NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: REGIONAL FINAL - UCONN VS NC STATE

March 28, 2022

Geno Auriemma

Paige Bueckers

Christyn Williams

Azzi Fudd

Webster Bank Arena

UConn Huskies

Elite 8 Media Conference

UConn 91, NC State 87

GENO AURIEMMA: You know, if you watched the game, there's really not much that you can say to add to it. It was pretty remarkable. It's one of the best games I've ever been a part of since I've been at UConn, regular season, postseason, doesn't really matter.

It was just amazing the way the 10 kids that are on the court are playing for their lives. Nobody wants to lose, and everybody is making big play after big play, and nobody backed down from the moment. It's a shame one of us had to lose, right? It would be great if both of us could go.

But if there's two teams out there better than this one, holy moley.

I don't know what to say. Just really proud of these guys. They don't make it easy, but they make it worth it.

Q. Paige, you said yesterday how you love watching basketball, huge fan of basketball, you've played a bunch of games. Where did this rank and what was it like to play in a game that had so many swings back and forth?

PAIGE BUECKERS: I would have loved to have watched that game. I don't know. I think being in it was obviously crazy. I think last year the Elite 8 game against Baylor, I didn't think we could top that and how crazy the game was, but I think that might have topped it for sure. It was just a lot of fun to play in. Two very competitive teams, like Coach said, just playing for our lives at that point.

We found a way to win, and we stuck together, and we stayed composed. Yeah, I'm just -- it was a really exciting game for sure.

Q. Paige, you've been kind of trying for a few weeks since you came back to find yourself or find what you were before the injury. Why was tonight the night? Why was overtime the moment that you were able to kind of shake off the rust and be yourself again?

PAIGE BUECKERS: Just me trying to stay confident in myself. I know that there's going to be ups and downs through the process. There's going to be highs and lows. It's not always going to be easy. There's going to be hard times. But just staying confident in myself and trusting myself that I'm going to get it back. And also just my teammates and my coaches just instilling that confidence in me that they trust me in these moments and they trust me with the ball and they trust me to do the right thing. I just wanted to continue to play, and Coach is always huge on me about just making sure just to find a way to win. So I think that was the key tonight.

Q. If I could ask this question to all three of you, if you could take me through how you were able to regroup once Dorka went down and what the emotion was like when you could see her at the end and embrace her with the confetti all around?

CHRISTYN WILLIAMS: Obviously it's always hard to see a teammate go down like that, especially in the middle of the game. But you know, Coach got us together and basically just told us the biggest thing we could do for her was win the game and win it for her. I guess that was just our mentality for the rest of the game. It was so good to see her after the game. She had a sling on, so that was really unfortunate, but we just embraced her and told her that we have her back no matter what. We were just really excited that we could get this win for her.

AZZI FUDD: I think she said it great.

PAIGE BUECKERS: They got it.

Q. It seemed like you guys had a different energy in the overtimes. Can you talk about that a little bit?

AZZI FUDD: I think just the first overtime we did a great job of just keeping our composure and staying together. In that second overtime you could tell the way Paige started us off, that really just kind of started -- the way Paige started us off -- someone else take this. I can't speak right now.

Q. Paige, what are your emotions now getting to go home and play on this big stage, and how often did you think about that possibility throughout the season?

PAIGE BUECKERS: For me, I take it one game at a time, our whole team takes it one game at a time. We're not looking into the future. We're being where our feet are and staying in the present. It's obviously extra motivation just to go back home and have the Final Four there and be a part of that experience. But honestly wherever the location, what gym, what court, I'm just excited to be out there with my sisters and play another game.

But being at home is nice, too, so I'm not going to lie.

Q. Paige, where does your mind go in those moments where you're taking over a game at a stage like this in overtime? What do you feel? What are you thinking? Are you thinking or are you just kind of reacting? Second question is if you could think back to right after your surgery and there was so much uncertainty about coming back and you knew you had a hard road ahead of you, what do you think you would have felt if you knew you'd be able to do this on this stage three, four months later?

