NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - GEORGIA VS IOWA ST.

March 20, 2022

Bill Fennelly

Lexi Donarski

Emily Ryan

Iowa State Cyclones

Media Conference

Iowa State 67, Georgia 44

MODERATOR: We are joined by Iowa State University following a 67-44 victory over Georgia in the second round of the NCAA tournament. We are joined by sophomore Lexi Donarski, sophomore Emily Ryan, and head coach Bill Fennelly. We'll start with an opening statement from Coach Fennelly. We will then take all questions for student-athletes. We have eight minutes for questions of student-athletes. We'll then dismiss them, and we'll take questions for Coach. Coach Fennelly, if you would like to start us off.

COACH FENNELLY: Yeah, real quickly. First of all, congratulations to our men's team. Amazing, amazing. What a night for them. And what a well-deserved honor for that team and that coaching staff.

Thank you to the amazing fans. Another great crowd. And when you think of the times that we played, spring break, men in Milwaukee, all that stuff, our fans were still amazing both nights. Thank you to the amazing people at Hilton. All of the workers who worked so hard. All year long, but especially when you host the first four game, you know, they're here a lot longer than anyone else.

And I really want to congratulate our team. I just told them that, you know, everyone asks how long has it been since you have been to the sweet 16? I don't care. That's what you guys have to ask, I get it. But these guys don't understand that. And I don't know that I've ever wanted something professionally more in my life than to see these guys have that opportunity. And I thought they were phenomenal tonight at both ends of floor. And sometimes in your life you earn things, and you get it. Well, this group earned it and they got it and pretty damn sweet along the way.

Moderator: We'll now take questions for student athletes.

Q. Emily and then Lexi. Seemed like early on you guys were adamant about setting the tone. How important was a quick start tonight for you guys?

EMILY RYAN: Yeah, it was huge to get going early because we had a slow start the other night. So being able to come out strong tonight was huge for us. Don't let them get any momentum. And I thought we did a good job of not letting them go on any big runs tonight, and I thought that was huge for us for sure.

LEXI DONARSKI: Georgia is a really talented team and so it really all started with defense. We had to set the tone, especially defensively really early, and that just pushed us forward on offense.

Q. When did the idea of accomplishing something this big first kind of creep into both your minds as a possibility going to the Sweet 16?

EMILY RYAN: Honestly, I think it starts back at the end of the season last year. We were one play away from getting to where we are now. And so just knowing that all summer we worked really hard, having that in the back of our minds. And then once the season started, we were just focused on winning each game and being the best we could be each night and hope that got us to where we are right now.

LEXI DONARSKI: Like she said, we had a lot of things to look forward to after the way that the season ended last year. And I think that just built up after a while and when we started working out this year, it was like this is a goal of ours, this is something that we want to do, this is something that we're capable of this year.

Q. For Emily and Lexi. How sweet was that moment, you guys get to embrace with a minute and a half left on the sideline knowing you're in the Sweet 16, you're advancing, you've met that goal?

EMILY RYAN: Yeah, it was a great feeling. Like we said, after the end of last year this makes it even more special for us. We've worked so hard to get here, and I'm just -- couldn't be more happy for this team. And the fact that we get to come back tomorrow and go to work is something that we're not going to take for granted and I'm glad that we get to do it.

LEXI DONARSKI: Being able to experience with the team when we're getting taken out with just a minute left and the realization just hits. And being able to experience with our families and all of our fans at home just makes it even more special for us, too.

Q. Both you guys are known to be crazy workaholics and to get into the gym at some crazy times. How soon after last year's game were you back in the gym? I mean did either of you take any time off or were you back in like the next day?

LEXI DONARSKI: It was about a week just to get my body right because rest is still important. And I still have quite a few years of basketball ahead of me so it's -- you need to get your body right, you need to take the rest that your body needs. But once my legs were feeling better and I was all recovered and everything, then we were right back in the gym.

EMILY RYAN: I don't remember how many days it was, but yeah, once we were ready to go we got back in it and just worked really hard to get to this point right now.

Q. What is kind of going through your mind during that week off or for you, Emily, that whatever time off that you took when you were kind of resting and getting ready to start preparing for that next season?

