NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - UTAH VS TEXAS

March 20, 2022

Vic Schaefer

Rori Harmon

Aaliyah Moore

Aliyah Matharu

Texas Longhorns

Media Conference

Texas 78, Utah 56

VIC SCHAEFER: Well, just first of all, I want to congratulate Utah. I haven't slept in two nights trying to figure out how to guard them. Coach Roberts, she's done a heck of a job. And they're young. I told her, the next three years, don't call me for a home-and-home because they're really going to be good, and they're so good right now for as young as they are. They have such great chemistry, especially offensively. They can really be a nightmare.

Of course it's hard to have nightmares when you can't sleep.

It was real similar to a few years ago; we had to play DePaul in the second round of an NCAA Tournament and they were so good offensively, and I just decided Saturday afternoon, I was like, you know what, we may have to outscore them, so I just started looking at film not on defense and how to guard them; I'd seen enough of that. I started watching about, okay, we've got to find a way -- we might have to outscore them a little bit.

I'm telling you, these kids today, that's about as good as we've played offensively in a while. They executed some great stuff, great stuff.

Again, you have to really tip your hat to this team. These kids right now are playing at such a high level against some really good teams and great coaches, and today -- I'm not sure we didn't play maybe better than we did against Baylor, and we played really good against Baylor.

But offensively today and in the second half defensively, we really made them turn it over a little bit more and miss some shots, and I think they had 12 turnovers in the second half. They had seven at half.

I just thought our tenacity defensively was really good the second half.

Again, we talked about it, everybody has got a plan coming out, and they attack us, they'll back-door us a time or two or they'll do something to us to attack our pressure, but at the end of the day, our pressure usually wears on you a little bit, and I thought it did today.

Rori was really special leading our team. She was special defensively. Look, when we have kids asking to come out of games because they're tired, that means they're playing really hard because we are in really good shape.

A-Mo -- my son goes, hey Dad, A-Mo, she's playing really good; where's that been? I'm like, well, Son, she's been hurt, and it takes awhile to get back sometimes when you've been hurt like she was. I mean, she's playing obviously like the kid we knew she was going to be, and she's getting more and more comfortable every day. She's playing with confidence. But she's worked at it.

This is what happens when somebody puts their head down and goes to work. She could have been woe is me, she could have hung her head, I got hurt, I can't do it, next year I'll -- no, the kid put her head down and went to work.

You have to appreciate and respect somebody that does that. I told Aliyah Matharu down there, I said, I just woke up this morning and had a feeling of peace. There was something when I woke up, I just had a peace about the day, and I had a really good feeling she was going to play good today, and boy, did she. She played spectacular today. Defensively, offensively made some great decisions. Got on her, she turned down a lay-up because she was unselfish throwing it over there to Jo who was wide open on the wing. But just really, really played tremendous I thought.

Again, their energy, from these two out on the perimeter, A-Mo just finishing everything. She was 9 for 10; is that right? I'm not sure I remember the one she missed. Just really -- she's tough.

Again, you've got to be happy for kids that work, that put their head down and work. This is a team that is continuing to grow and mature.

Y'all weren't in our locker room Friday, and we challenged them because we didn't feel like we played up to our standard at Texas on Friday, and again, give Fairfield a lot of credit, but I think these kids felt that same way. Saturday I had their attention.

We had a good practice, didn't we. A lot better than the three previous, eh?

We locked in. Our shootaround was pretty good this morning. Coach still worried about trying to guard them, and they had 30 at halftime, but we had really done a great job offensively. Jo came out, I'm not sure I thought she was going to miss today, and the one she missed were pretty short ones. So she did -- she came ready to go and did a heck of a job, as well.

This is why you do what you do in coaching. I can't be more happy for my players. I know how hard they work. I know how dedicated they are. I know how badly they want to be good. I just couldn't be more happy for them.

Our crowd today, to do it out there in the last athletic event in this great arena, to send this arena out that way, it was really, really cool. Really special.