PAIGE BUECKERS: During the game, especially during crunch time, in close games like that I just try to stay composed, try to keep being that leader for my team and just play with poise and play with calmness. It's easy to get flustered and sort of let your mind take over and like I said, just get flustered when they're in close games like that. There's a lot going on. And then just finding a way to win. That's the main goal of basketball, and I want to win every game I play in.

Whatever it takes to keep playing with this team, to keep playing with the coaching staff that we have, that's what I want to do.

Post-surgery, I just love the game so much, so I was going to do whatever it took, spend however much time with the training staff, with my doctors and Hudy, just to make sure I could get back. But you never know what the future holds, just to try to stay where my feet are, just stay in the present, live in the moment.

But I don't know. I can't dream a lot of the stuff that happens to me, which is why I thank God so much because it's just with huge faith, the things I've done in my life, I'm just super happy to be here.

Q. Christyn and Azzi, when you're watching what Paige is doing in the overtimes, what's going through your mind as you see that, and does that put you at ease knowing that even though NC State is coming down making big shot after big shot that you still have Paige who's taking over the game?

CHRISTYN WILLIAMS: Literally I was thinking, we have Paige Bueckers and they don't. I mean, like once she makes one, the rim is like this big. She's just going to keep making them. So just keep giving her the ball.

But yeah, she does it every day in practice, so not really surprising.

AZZI FUDD: I mean, that whole game she was amazing, but I think NC State hitting that big shot to put us into that second overtime on her was the best thing they could do but the worst thing they could do.

Q. Can you talk about Nika's contributions in her eight minutes of playing time? And second, I think you had the COVID protocol out in Oregon, and you're watching your team get crunched pretty good that day. Can you talk about your journey personally and this team's journey from that point to where you are now?

CHRISTYN WILLIAMS: First, Nika's contribution to this game was huge. I think we were down by six and she came in and got a big stop, and I ran in transition and she assisted me the ball, so that was like a huge stop for us.

Then my journey from when I got COVID you said?

Q. You got beaten so soundly out in Oregon and it looked like a lot of people thought you guys were dead in the water at that point, and just to come back and --

CHRISTYN WILLIAMS: Geez. (Laughter).

Q. I don't think anyone was thinking you were a Final Four team at that point.

CHRISTYN WILLIAMS: You know, people think a lot of things. You know, it was a very unfortunate situation that, again, happened to our team. It was very hard to watch, just me being not able to play and be out there with my teammates that game.

But we obviously learned a lot from that game, and we put it in the past and just continued to work hard for the rest of the season and the rest of our games, and here we are.

Q. Christyn, Dorka goes down today, but all season long -- you just talked about you've had everybody go down at some point. Can you talk about the resiliency of this team and how much that impacted this game, especially after Dorka went down?

CHRISTYN WILLIAMS: It impacted this game a lot. It's very sad for Dorka, but I feel like the way our season has gone all year, we were well prepared for this game and for something like that to happen. Like you said, a lot of us have gone down at one point or another in the season, so we've kind of learned how to sub in and just keep rolling with the punches. That's exactly what happened today.

Yeah, we always find a way to get it done.

Q. Christyn, Coach earlier this week challenged the senior class to be the difference makers in the Elite 8, to be the reason your college basketball careers are extending. How did it feel to be that reason today? And how confident are you and how reassuring is it that you're leaving the program in the hands of the two people next to you?

CHRISTYN WILLIAMS: Well, I am not the reason -- I'm not the only reason. It was a total team effort, just first and foremost.

I am very comfortable with leaving the program with these two. They're young still, and they just have so much confidence, so I have a lot of confidence in them for the rest of their years here. I'm really proud that I've gotten a chance to play with them this year and last year. But I'm very confident in them. They'll handle business.

