting the tone early, getting up 18. Turning the ball over. Like there's so many areas that we can fix. We do have 24 hours to do that, at least see it. I mean it's nothing that we can work on.

But I think having a game that had a lot of runs, I think that's great because it shows this team also that it doesn't matter how many points you're up. Like at any moment a team can come back and that's the environment of the NCAA tournament. You're trying to survive. So it was great for us to have so many situations and scenarios that we'll grow from because we are a very young group.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.