NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR - SACRED HEART VS SOUTHERN U

March 14, 2023

Jessica Mannetti

Sacred Heart Pioneers

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by head coach Jessica Mannetti.

We will now take questions for Coach Mannetti.

Q. Jessica to get to this point, and I mean with March Madness behind you, has it settled in yet that you're at this stage?

JESSICA MANNETTI: Oh, my gosh. It's a dream come true. I think today in film we were talking to the players about the little girl that got to watch March Madness for the first time. I think -- sorry. I don't mean to get emotional, but these moments are so special because you work your whole life for this.

Some coaches never get to experience this. Players who work their whole life, talented players, deserving players, don't get to experience this, and we are living that dream right now.

So it's a true full circle moment and we are so grateful to be here.

Q. Got a tip from somebody that on a Podcast that you're on coming out tomorrow that you've been coaching for quite a while, but had never won a postseason tournament. To get this achievement this way, just what can you say to this group as to how they were able to pull it off?

JESSICA MANNETTI: You could not have written a more incredible story. You talk to my players earlier, two of which we recruited and told us initially no and ended up coming back to play this year and last year.

You talk to our freshman, who is one of the most special players to ever come through our program, to every play in the NEC. She's amazing.

And just to be able to share this has been incredible, you know.

Q. These are two upperclassmen that they both said you recruited them and you got them the second time they opened up. To hear them talk about Ny, who is a freshman as she is a leader of the program, can you speak to that that says about how Ny's viewed inside the program? That even as one of the younger players in the program she's kind of stepped into that role?

JESSICA MANNETTI: Yeah. We knew Ny was going to be special in the recruiting process. She holds herself with such poise the floor. She's a floor general. Nothing shakes her. Nothing rattles her. She's been a proven winner since before I even saw her play for the first time.

And she has the respect of her teammates. She had that immediately when she got here. This is a kid who came very humble in the summer and said, man, I really hope to get ten to 12 minutes this year on the floor. We were like, what? Ten to 12 minutes? You're going to be our starting point guard. She is a humble and it surprised her.

Five games in we named her a captain. We were searching for a little bit of leadership. We didn't really know the direction we were going to go, like the players mentioned. We were a new team, a young team, a team that didn't have a lot of playing experience. For her to come in and make this impact right away as a proven leader that they immediately respected, we finally had something to follow.

I think she has brought our program to life once we decided we were going to have her as our leader. She has never put us down. She's carried us the whole way gladly and she would do it again if you asked.

Q. To get to this point, obviously NCAA tournament, first time for you as a head coach. I'm sure happy to be here no matter what, but how do you view being in the First Four game as a head coach? Obviously it's not the field of 64; it's field of 68. Is there a different viewpoint?

JESSICA MANNETTI: I think our viewpoint is we've been so hungry. The whole season we have had nothing to lose. We even said it before the championship game. Hey, FDU has everything to lose right now and we don't. We were picked sixth. Nobody picked us but us, right? It was us versus everybody the whole season.

That's been what's been fueling our fire. So I think to be in this First Four game against a comparable team, very good team, I watched a lot of film on them in the last 48 hours. We are hungry to continue to make history.

We talked about the writing this great book this year and every time we have an opportunity it's a new chapter. This is another chapter that we want to write. Our story is not over.

So if we continue to write our chapter and make history, we would be so proud. We would be so proud to bring that back to our university and our basketball program.

Q. And I guess if you're a 16 seed, directly into the first round against a 1 seed, that's a pretty daunting task.

JESSICA MANNETTI: Yeah.

Q. You kind of said a comparable opponent. It's a chance for the program to get their first NCAA win in the history. Is that a selling point to the group, this is the chance you get on Wednesday?

JESSICA MANNETTI: Oh, they are bought in. They knew it. First of all when we saw that we were in this region, I mean, most of these kids have never been to California. For our players to have to experience to come here to a historic university, to play inside this pavilion and have this experience at March Madness is first and foremost amazing, right? Unforgettable.

And to have a winnable game. I mean, they were bought in. They were like, coach, we're going to win. They were hyped. They were talking about it. It's been on our mind since we got on this beautiful plane that the NCAA provided for us and came out here.

Yeah, we're super excited for the opportunity to make history and hopefully get this win and meet Stanford on Friday. We'll see how it goes.

Q. Sorry that the weather couldn't be better for you guys. I guess it's better than snow.

JESSICA MANNETTI: Yes.

Q. When you approach a game against a team, I know that they won Saturday night, you guys win Sunday afternoon and it's high flyin', but what is it about Southern on film that stands out to you as you got the scout on them?

JESSICA MANNETTI: You know, they were a 4 seed that gritted their way to a championship. I mean, they beat Jackson State, a very good team in the semifinals. Their guards are athletic and dynamic and get downhill. They play tough. They're physical.

Similar to us. On paper we're very similar from a numbers standpoint, so I think similar to us, they're hungry. They have been fighting all season with something to prove.

I think that matchup will be an exciting one to watch. You're looking at two teams that nobody picked really to win it all and we're now battling out on this national stage.

So it'll be really fun.

Q. When during the season did you start to believe this might be the team that would get you over the hump and get this program back in the NCAA tournament?

JESSICA MANNETTI: We went through it. Like the players said, that nonconference was tough. But we were always right there. I think he we saw really positive glimmers of hope even in these moments of loss where we -- once we figured it out we could start to believe like, hey, we just got to put 40 minutes together.

We would put 30 minutes together, 35 minutes together, 22 minutes together. I could think of some games, man, just wish we could get one quarter back.