I told them, enjoy the day, but don't drink the poison. There will be people talking about them on TV now for the next day or so. You'd better not drink the poison. You'd better stay humble and hungry.

I'll remind them of that tomorrow and the next day and the next day, and I think they will. I think they understand what happened last week. We're on to bigger and better things. That championship is over and done with. Now it's time to try to get to another one.

Q. What was the mindset coming out of halftime? You guys had a comfortable lead but over the first five minutes of the third quarter you guys really put the pedal to the metal.

RORI HARMON: We usually always want to punch first, every first five minutes. We've been pretty good at coming out into the quarters and stuff and punching first, and that's what we really focused on.

AALIYAH MOORE: Yeah, I mean, basically what Rori said. We were like, just don't settle. We're up right now but let's just keep pushing the lead, and we executed really well.

ALIYAH MATHARU: Punch first. That's always our motto, punch first.

Q. Aliyah or Rori, is this what y'all have been seeing from A-Mo the entire season, practice and stuff?

ALIYAH MATHARU: Yes. She has always been this good around the rim and just in general. I think today was the first time --

VIC SCHAEFER: So it's my fault?

ALIYAH MATHARU: Wait a minute, Coach! Like I think today was the first time I saw Aliyah shoot a mid-range jumper, and as soon as she caught the ball, I was like, shoot it, cash, like it's going in.

But like she's always been really good around the rim. You can pass her the ball from any spot on the floor and she's going to catch it and do something with it down there in the post.

RORI HARMON: I've been seeing it from her since high school to now, coming into Texas together. I don't expect anything less.

Q. Rori, I don't know if that was as complete a game as y'all can play but y'all are obviously hitting your stride right now. Are you as impressed with the way you're playing as everybody else is? Is there anybody you feel like y'all can't beat in this field?

RORI HARMON: I mean, we're just focusing on ourselves right now. It starts in practice every day, and like Coach said, we had a really good practice the other day. I'm not really -- as much as I'm worried about our opponents, but we have to get better ourselves first.

Q. How do you do that?

RORI HARMON: Practice.

Q. What do you have to improve?

RORI HARMON: There's a lot of things we can improve on the offensive end and defensive end. Just limiting turnovers. We had 12, which isn't too bad, but we had seven in the first and that means we only had five in the second. That, and just focusing on communicating on defense, and we'll be good. We'll be good.

ALIYAH MATHARU: I'm not going to answer that because of how he's looking at me, but one game at a time. That's what we put in our team group chat. We want to do one game at a time. We're not going to think too far ahead even though you see a lot of upsets. It's important to stay within us. It's about our team, our teammates, each other, and I think if we do that, then we'll be fine.

RORI HARMON: We're capable.

Q. Aliyah, I saw when you sat down and you looked at the box score and you pointed something out to A-Mo. What were you telling her?

ALIYAH MATHARU: She went 9 for 10. She only missed one shot. That's big. That's really good.

AALIYAH MOORE: She did the same thing. She was 6 for 7.

Q. Did you realize that, each of you, when you were in the game?

ALIYAH MATHARU: No.

AALIYAH MOORE: I was honestly just playing. Aliyah is a great passer, and so I know I get a lot of assists from both of them, they're great passers, so I just have to get the position and I know they'll give it to me, but I was just happy we won. At the end of the day, that's all I was worried about.

Q. Coach was describing his sense of peace this morning when he woke up. Did you guys have that or were you still a little nervous or at what point did that sink in, like, we got this?

RORI HARMON: I mean, I had some peace. It came from practice, though. Like you can walk into the gym and see in everybody's eyes that they're ready. I mean, it's win or go home. We're not ready to go home.

AALIYAH MOORE: I woke up this morning and I called my mom, and I was like, Mom, I have the feeling. She was like, what feeling? I was like, the same one we had before we played Baylor. I'm telling you, that morning I woke up and I was like, we got this. I had that same feeling this morning, so I was really confident.