Q. Azzi, this was the first double overtime game in the Elite 8 in women's tournament history. That being your first Elite 8, what was it like playing in that environment?

AZZI FUDD: This environment was incredible. I mean, it was like every time we scored and even Nika's big steal, all those moments, the crowd went crazy. That feeling is just amazing.

I think we kind of just took it quarter by quarter, and the overtime, each overtime, just staying composed and trusting each other. And kind of like Christyn was saying, Dorka went down and we knew that we were built for this moment. We went through everything this season to be prepared for this, and I think that's what we did, we just stayed together and held our composure.

Q. Christyn, clearly the motivation is to always win and keep going. It's your senior year. But it did seem like there was a possibility you could be beat. Even with the success you've also come up short. How much has being on the ends of those games, how much does that play a part, that pain from coming up short in a Final Four? In the Sweet 16 you were kind of in a similar situation.

CHRISTYN WILLIAMS: It plays a huge part. All of that experience plays a huge part because you know that feeling of the loss, and I've unfortunately had it twice, my freshman year and last year. There's just a feeling that I don't want to experience again. I'm going to try to do my best to work my hardest and bring my best effort for every game and for my teammates. I just don't want to feel that feeling again. That's my biggest motivation right now.

Q. Geno, I think you guys were 0 & 5 in overtime games in the NCAA Tournament until tonight. What does it feel like to get that monkey off your back? And what was it like to coach tonight? You said this was one of the best games you've been involved with in your history at UConn.

GENO AURIEMMA: I don't remember all those overtime -- I remember the one in Charlotte. That was in the Final Four. So I'll take your word for it that there was four other ones.

Most people are kind enough not to bring those up. (Laughter).

Listen, I go into every NCAA Tournament game thinking 15 ways that we can win that game and 15 ways that I think we can lose that game, and anytime something happens in a game, I'm never surprised.

The team we played today, never thought they were going to lose. We had the lead for like 39 minutes, and they played like they were winning the whole game. The other night against Notre Dame, they thought they were winning the whole game, and the only time they led maybe was the last minute.

We played a team that you knew no matter what was going on, this game was not going to end until they decided that they had enough chances to win. It was just an incredible feeling to coach the team and to watch us make the plays that we made and watch them make the plays that they made.

It was the kind of basketball game that makes you appreciate how great this game can be, and it was a great showcase for our sport. I don't think there could be better advertising for what women's basketball can be than what you saw tonight.

Q. Yesterday you talked about some years ago Wes came up and what he was doing at Chattanooga. Now that you've played him head to head, did you talk to him after the game and say anything about his program and how well they played and where they are now compared to where they were years ago?

GENO AURIEMMA: You know, I think Wes probably had a chance to coach at a lot of other places when he was at Chattanooga, but I think he always had his heart set on going back to State, having been an assistant there, and I knew that when he got that opportunity that he would do exactly what he did at UT Chattanooga.

I think it's a testament to him, his staff, his players that, you know, the ACC for the longest time didn't belong to NC State. Everyone else always assumed it was going to be Notre Dame or Louisville or Duke for the longest time.

I think Wes went in there and changed all that, and he did it in a fairly rapid fashion, and he did it the right way with a great group of kids. They play hard. He takes advantage of all the mistakes that you make. He knows exactly what shot he wants his team to get. He's humble, and his players reflect that.

I'm glad we have a series with them coming up. He wanted this one to count as the first one at home, and unfortunately I told him I would like to do that but we can't, so you have to play us on campus.

I remember the first time we ever played NC State I was an assistant coach at St. Joe's, like 1976, '77, something like that, and I remember thinking, wow, these guys are unbelievable. Reynolds Coliseum was one of the greatest arenas I've ever been in in my life. I haven't been down there in a while, and I'm looking forward to going down there.

Q. Yesterday or two days ago you were saying Paige isn't yet 100 percent, she isn't where she was last year but that's okay. Today it looked like she was not only that old player but maybe she had the best game of her career on the biggest stage. What surprised you about what she was able to do tonight given where she was even five weeks ago?