So we had a big turning point when we came back from Christmas break. We had a bye so we scheduled a nonconference opponent, and we finally put 40 minutes together, played great, and won.

I think that win -- I was talking to that coach the other day. He was like, I think that win propelled you guys. I think he's right. We had to get that win under our belt to get some confidence.

And then our first two conference games we were able to put 40 minutes together, and from that point I blinked and we were 7-1 in January.

Oh, my gosh, we're really winning. Like the players are really buying in, they're believing, they're holding each other accountable. They are doing all these things that we had struggled with.

So they really are close. They care about each other. They really believe in that family bond that they've created. Once they decided to play for each other is I think when I knew we had something really special going.

We finished the season very well and we got to these playoffs and they were just so hungry. My assistant always told me, we're going to be fine. I'm very nervous. I'm always thinking about, you know, things we have to be prepared for. But my assistant coach es and staff are amazing.

Coach, we're going to be fine. We got this. They want this. I finally believed, and with 13 seconds left in the championship game, I finally smiled and was like, oh, my God, we did it.

It was really kind of fun.

It was 13.7. Amelia Wood was on the free-throw line. She hit a free-throw to get us up 11. In my brain statistically I was like, there is no statistical way we can lose now, and that's when I believe I cracked my first smile.

Q. As you get to this point, you want your players I'm sure to enjoy the moment. Is there I guess maybe right when you hit the practice floor here, is that when you're hoping to flip the switch, or do you want them to be balancing that enjoyment the entire time?

JESSICA MANNETTI: We've asked them to live in this moment with us the entire time. From the second I think we pulled a bus up to a chartered plane and stepped on, with all their cameras out, we been documenting every second of it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We've really challenged them to say, hey, we got to lock in and take care of business. This is a business trip. We're here to win. But, man, enjoy every second of this. This is incredible. You earned it. Nobody gave this to you, and you should feel really good about it.

Q. Obviously with the First Four it would mean if you make the run all the way that it's an extra game to play. Does that give you an opportunity where everybody in women's basketball will be watching Sacred Heart tomorrow night.

JESSICA MANNETTI: Yeah.

Q. What can that spotlight mean for the program?

JESSICA MANNETTI: It's so special. I've been the head coach here for ten years and we have been very close to getting to the tournament for a long time. We've had great players and I've had an administration that you would die to have as a head coach. They're so supportive.

We knew that getting this program back to the national level was going to be really important, and so for us to be able to play here on this national stage and represent our university who's -- they're the best. We have the best fans. We have the best support. We had all the athletes send out off on our journey out to California.

It would mean so much to us to be able to continue to make our university proud and really bring basketball back to that national level.

Q. I know you touched on it a little bit earlier, Coach, but I know most coaches get up here and will talk about their student-athletes, their players. You been here ten years. We now how hard coaches work. What does it mean for you to be in the NCAA tournament?

JESSICA MANNETTI: Yeah, it's surreal. I almost still can't believe it. There are moments when I get really emotional when I'm sitting in my room thinking about, oh, my gosh. Like I said earlier, you work your whole life for this. I've dreamed about this. I used to watch UCONN -- I watch UCONN win a national championship with Jen Rizzotti and Rebecca Lobo when I was 18 years old, and you dream of having a chance to be here.

We do work really hard. Everybody works hard, right? You have winning season and losing seasons and you're just grinding. I'm beyond grateful and thankful for the support system over the last 20 years now I've been coaching that I have had in my life and that our players have had in their lives. Having the opportunity to just be here is -- I will never forget this. It is amazing.

Q. To focus very inwardly on your team and the game tomorrow, obviously with the guards they have, I guess when you know how aggressive Ny can be defensively, is that an ease in your brain or do you always have to worry just a little bit if a whistle is a certain way, if there could be trouble in that regard?

JESSICA MANNETTI: I'm always worried. There is never a minute of the game where I'm not thinking about what the worst possible thing that can happen is.

But I also think I trust the team. They protect Ny. And Ny is really smart. Quick story. Preseason when freshman come to practice they come from high school where you can like maul people. You can have two and three and four hand touch es and you can constantly have arm bars.

So for the first month and a half of practice, every time Ny touched someone we would blow the whistle and call a foul. All freshmen, right? She would get so frustrated. She's such a competitor and she would be so mad.

I promise, I promise you we'll save you. She didn't believe us until we went to Quinnipiac and scrimmaged, and in the scrimmage she had seven fouls. I'm not kidding, seven. We were finally, like, now do you see? And she was like, I got you, Coach. I got you. I got you.

I think from that point freshmen have to go through those moments, but I think all are freshmen have learned how to be really smart. We play with some kids that have foul trouble. I worry still, but I think our team really protects Ny and I think she's smart enough now to understand how to play through some things.

That valuable playing experience as a freshman, you're looking at 25, 30 minutes a game over 30 games. I'm a little more settled now with that trust.

Q. I know a lot of coaches say at a certain point in their first season they're no longer freshman. Are you a believer in that regard? Is she still...

JESSICA MANNETTI: Nope. We said it before we started playoffs. We were like, freshmen, you're sophomores now. That's it. You have grown. You have minutes. You have experience. Like you're sophomores now. We don't make anymore freshman mistakes and do freshman excuse things. Yeah, that was definitely our mentality.

I'll tell you what, we had three freshman on the floor when that buzzer sounded. Like they were playing like seasoned veterans. You couldn't be more proud of their growth as a class.

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