BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 3, 2023

Austin Parkinson

Mohegan Sun Arena

Butler Bulldogs

Postgame Media Conference

Georgetown - 53, Butler - 46

COACH PARKINSON: You've got to give credit to Georgetown. They were way more physical than we were on the defensive side of things. And in the second half I think we gave up 14 second-chance points in the second half. And in a low-scoring game you can't give up easy baskets like that.

I was proud of how our kids fought in the fourth quarter. We played Georgetown twice, beat them both times, but I don't think we were that much better than them. It was kind of a wash.

So coming into this game we knew we were going to have to step up and they did a great job. We're eighth in the country in 3-point percentage and we only got 10 shots off. A lot of that is credit to them.

Q. What was Georgetown doing defensively that made it so difficult for you guys to get clean looks from the perimeter?

COACH PARKINSON: They switched quite a bit. Really were physical with us. We were able to take advantage inside with Sydney Jaynes who had a great game.

But you look, we had -- that's a wild stat -- two assists, you have two assists in a game. That's pretty pitiful. That means you weren't driving and kicking the ball. You weren't getting easy shots for each other.

And so they forced us to play one-on-one. But the ball would stick. We would drive it, kind of hold it, and they're probably more athletic and bigger than us.

So when we start holding it, you're going to have to go play one-on-one. That's not to our advantage.

Q. Rachel McLimore had a big game including the game-winner last time around, and they held to one point in the first half. What did you see that Georgetown was doing defensively to really take her out of her element?

COACH PARKINSON: I just think it was a tough night. She was driving. It wasn't like she was trying to not be aggressive. I did think there were a couple times she got downhill and had layups and kind of spun back into the defense.

But it's one of those things, they kind of chose to pick their poison. Instead of giving up 3s they said, hey, we're going to make them finish at the rim. We got in there deep and just missed some. And you miss some shots.

So they're a physical basketball team. Obviously I think they played UConn pretty tough because of their physicality. Tonight that wore us down, I think it maybe wore her down a little bit.

Q. I know not the way you guys wanted to end it, but what's one big takeaway after your first season at Butler that you can head into next year, hold your head up by?

COACH PARKINSON: I told the kids I'm really proud. To be one win last year, three before that, to get to 11 wins, to get the eighth seed in the conference tournament our first year.

And the other part that people may not realize, we battled -- we were down three starters all the way until the start of the second half of conference play. And it's not just losing players, but it's the continuity, when you've got so many new faces and you're trying to learn a new system.

When you get late in the season like that, a lot of times when you've lost and lost the way that we have in the past, it's easy to kind of let the ship go the other direction.

And I thought these kids fought. And I thought tonight was a microcosm of that. We got down eight or nine. They battled, they battled, they battled. Obviously we weren't able to overcome. But it was good momentum going into the offseason, and I think starting two freshmen and a sophomore, it's encouraging going forward.