GENO AURIEMMA: I think Christyn probably said it right, that Paige does it routinely in practice every day, and so the players have come to expect that she would do what she did tonight, and she did it so often last year.

But she is still human. She is still a kid, and she still did miss two months of basketball. And not just the games, she missed two months of practice.

It was going to take time. Who knew? I had no expectation of when this would come, this kind of moment that she had.

You know, Paige is different. Those players, if they were commonplace, we would know exactly who they are and we'd be able to rattle them off, but they're not. They're few and far in between, and she was made for these moments.

Q. You had said that you didn't think she would be back this year, that you didn't have -- you weren't holding out much hope of that. When you saw her turn it on in overtime, what went through your mind? Did you have that holy cow, she's back kind of moment?

GENO AURIEMMA: Yeah, there was a point in time during the season where I really said to the team, I said, I don't know if you guys are all walking around in practice every day going, that's okay, it doesn't matter how bad we are, Paige is coming back and she'll fix everything. I said, I'm not counting on it.

A lot can happen when somebody has surgery and they miss two months, and especially when she's the kind of player that her mobility, you know, she's shifty. She's not a normal -- plays straight-line basketball. So she needs that mobility, and I knew she wouldn't have it for a while.

I knew her emotions would get the best of her because she's impatient and she would rush it. I've seen it happen before. You rush the rehab and now you're set back another month.

So I worried about all these things. But when it was evident that there was a chance, by that time a lot of other players on our team had gotten a lot better. I think if Paige had come back to the exact same team, we probably wouldn't be in this game, given what happened.

A lot of kids had a lot of opportunities this year to prove that they belong at UConn, and they took advantage of it and they proved it, and all they needed was Paige to add the finishing touches.

Q. During the WNBA postseason this year Diana Taurasi took the Phoenix Mercury to beat the Vegas Aces in Game 5. She wasn't 100 percent but made clutch shots and changed the way that defenses played them. I'm curious what parallels you might draw between that situation and what you experienced tonight.

GENO AURIEMMA: There was a lot of that. There was a lot of that. I don't like to compare players from different eras. I think that's usually a dangerous thing because it does a little bit of disservice to both kids. Diana was Diana, and there will never be another one like her. I've never seen anybody play with the amount of injuries that Diana has played with and play with the kind of resolve and the kind of toughness and the kind of competitiveness that she plays with. So I've seen it for 20-some years now, so what she did last year in the Playoffs didn't really surprise me.

Paige doesn't have a history yet of having been through all that, but she has those qualities. She has the qualities of a kid who loves the game like Diana does, who lives to be in the gym, who loves to compete more than anything else, wants to compete at everything, wants to compete every day, and she thinks there's never been a better basketball player than her, even though she's humble enough to admit that she makes mistakes.

D was quick to tell you that there's nobody better than her that's ever played. They're both right. I'm the luckiest coach in the world because I had a chance to be around both of them and to see it firsthand. I've seen D do what Paige did tonight. I saw it at home. We were playing TCU, and we were down at halftime. D had 31 in the game and just took over the entire second half and made sure we won.

I said going into tonight, I think I told you guys, somebody is going to come up big tonight. Our program is not going to win this game. Programs don't win this game. Programs can get you to this game, but somebody needs to be big, like really big, to get you to the next two games, and somebody said, who's that going to be. I said, I have no idea. If you'd have asked me last year I'd have told you who it was going to be, but I still wasn't ready to put that kind of pressure on Paige. But without a performance like that, there is no next weekend. No matter how good the rest of your team is, doesn't matter.

Next weekend is the same thing. There's four teams out there, but there's three or four kids that they're going to decide who wins the National Championship.

Q. You talked about programs don't win games per se, but this program has won this game in the season every year going back since 2008, and so as a student of the game, two parts to that, one being that's a number that's going to live on for a long time, however long that streak goes. I wonder what that means to you when you think about it relative to sports history. And the other part is to have Paige have a game like this where she comes out and wins the game, she's a link in that chain, what do you think that does for her going forward?