ALIYAH MATHARU: I got the feeling, too. I don't know if people know, but like you ever get like they say when your palm itch that means you're going to get some money, or your right eye is jumping? I don't know, I'm really big into my spirituality I guess you could say, or like intuition, but I just had a feeling like last night, something just came over me and I shook in the bed and I'm like, wait a minute, like what's that. But all day my right eye was jumping. I came in, and when we started shooting, my first shot did not even hit the rim; like it just went right in. I was like, oh, okay. Let me calm down and just stay with them. Like they're really good.

Q. For Aliyah Matharu, can you talk about watching Aaliyah Moore's star rise, confidence rise, and what does that do for this team?

ALIYAH MATHARU: I think it's really big because you come in as a freshman and it's not the easiest thing. It wasn't easy for me, and you watch her go through her different obstacles of okay, well, now I'm in a new system, I'm in a new offense, and then learning how to play defense under Coach Schaefer's style is different and it can be challenging, but like nobody on our team is going to give up, and she didn't give up. Even though she got hurt and she had to sit out a few games, it was like constant -- like she just had an itch to hurry up and get back.

She took her time with her injury but when she was ready you could just tell because in practice everything was different. The other 4s and 5s were -- they had somebody to actually compete with, and you just watched her constantly get rebounds and get stops and it was just like, okay, now she's ready. She gets the hang of it, the flow of the offense.

She learned her plays. I don't know how but she learned them, and it's just exciting to know that she wasn't going to give up. Like she didn't give up.

To know in the back of our minds that we had a teammate go down early in the season and she came back and she just kept fighting and kept pushing, it's just exciting to know that we have another tough player on our team.

Q. Aaliyah Moore, other than health, the last three games, elimination games, if you will, good opponents. How do you explain kind of rising to the occasion in these moments?

AALIYAH MOORE: Like Coach said, I put my head down and went to work. That's all you can do. Be ready when your name is called like I've probably said a million times. But I mean, that's it. Hard work, man. That's what it takes.

This team is really tough, and so you have to be tough physically and mentally. That was a big thing for me coming back. But yeah, and I was surrounded by teammates that had my back. They said, just take your time but hurry up, but whenever you come back we got you.

Q. For the players, what did that mean to close the Erwin Center with a win of this magnitude?

RORI HARMON: It was definitely an honor to play here -- it was only one year for me, but I just love our fan base. It gets so loud in there and really hot when a lot of people are there. But man, I was honored to play there and I'm ready for the Moody Center.

AALIYAH MOORE: I'm ready for Moody. I'm really excited.

ALIYAH MATHARU: It was a blast. I mean, did y'all see that, all those people there for us? Like it was fun.

AALIYAH MOORE: Also shout-out to Coach Schaefer because he's worked really hard on getting us a fan base, so yes, we appreciate that, and fans for coming and listening. Thank you, guys.

Q. Vic, to start the second half, you didn't reset your starting lineup, you kind of mixed it up, kept the Aliyahs on the floor and Audrey. What was the decision behind why you decided to start the second half with that lineup?

VIC SCHAEFER: I just felt like they could give us what we needed defensively. I didn't want them to get away from us. I just have a lot of respect for Utah. They're well-coached, and they're really hard to deal with offensively. I just felt like that group were the ones that we needed today to go with.

I almost started Aliyah this morning. I almost started Audrey. We talked about it before the game, I almost started both those kids, and D and I talked about it, (assistant coach) Dionnah (Jackson-Durrett) and I talked about it, and my superstition won over and I started the lineup I've been starting. But I really wanted to start Aliyah and Audrey. They just -- that's two kids I'm really comfortable with right now, and obviously they've played some really big minutes for us.

And then A-Mo -- obviously Lauren has been tremendous, but when I need to give her a blow now, A-Mo has just -- I guess I'm the village idiot for not playing her a lot sooner. She's playing at such a high level right now.

