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

March 20, 2022

Niele Ivey

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Media Conference

Q. Coach, Olivia Miles last night, the triple-double, became the first freshman in men's or women's tournament history to get a triple-double. Can you talk about her growth over the season and the player that she is and how important she is to your team and the fluidity of it?

COACH IVEY: Right. Just an incredible accomplishment. When I found that out afterwards, I was like, that's just an elite performance, to have a triple-double from the men and women's side is just a credit to her talent. She's very gifted. I think she talked about last night, she has a special gift. She makes everybody better around her. As far as the season, she has just blossomed. She has been thrown in the fire. She was thrown in the fire last year as an early enrollee. This year I've required her to do a lot. She's had to take on carrying a team, carrying a program as a freshman, which is a very hard task. But I knew that she was capable of handling it. And, yeah, I'm just really proud of what she's done. She's a dynamic guard. She sees the floor at a very elite level. She's a high-level player, and I just feel like she's really growing in front of our eyes.

Q. I wanted to ask you about OU's Taylor Robertson and Madi Williams. What kind of unique challenges do they present to a defense, especially when they're playing in tandem the way they do, and what stands out to you about each one of those players?

COACH IVEY: Well, Robertson is the best three-point shooter in the country. She's on track, I think she's about 50 away from holding the record of three-point field goals in women's basketball history, which is incredible. They're both dynamic scorers. We've never seen a shooter like Robertson, so we have a hard task. And, also, Madi Williams, she can score a variety of ways. She's an undersized forward, but she's also a guard. She can do it all. She can post. She can rebound. I think she's leading them in scoring and rebounding. So we have a huge task on our hands. They play well in transition. They're very physical, and they play well with each other. You can tell, their chemistry, just watching them in person, I was really impressed by the entire team, the pace, their physicality and the way that they can score. So we have a super hard task to try to contain those two, but I've been very impressed watching their film, but then also seeing them in person last night.

Q. Also wanted to ask you about Coquese Washington. What do you remember from her back when you were playing and what's she brought to your coaching staff now, and did she point you in the direction of any places down here in Norman since she's back?

COACH IVEY: Well, as my mentor and position coach, she was just really, really smart. I always felt like I was learning so much from her as far as her experience. She had been a WNBA champion. She helped Notre Dame as a point guard lead them to their first tournament appearance. And so I had a lot of respect for her. She's taught me the game. And, also, like she's so very bright. So she taught me a lot off the court, just being a student-athlete at Notre Dame, I really leaned on her to try to navigate being both an athlete and student. She really helped in that regard. And she's won at the highest level and won in the WNBA. So that was the reason why I brought her back.

She's also just a family friend, you know. Like I felt like when I had the opportunity to -- when I got hired, she was the first person that I called, because I was like, I need experience, I need loyalty. I need family around me, somebody that I know that knows me well and can relay the messaging and knows Notre Dame extremely well. I didn't think I was going to get her. I worked really hard to try to bring her, from obviously a great university. So that was the reason why I -- that was the first call I made, because I know that she knows the game really well. She's been a head coach, and I wanted to make sure that I had experience as I created my staff.

Q. From where you are sitting, do you see much of a pattern to OU's motion offense, or is it improvisational to the point that there isn't much of one? And wherever you see it on that scale or on that curve, how difficult is it to defend?

COACH IVEY: Very difficult to defend. We played Drake three years ago, so I kind of have a little bit of idea of the way the system works, but, again, it's so many different movements, so many different weapons that we tried to kind of break it down in their five-out motion, break down different concepts of it to try to see if we could just figure out concepts because one side is making back cuts, throwing into the pinch post. The other side is setting a flare. There's a lot of movement. So I try to break it down that way to really understand tendencies and then concepts of their offense.

But I think they run really well in transition, but, yeah, it's a very difficult offense. A lot of movement, but they have a lot of scorers, so you have to be locked in and you have to make sure defensively you understand personnel, because they can make you pay.

Q. About that, here recently it seems, you talked about OU having several weapons. Here, maybe the last ten games or so, Liz Scott will hit a three, Nydia Lampkin, if I'm saying her first name correctly, though she's taken very few, has taken a few and hit some. How much more dangerous does that make OU, maybe not even their aggregate production, the players I mentioned, but just what you have to now defend?

COACH IVEY: Right. Well, especially they're playing at home. So they're going to feed off the energy of the crowd. So we have to expect that. We have to expect -- especially in the tournament. It's madness. Everyone has the opportunity. They're going to have confidence. Drivers that you think aren't shooters, they're going to step up and hit shots in the tournament. You saw a buzzer beater last night versus UMass. So we have to be prepared, and we have to defend the three-point line, and we have to make sure that we are locked in defensively on every person on OU's team, because, again, we're in the atmosphere and environment that everyone is going to raise their level with a game like this, headed one 40 minutes to get to the Sweet 16.

Q. Yeah, you're playing on Oklahoma's home court, you kind of just said that. But what extra challenge does that kind of provide for you guys?

COACH IVEY: Yeah. I mean, it's a huge challenge. I felt like their crowd was really engaged yesterday, a lot of energy. And they fed off that, especially in transition. Every basket, you can feel the energy rising. So we have to play our style of basketball, but have to just try to drown out the noise and just make sure that we're locked in, even as far as the game, because it's going to be a game of runs, and we have to make sure that we are locked in. Fortunately, for being in the ACC, we've had really many tough road opponents, and we've been in crazy environments at UConn, at Georgia Tech, so we are prepared for it, but, again, you have to sustain and try to take the crowd out of it with your performance.