GENO AURIEMMA: I try to use the success that we've had in the past not as like this is the standard and you need to live up to it. Again, that's grossly unfair to do that to anybody.

But what I have done, including with this team, is tell them that this is what we have done. So going into this game, I was pretty honest with them, I said, this is what we usually do in a game like this at this time of the year. And here's why we do it. Here's why we're able to do it. If you all didn't have those same qualities in you, we wouldn't be in this game.

So when you're playing in this game, it's not just another group of kids playing in this game. It's a game that everybody is watching us play goes, that's Connecticut playing. So you didn't create that, but that's what follows you around, and you're supposed to use that as an added incentive or as an added boost to where you're going as opposed to a yoke that you're dragging, the tradition that you're dragging, having to live up to it. It's not easy. It's not easy being these kids with the pressures that they're under.

So I want them to use it as a positive. Having said that, I didn't expect to be in this situation when I started coaching. Although I did say to a kid recently, I asked her how old she was, and she said she was 16. She was like a high school junior or something. I said, look, I can't promise you anything, but we have a pretty good shot at going to the Final Four every year. I said, the last time we weren't in the Final Four, you were three. I started laughing when I said it because it was incredulous to me.

It could end tomorrow. It could end next week. It could end next year, like everything else ends. But kids like Paige won't let it end, and there has to be that kind of kid.

Listen, when you've been in our situation, you hear it all. You hear all the platitudes about you're this, you're that, you guys are this, you guys are that, and you hear the other part, too. The ratings on SNY were through the roof when we were playing lousy and I asked them why and they said, don't discount how many people tune in to see you lose. There's just as many people that want to see us lose as want to see us win. They said the only time you won championships is when you had the best player.

I said, I know, but for about 15 years I tried to do it with the worst player and it doesn't work that way.

All the coaches that are going next week to Minnesota, they all have really, really good players or we wouldn't be there.

Q. You've seen what a horrific injury can do to a team in a game. You've seen it this year. Can you talk about this team's resilience and whether going through what they did with Paige and with Azzi and with everybody else allowed them to respond to Dorka's injury today the way they did?

GENO AURIEMMA: They were pretty shook up about it. I didn't see it. I just know she went down. I didn't see it. But it was pretty -- it was one of those that you've seen it before on TV, and it's not pretty. And they had a chance to see it up close. I didn't, but they did.

So they were pretty shook up about it. You could see it in their faces.

I think having been through all the things that we have been through and knowing that we're in the middle of a game right now, I think they've refocused pretty well, considering.

I felt worse for Dorka because she didn't play great the other night and hardly played at all, and the four or five minutes that she got in there today, she was the biggest factor in the game. She had an impact on every defensive possession, every rebound possession, every offensive possession. So for that to happen at that moment, I just -- it's the reason why the kid came here.

But you know, it's another reminder, too. All this is all well and good, but all these shiny moments, one shiny moment. Well, one moment that ain't shiny and your season is over. That's how fragile all this is, and that's why you've got to appreciate it and you've got to enjoy it. I don't care how many of these we win. They're still like the first one. No different.

Q. What was the actual injury to Dorka?

GENO AURIEMMA: The way it was described to me -- I've gotten pretty good at people describing things to me, doctors describing things to me this year. She was falling down and she went to go catch herself with both hands, and when she came down, this part of her wrist was completely cleanly fractured and dislocated. The kids saw it and they reacted, and Dorka was pretty upset about it.

We'll miss her. Those of you that cover our team, I told you, when you watch Dorka practice for a long time, I said, she could be the difference that gets us over that hump from last year, where we needed one more big body to do some things, and unfortunately she's not going to get the opportunity to do that.

But you know, she's come back bigger and stronger. Hopefully she'll get another opportunity to do this.