ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 2, 2023

Felisha Legette-Jack

Dyaisha Fair

Georgia Woolley

Syracuse Orange

Postgame Press Conference

NC State 83, Syracuse 58

FELISHA LEGETTE-JACK: Last time we sat on a stage together it was a little bit different. I just kind of realized that. We sat on the stage together last year, and we did some fantastic things, and I thought that season we did some fantastic things with a team we had to pull together very quickly. So much had to take place to build it. We did, we did, and we really fought, and we really figured out a lot of things about ourselves, about each other. We figured out how to fight. We learned how to just take a step back and reassess. It was a long year.

We just really have no time to really think about all you've been through, right, until you kind of sit here, and there's a possibility it could be over. It's just -- it was so rewarding, though, in so many ways. It was so exciting, about seeing people transform into these amazing young people.

Academically they were strong, character that was unblemished, and to see people like Dariauna Lewis, everybody just kind of gave up on a young lady that can rebound like a pro. But she just kept saying somebody just needed to believe in me, and I said, I'll stick with you for the rest of your life, and she became something so important.

To see Asia go out there and play with just vigor and with a cracked kneecap. And she needed to play. She just had to play. She didn't play great today, but boy, did she leave it out there. Those two are definitely out because of five years, so they can't come back. It's almost like your children going away because they became like my daughters.

To see this young lady on the left, getting calls about her from the league and her following me here is -- it makes you think in this business that you're doing something the right way. And that's all I ask God is to let me know that I'm doing it the right way. And having her come with us, and then Georgia come, too, I am so blessed as a coach. I'm so blessed to be at my alma mater. I'm so blessed to lead this young team at this time, and I'm so humbled to be in this great conference, the best conference in the country.

We'll get better for sure, but man, I'll tell you, we've got some great coaches and some great players in this conference, and I just don't see why not one of us get to the Final Four. If it can't be us, let it be somebody from the ACC.

Q. Obviously it wasn't the ideal performance, NC State had 54 points in the paint. Some of that was in the fast break and in transition. How do you think NC State was able to penetrate your defense quite easily?

FELISHA LEGETTE-JACK: This is their stage. You're talking about the team that's been here and won it three times in a row. We were just a young team that all of our announcers called mid-majors, not good enough. We had to try to dethrone the triple threat. We won it three times, but they want a coach who's going to get an 800th win on this particular game, and it's in his backyard.

We had our backs against the wall, and these young ladies said bring it on, and we really tried and gave it our best effort. And the best team won today, and that's the truth. Our young people need to hear the truth, and this particular day they were way better, but we played them at our home and we had a chance.

I wish everybody well, but at the end of the day, it was a big hill to climb, and we fell off of it.

Q. Coach, from the moment you grabbed the mic in your opening win against Stony Brook until now, I know you talked about how your first year at the helm went at Syracuse in your opening statement, but is there anything more you want to add to that?

FELISHA LEGETTE-JACK: We left it all out there. There was no more juice in the Orange. My hope is that the committee sees us as a possible 64, 68. If not, maybe NIT. If not, the mirror is going to tell us we left it out there, and we were pretty darned good.

Q. In you guys' opinion and perspective, how do you think NC State was able to get through your defense so easily?

GEORGIA WOOLLEY: Well, they scored a lot in the paint, and they out-rebounded us by a lot. They had almost 20 more rebounds than us, so I think they really just dominated us down low, and we didn't have an answer for them today in that respect.

Q. Dyaisha, today was a tough game, and NC State threw a lot of size at you. How did you feel with that throughout the game?

DYAISHA FAIR: I just kept shooting the ball.

Q. Obviously this is just one game out of 30, but when you look at all 30 or 29 as a whole, do you think in you guys' opinion that you've made enough of a resume to put yourself in the last 68?

GEORGIA WOOLLEY: I definitely believe so. This game doesn't define our whole season. As you've seen, the ACC is a great conference, and anybody can beat anybody. Every single game that we've played has been up for the grabs. Like we've never been blown out. Today probably was the most points that we've been scored on. We're right there. We are that team. We are a team that should be in the 64, 68 coming into March. I believe that. We all believe that. Coach believes that. I know that's where we belong.

Q. Coach, at the start of the fourth quarter you kind of switched into a zone front on the defensive end. What wasn't working in man for you guys to kind of go into the zone in the final 10 minutes?

FELISHA LEGETTE-JACK: We just couldn't find energy on the offensive side, and sometimes the defense predicates the offense. And it just -- our shots wasn't falling and we're trying to get turnovers on the defense by trying to mix it up a little bit. One thing you can't say is there was something left we could have tried. We tried it all, other than a tri-and-two, which wasn't necessary, or a box-and-one. I was going to ask if we could start tickling them, but I was told I couldn't speak to the officials after a while, so I couldn't even ask for that little sneaky thing. I'm teasing.

It was not enough. The better team won, and we have to raise our hand and understand that. We've been in a situation like that against Penn State where we were up 21 and we lost the game, and we went back to the drawing board. And every time we got in a situation where we had to learn a tough lesson like this, we became tougher young women.

This is not going to define us in a bad way. This is going to push us to another level of excellence. I'm excited about our tomorrows because every time we had a situation like this, we became a better coach, staff, team. And like I always say to these young people, never, ever lose your words because of the hurt in your heart. Losing isn't a part of who we are. We win and we learn.

We learned a lot tonight, believe that. But we're not defined by losing because there's nothing -- we don't have losers on this team. In order to stay in what we did, we are winners, and we learned a horrible lesson on not being able to score and defense.

But guess what: Given an opportunity to play again, I just don't want to be the team that's going to play us next.