Q. You have several freshmen that play significant roles for you. How did you feel they handled yesterday, and just what is it about them that makes you confident that they can handle tomorrow's pressure?

COACH IVEY: Yeah. I was really proud with the young group that we have, the young core, especially Olivia Miles coming out with a triple-double. I think that's self-explanatory. I think Sonia got a foul early. I thought she was a little tentative in the first half, but I thought she turned it on in the second half. She went on a 9-0 run herself that helped us extend the lead. So I thought she grew over the course of the game. But, again, I felt like Dara maybe, Maya Dodson, we had some seniors that really led us -- and Maddy Westbeld is a sophomore. And, again, they're blossoming in front of my eyes. So I was really proud of the way that Sonia responded, but also the way that Olivia led us. She set the tone initially.

Q. Kind of just more generally for the tournament as a whole, we've now seen I think statistically the most upsets in tournament history at this point. Kind of talk about just the parity in women's basketball, the growth from you're seeing Mid Majors that are upsetting, like Creighton just upset Iowa. So kind of just talk to me about the growth of women's basketball as a whole and what do you feel like seeing these upsets means for the game in its totality?

COACH IVEY: I think it's amazing for the game. I think having parity is what we've always wanted for the game. It was always the cream of the crop, the four or five programs, elite programs and then everyone else. So the fact that we have parity, I think, is amazing for our game. It's growing our game. I think the transfer portal is helping. I think they talked about having -- I just saw like Creighton, it was a transfer from Iowa that is at Creighton that hit the three-pointer that put them up. So I think the transfer portal is helping the parity. You see Kierstan Bell from Florida Gulf Coast, coming from Ohio State, the way she's playing this year. So I think it's amazing. It's showing the growth and it's showing the depth of our game. No matter if you're a Power 5 or a Mid Major, there's a lot of talent in women's basketball, and I love it.

Q. I mean, with so many younger players, and this is their first time here, how are you really going to be leaning on those older players who have already been here, especially with OU having the home court advantage?

COACH IVEY: I'm going to lean on them a lot. I feel like Abby gave us a big spark yesterday. Abby Prohaska and Maya Dodson were the only two players on my team that have any experience in the NCAA tournament. And I felt like they did a great job. Abby just with her performance, her energy, the spark that she gave us, her toughness, and Dara was our vocal leader, and Maya also, I heard her in the locker room when we needed a boost, and I feel like Dara and Maya did a great job being vocal, and Abby just did by her performance, and I'm going to rely on them a lot, especially tomorrow night. It's going to be such a tough game, in a really tough environment, and I'm going to really rely on them to really help us. First of all, get us focused and ready for the game outside of shoot around and my pregame speech, they're the three that I'm going to rely on heavily tomorrow night.

Q. I want to ask you about tonight. Does the schedule play out a little bit better for you today versus a couple days ago, and what's that been like watching Purdue and your son with what you're doing here?

COACH IVEY: It works out perfectly. So I'm so happy, because you never know what the times are as far as practice with NCAA. But I get a chance to watch. We're going to have another game watch in our meeting room. So I'll get a chance to watch him. We're going to stream it. And I'm excited, because both of us have 40 minutes to try to get to the next level. We've never been as a player and head coach. So I'm excited to support him and I'm excited to see what Purdue is going to do. And, also, I'm excited for our men's team. Our men's team is playing tonight. We're going to watch that first, and then I'm going to watch Purdue. So good luck to Mike Brey and our Notre Dame men's basketball team.

Q. Obviously, you've been a part of a lot of March Madness runs. Never as a head coach, but you still know what it kind of feels like. I'm curious if some of those feels are coming back with this group. I know it's young and a little bit inexperienced, but now that you've got a game under your belt, are you sensing some similarities in that some of the things that they're doing remind you of what you guys used to do at Notre Dame in the past in the tournament?

COACH IVEY: Yes. Well, I mean, again, I'm embracing every moment. Every moment is my first. So super excited to come back here today, to still be in Oklahoma. Yes, I definitely feel the feels of being an assistant and how exciting it is to continue dancing and be a part of the top 32. But I also know how difficult and how challenging tomorrow night is going to be, especially at OU's, an away game and being a home game for OU, so I definitely feel those similarities, but again, everything is my first, so I'm hoping to come in with poise and confidence, and hopefully I can instill that in my team tomorrow night.

Q. You were emphatic last night that pace was a big part of why you were able to beat UMass, and you mentioned that other teams during the course of the season. Oklahoma is No. 2 in the country in pace of play. Do you rein in anything based on that or do you still stay true to you in that regard?

COACH IVEY: We'll definitely come to stay true to our style and our brand of basketball, so we're going to try to get out and run with OU tomorrow night. We need to get a lot of rest, because they're going to be tired, I think both teams, because both teams, like you said, like to run. Transition defense is going to be huge for us. We have to find the ball, slow it down and find shooters tomorrow night. Again, I was really impressed by watching OU in person, seeing how fast they played. It's different when you watch on film and when you see it in person. So we have to really lock in and try to find shooters and slow the ball down. But as far as Notre Dame, we gotta play the same way. Want to go out aggressive and attack just as much as they are.