But she hasn't been that way until here lately, and she's just really getting so much more comfortable, and her injury is in the past now.

The kid is a confident kid. I told y'all that's the sixth -ranked kid in the country coming out of high school, and the kid is a competitor. Man, she's tough. It was certainly something I thought about long and hard with who I was going to have in there, but I told Aliyah this morning at shootaround, I said, you need to be ready to go, and you need to be ready to go for an extended period of time, and just don't turn the ball over and don't foul people 60 and 70 feet from the rim. I said, if you'll do that, I won't take you out.

Those kids played -- our whole team played well. I thought everybody that came on the floor did a good job against a really good basketball team that's well-coached, and it's really a great win for us today.

Q. Between Friday and today, is there any better way to sum it up than the quote that you have on the wall of the practice center: "It's not what we do but now we do it"? Can you talk about the coaching changes that you made outside of we have to score more than they are?

VIC SCHAEFER: Well, again, that's just who we are. We can't -- I tell them all the time, just be Texas. Texas is good enough. Just be Texas. Don't try to morph into somebody that you're not. Don't try to become some player that -- we all have our roles, and they're pretty designated right now.

The challenge for a coach this time of year, everybody wants to be a star but nobody wants to star in their roles. Everybody has got a job to do, and I need them to all be good at what they're doing, and I think that's where we are right now.

So our motto is not what we do but how we do it; that separates us from the rest of the country. That's why I couldn't be more proud. I'm so happy for these kids because I know the sacrifice that these kids make. I know how hard they work, what they do in practice.

I told them -- my devotional today -- I watched two sermons and had a devotional. One of them was on hope. I told them in the pregame, my hope is for them. Everything I do, I hope they are successful in life. I hope that they are taking care of themselves and preparing themselves. But if all we're doing is hoping that we win, it ain't going to happen. God does for those that do for themselves.

It's really important that our kids embrace that, so part of that was okay, we've got to come out and punch first, we've got to get them on their heels, we've got to be in attack mode. We talked about it before the game, we talked about it coming out in the third quarter. But that's what we do. It's how we play. It's how we play the game. It's playing on Sundays, honoring the game. It's the Lord's day but we've got to play so let's show him a little appreciation by how we play the game, how we honor the game, how we respect the game. Let's show honor and respect to our parents who have done so much for us and sacrificed so much for us to be here, where we are today in this moment, at the University of Texas, playing for the right to go to the Sweet 16. Let's go show some appreciation and be honorable.

I think that's what our kids -- I've got a lot of great kids in that locker room, man. They're great kids. I mean, I love them to death.

But you can want something so bad for somebody, and look, y'all, I wasn't real happy -- anytime you win in college basketball, you need to be happy about that. It's hard to win. It's hard to win in college athletics. I kicked myself coming out of the locker room the other night. Y'all, I'm not perfect. But I did, I kicked myself a little bit because we just won an NCAA Tournament game, yet it's my job to make sure I am real with them, and they understand what's coming down the pipe and what's coming down the pipe is the University of Utah, which is a heck of a basketball team that's well-coached, and they run a bunch of stuff, and if we're not ready and we don't play any better than we played tonight, we will get beat.

So you have to pat them on the back, but at the same time you've got to be real with them and let them know, hey, if we play like this Sunday, it ain't going to be good.

There's lots going on as a coach. You're trying to get a young and experienced, immature team to understand. There's a lot of moving pieces, a lot of moving parts.

Man, you saw a heck of a game today, two great teams, but you saw the University of Texas play at a really high level today. You've got to give those kids credit, man. They were really special today.

You know what, we could have played a lot of people today, and I think it would have been a good day for Texas. My challenge now is to try to keep that going, and that is hard because they're going to go listen to a bunch of people talk, and we got some folks' attention I'm sure today, but we've got to stay humble and hungry.

Appreciate y'all being here.