NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - NOTRE DAME VS OKLAHOMA

March 20, 2022

Sonia Citron

Maddy Westbeld

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Media Conference

Q. When you look at OU with Taylor Robertson and Madi Williams, what really stands out to you about each of those players and the way that they play, especially offensively, in tandem?

MADDY WESTBELD: I mean, I think just overall, looking at them last night and watching film a little bit, they definitely are aggressive and are big shot makers and takers for their team. So I think we just gotta come together and play great defense and do what we know how to do tomorrow.

SONIA CITRON: Yeah, I mean, we just gotta find a way to stop them. They can do both. They can shoot, and they can drive. So we just have to watch out for both. They're double threats, so just gotta find a way to lock them down.

Q. Also, I guess let you start off with this one, Sonia and then Maddy. I want to ask you about Coquese Washington and what it's been like to be around her this year for you and just what stands out to you about her personality, coaching style, things like that.

SONIA CITRON: Yeah. I mean, I love having her as a coach. I've really built a strong bond with her. She just knows so much about the game. So she's really been teaching me a lot. And she's also just really encouraging. So she's going to get on you, like to make you better, but at the same time just like you know that she has your back and she's going to be there for you.

MADDY WESTBELD: Yes. She's my position coach. So I'm with her a lot, and we're always in the office watching film or getting shots up. And I've, as well as, Sonia, built a really strong bond with her. And that's my dog. Like I'm really, really close with her. And she knows little things about the game that you don't pick up even yourself watching film or even with the team. And she just has a whole different perspective, and she's extremely analytical and just brings a different side of the game that you don't pick up just watching. So she's awesome.

Q. One more followup to that, Maddy. I don't know if you've had a chance to sit with her or talk to her today or late last night, but what has she told you about some of these Oklahoma players and some of this team that she was around a couple years ago?

MADDY WESTBELD: I mean, not too much specifically. I think we're just not really focused on her past, you know, whatever. I think we're just focused on how to beat, how to win this game, how to get to the next round.

Q. This question is for both of you. Knowing that you have a great advantage when you play at home and the fact that Notre Dame has not played a true road game in the NCAA tournament in nine years, what do you anticipate will be the -- it will be a challenge anyway, but what do you anticipate will be -- how much steeper will that challenge be tomorrow night playing at Oklahoma?

SONIA CITRON: Yeah. I mean, it'll definitely be hard. From experience we know how much energy the crowd can give a team. So given that we're playing at Oklahoma, it's definitely going to be hard. But we just gotta find a way to get our own energy and play how we play at home.

MADDY WESTBELD: Yeah, it'll definitely be a packed house, and I think we're really excited about it and we're excited for the energy that it's going to bring. And just trying to silence the crowd and come out and play how we know how to.

Q. I asked this question to Coach last night after the game. Just how important was it to play a game like last night's where both teams made runs, a lot of stuff happened, and being that this was your first NCAA tournament game for a lot of the players on the team, how valuable was to get that experience going into a game against Oklahoma?

MADDY WESTBELD: Yeah, it was a great benchmark for us, and I think starting out a game like that, we started out 10 and 2, I think. And that was just a great confidence booster. We needed that. We've been slow to come out the last couple of games. So that was great for us. And I think going forward we're just going to keep the momentum going.

SONIA CITRON: Yeah. I mean, I feel like playing that game, as you said for a lot of us, it was our first tournament game. So just knowing that like the runs are going to happen. So just how to deal with them and how to stay calm under pressure and just keep playing our game no matter what happens.