LEXI DONARSKI: I think it just adds the motivation that we had to compete how we did tonight. I mean that loss sits in your head for a little while. But tonight we are able to enjoy the win with our team and friends and family here. So it's a really good feeling.

Q. Emily, what were you kind of thinking during that time?

EMILY RYAN: Being able to watch the rest of the tournament hurts. Seeing the next game where A&M was playing and being able to watch that, it made it hurt even more but caused us to work even harder. Yeah, like Lexi said, being able to come back here and do it in front of our fans was incredible.

Q. Emily, I mean Georgia is a team that has had slower starts on numerous occasions this year. On the defensive end, can you take me into the game plan of what it was to stop them? Like in terms of a zone being able to stop Georgia offensively?

EMILY RYAN: For sure. I thought we came out really sharp and really focused on defense, which is something we needed to improve on after our first game of the tournament. So Lexi got a lot of early steals, and that led to easy buckets for us. And I thought that was huge for us to make the -- set the tone and make a statement early and just go from there.

Q. For both you guys, what was it like early on in that game, you get the 9-0 lead, Georgia calls the timeout and show the men's team playing and the fans kind of cheering along with them. Did that I guess distract you guys at all or did it bring that much more energy into the building with each timeout that that game got closer to being resolved?

EMILY RYAN: Yeah, I think it definitely brought a little level of extra energy to Hilton and got a little buzz going and made it a lot of fun. Every once in a while just peeking up and seeing what the score was. But yeah, really, really happy for them.

They've worked extremely hard to get there. And it's fun that we're both dancing still so we're excited.

Q. For both of you guys. Is there any specific time you remember during one of those timeouts looking up at the scoreboard and seeing the score at their game or maybe the final? I know at one point they even played the final few seconds of the men's game. Did you catch that part?

LEXI DONARSKI: Honestly, I did not. We’ve got a lot to focus on. This is a big game. And when we're in a huddle, we're all focused on what's going on and what play we're going to run next and what defense we're in. And there is just a lot of things that we're all focused on. I didn't really get to enjoy knowing that the men's team won, but after the fact I'm really happy for them and excited that we both get to be in the Sweet 16.

EMILY RYAN: Yeah, like Lex said, we weren't able to look up too much. But when you heard the crowd going crazy in the middle of a timeout, there is really no other option other than our guys are doing pretty well. So knowing that in the back of my mind it is special for them. But yeah, we were really focused so didn't get to watch it too much.

MODERATOR: We'll now take questions for Coach Fennelly.

Q. Bill, it seemed like there was some really high expectations for this team coming into this season. When did you, I guess, realistically start thinking this is a team that maybe had a possibility to go to the Sweet 16?

COACH FENNELLY: I don't know about the whole Sweet 16 thing, but I knew kind of really when we got out of Florida that our team could be decent. And not because we won three games, but because of the way we've -- we connected. And I've said this to y'all many times. Everyone was so, so excited, you know, to get out of the whole COVID year. But at the same time now we are together and sometimes that is not a good thing.

I thought that weekend, I thought all right, we can compete with people. I didn't know where. I didn't know tonight would happen, but I knew we would be a good team because we had really good kids that connected in a way that good teams connect.

I think when we got home from Florida, I felt like we had something we could work with.

Q. Throughout the season you've always put up signs and use some different techniques to kind of motivate this team for every game. What was the unique motivating thing that you used for this game to I guess pump them up and encourage them, whatever?

COACH FENNELLY: To be quite honest with you, we completely stayed away from that. When we played Missouri State, I had e-mails and text messages from former players that that was not a good idea. All I did tonight was I said to them before the game you earned the right to be here, you're a very, very special team, this is your last chance at Hilton, enjoy every second of this and let's just go play.

And that's -- that was it.

I mean we were very loose at shoot-around. Our demeanor was much different than it was leading up to the Arlington game. So we really didn't do anything. Like I said, sometimes when you have a team that's led by Em, Lex, Ash, sometimes you just get the hell out of the way. And that's what we tried to do, I tried to do today. And sometimes you can tell the look in their faces, like I'm ready to go. And those three were ready to go and I think the whole team was because of those three.

