NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR - MONMOUTH VS TENNESSEE TECH

March 15, 2023

Maaliya Owens

Jada Guinn

Tennessee Tech Red Raiders

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by student-athletes senior Maaliya Owens and senior Jada Guinn. We will take questions from the room and then questions from Zoom, if anybody has one.

Q. What makes your team, this team so special?

MAALIYA OWENS: I think something that really makes our team special is how close we are. You can really tell, even though we're a young team and we haven't really been playing together as long as some of the other teams have, I think that our bond on and off the court really shows in those big games, in those big moments. Like we really trust each other, and I think one thing we worked on this whole year is trusting each other and working through the hard things, and I think that's one thing that sets us apart from some other teams.

JADA GUINN: To go along with that, I definitely think that our bond is something that separates us. If you don't have team chemistry off the court, you're not going to have team chemistry on the court, and I think that we worked really hard this year just doing that, just learning from the past on like what has affected our team, and I think we really used that and we just came together, and that really helped us on the court.

Q. Why was Tennessee Tech your choice? Why did you go there?

JADA GUINN: I would say for me I wanted to find somewhere that was like a family-like environment and somewhere that I could grow, not only on the court, but off the court. And I feel like coming to Tech is something that really allowed me to do that, and just like my relationship with the coaches through like the recruiting process, and just the teammates that were on the team before then, just how they treated me really helped with me making my decision to come here.

MAALIYA OWENS: And I'd say for me kind of the same thing. Something that was really important for me in the recruiting process was feeling like a home away from home. I'm not from Tennessee. I'm from Kentucky. So obviously I wouldn't be able to go home as often, and I think that feeling like I was comfortable enough to be away from my family is something that was really important for me. And I think another thing, it's not even just the girls, it's not even just the coaches, but the community as a whole, they really rally around our team, and they come to all of our games. Like if they see us out, they come speak. Like even all the little girls that come to our camps, like we still see them all the time, and I think that's something that's a really cool thing to have because you don't have that everywhere.

Q. So you get into conference play, and you know how important it is, so how did both of you all step up to help your team?

MAALIYA OWENS: I think for me I knew we kind of -- all of us had to turn it into another gear. Nonconference is one thing, and you're going to a lot of cool places. You get to play a lot of different teams, but in conference play you pretty much know everyone and everyone knows you as well. So I think you have to automatically take it up a notch. Your first move, your first thought is not always going to work because they've scouted you. So I think we all knew we were going to need to bring another gear and we were going to have to be able to get to that second and third option for ourselves individually and as a team.

JADA GUINN: I would say just like focus wise, I feel like in the nonconference, kind of how she was talking about, it's like very unknown, and once you get in a conference, it's like everybody knows everybody. So you really have to dig deep and focus on what you need to do and like what your job is for the team. So really just focusing in on what the task is at hand.

Q. There's a proud tradition with your program, but it's been a few years since you all have been in the NCAA tournament. What does it mean to you that you're here?

MAALIYA OWENS: I think it means everything to us. Obviously, like this year we made it, but we can go back to all those years and they didn't it, and that just laid the groundwork for us to be able to do this this year. I think even the seniors that graduated this year, like we have a lot of young players this year, but they laid the tradition for us to be able to make that next step. I think my freshman year we got to the tournament and we lost the first game. My sophomore year, we made it to the semifinals and we lost. And then we made it to the championship game last year, and I think that each step in that process we needed each one of those games to be able to finally get over that hump this year and be able to make it to the championship game. And I think that that means more than anything. Like that's what you work for. That's what you think about whenever you're picking a school when you're coming out of high school. I think that just means the world to us, honestly.

JADA GUINN: Yeah, it really does mean a lot, just knowing like coming in to Tennessee Tech, just the tradition and the foundation that was like laid ahead of me, and just knowing that I get to be like a small part of like continuing that tradition, it just means a lot, and I'm just grateful to have that opportunity and experience.

Q. For both of you, Maaliya describe Jada; Jada describe Maaliya, about their strengths as a player and what it's like to play with them.

MAALIYA OWENS: Jada, she's a really good point guard. She sees the floor a lot better than I think I've seen and played with in a really long time, and she also has that other gear in her where if you need her to go get a bucket down the stretch, especially in the EIU game, we were up by two at the end, and she just came up and got a huge bucket. It's like you can't stop her when she sets her mind to it. And so I think obviously she sees the floor well. Obviously she makes really great passes, but she just kind of has that dog in her, when you need her at the end of the game, you know she's going to go get whatever you need, whether that be a rebound, a stop, a steal or a basket.

JADA GUINN: So to describe Maaliya, I would say like she's just a bucket. Like it's so hard to guard her like in practice, like knowing whenever I go against her, I know it's going to make me better, because she can do everything. She can shoot the three extremely well. You take that away; she can shoot the pullup. She can get to the rim. So she's just one of those players that can do anything and like one of the hardest players to guard. And I would also say, like defensively, like she's our hawk, so she stops the ball, and she just sets the tone for our team. She brings a lot of leadership. She's always like encouraging people like when they're not doing their best and just trying to help them, and she's just a leader for our team.

Q. You've both played in some incredible arenas in your collegiate career. To step into Assembly Hall and just see the rafters and everything, how cool is that? Has it kind of set in, you're here playing for the national tournament?

MAALIYA OWENS: I think still sometimes it's a little surreal to me. Like we walked in and like you can tell, you just look up and it just keeps on going. It's something that you really haven't seen before, but I think knowing all the history here. And like I used to watch -- obviously I'm from Kentucky, so Kentucky-Indiana was always a big rivalry for us, and watching on TV and seeing the big crowds and then being able to walk in and know like all the greats that have played in here and all the great coaches that have coached in here is just really kind of crazy.

JADA GUINN: Yeah, I feel like it still hasn't really like set in with me, but just like walking in the gym, I was like, we're really here at March Madness and just grateful to be here. And we were just like sitting up here, and Maaliya was like, think of all the people that have sat up here, so I'm just going to take it all in and enjoy the experience.

Q. You spoke about madness. In March Madness there's always somebody that may be an unsung hero that has to step up. Who on your team maybe was the unsung hero last week, and who are you guys looking at this week to maybe make some big plays for your team?

MAALIYA OWENS: Kiera Hill was definitely our unsung hero. She really came up big for us whenever we needed anything, a rebound, a putback, a bucket. Like she was there. A block. Anything. She definitely was our unsung hero, and I'm so grateful that she did that, so proud of her, but yeah.

JADA GUINN: Yeah, and everything that she did like since she got here, like through the summer, she's been a great player, and I'm happy that she was able to show everybody that on that stage.