Q. Bill, if I told you coming into this game that I think you outscored them 19-7 points off turnovers, unless that changed, and controlled the glass including the offensive glass pretty much the entire game, would you have thought wow, you're going to feel that you're going to end up in a pretty good spot?

COACH FENNELLY: Yeah, no question. I thought our kids handled the game plan really well. You have one day to get ready, and we have not played a lot of zone this year and we messed with it today.

We actually played defense today that we didn't even practice. But that's when you have smart kids that understand the game.

But we said keep the ball in front of you, you know, go rebound, all the stuff that we talk about. I thought we did a really good job of keeping them out of a dribble penetration and limiting the live ball turnovers. Those were the things that we talked about, and our kids were -- like you said, I thought the first four minutes of the game, I don't know that we -- we looked like we were giving a zone clinic the first four minutes of the game. And that's just not the way we play, but we felt like we had to in this game. And they were really, really good from the start.

Q. Since you said it's our job to chart Sweet 16. Twenty-two years ago is the last time for Iowa State both you guys advanced to at least the Sweet 16. Also fans take a lot of pride getting back to that. How do you wrap that in a nutshell while still being proud as you clearly are of this team and this season?

Coach Fennelly: I say this all the time, and you guys get tired of me saying it. This is a unique place, it really is, with unique people, fan base, administration. Any time Iowa State is on a national stage like this in the biggest sporting event in the world in my mind, and both teams are doing what they're doing, that's advertising that would be really expensive to buy, I would guess. It's amazing.

But again, it's a tribute to how our school runs their department. And you look at all of our sports.

And there are limitations that we have here, but we don't have any limitation in people and purpose. And it is a -- it's a proud moment for all of us, and our kids were excited.

And I'm sure T.J. and his group are excited for us as well.

>> First of all, congratulations.

COACH FENNELLY: Thank you, Michelle.

Q. We had two number two seeds go down today including one that you may have faced in Greensboro. Can you talk about how tough it is to survive the first two rounds of the women's tournament? And then I know you've talked a lot about Ash, but even though tonight wasn't a huge point, tonight for her she did so many things on the boards and everything and what it means for her to get this chance to play in the Sweet 16.

COACH FENNELLY: No, I -- thank you for asking that. I think it's a great opportunity for Ashley because she's earned a national profile. And it's gotten bigger as time goes on, but she plays at Iowa State. She doesn't play at Stanford or UConn or South Carolina. So people are like yeah, she's a good player, she plays at Iowa State. Well, now she's put her team in the Sweet 16 and that's a great thing for her.

You're right, the first two rounds have become, it's hard. It should be hard. I mean that's what the NCAA tournament's about. And you look at other teams that have lost and it's just -- it is -- it's one of those things where you really have to get your team to understand the moment. And we have been a next -- the local media here will go here he goes again. We have been a next 40- minute team from day one. And this is an epitome of that.

Because one bad night, one bad shooting night, like we all know, it's done. It's not a four out of seven. So it's changed the game, changed the profile. But I'm just glad that our kids found a way to play the game tonight and respond the way they did.

Q. Hi.

COACH FENNELLY: Welcome to Ames. You like Ames? Like it. Just like Atlanta, right?

Q. Exactly. Yesterday you spoke on Joni Taylor and everything and the Georgia program looking for its first Sweet 16 in a decade. You guys haven't made it since 2010. Kind of along the same path. I don't know how much you have seen Georgia, but can you speak to the program's outlook and Joni's outlook.

COACH FENNELLY: I think Joni Taylor is one of the most outstanding young talented, articulate head coaches in the country. And I'm not just saying that. I said that the other day.

I'm on a committee with her. And to listen to her speak about the game and what we need to do is amazing.

Georgia is very lucky to have her. She loves Georgia and built a program that that has sustained the test of time. When you follow a Hall of Fame coach, man, that's got to be miserable. And look at what she's done. So we're very honored to play the way we played tonight, but what Coach Taylor is doing at Georgia is -- they're not going away, that's for sure.

Coach Fennelly: Thank you everyone. Appreciate your time and I appreciate all the coverage and all of the time this weekend. Meant a lot to our kids. Thank you.