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

March 16, 2023

Ginny Boggess

Ariana Vanderhoop

Lucy Thomas

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall

Monmouth Hawks

Media Conference

Monmouth 69 - Tennessee Tech 79

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by head coach Ginny Boggess, junior Ariana Vanderhoop and graduate student Lucy Thomas. We'll have Coach Boggess make an opening statement, followed by questions for the student-athletes and then for the coaches. Coach?

GINNY BOGGESS: Wow. What an incredible run by these young woman. I couldn't be more proud to be their leader. Couldn't be more proud to be representing Monmouth. Gotta give a lot of credit to Tennessee Tech right there. They were ready to go and they shot the lights out tonight. And, again, we scored 79 (sic) points. I haven't seen a stats sheet. A little bit of emotion with the team. We score 69 points, we traditionally win those basketball games. So credit to them for being ready to go, but I am, although disappointed, bursting with pride and so, so thankful for this group and the trajectory of our program and where we're going.

THE MODERATOR: We'll now take questions in the room for the student-athletes.

Q. Ariana for you, you had a great game, 17 points. You seemed from the get-go to just lead this team. How did it feel getting this team to the school's first tournament appearance in forever, since '83?

ARIANA VANDERHOOP: My teammates and my coach gave me the confidence to go out there and do what I did. Yeah.

Q. Lucy, you grew up 10 miles away from the university. What did it mean to you in your fifth year to be able to bring this team to the NCAA tournament?

LUCY THOMAS: It means a lot.

GINNY BOGGESS: Lucy chose to stay home when it wasn't cool. And that's a lot of pressure on a young woman, especially a really talented one. So when we got to Monmouth, we just wanted to make sure that we freed her up to be who she is and play basketball again. And I think one of the greatest joys of these past two years has been watching her fall back in love with basketball and be who she is and play the game she loves. And she chose us twice. She chose to come back. So we would not have had the season that we had if Lucy hadn't been anchoring it down low, and she wasn't a starter for us all year. She's an incredibly selfless young woman, who plays her role to the best of her ability, and she's an incredible leader that has really propelled our culture forward.

LUCY THOMAS: Sorry. Means a lot to me. Couldn't have done it without the coaches, staff, plus my teammates, sisters, just everybody. Just the support, love and confidence they just give, and just a whole team effort and glad I got to do it with them.

Q. Ladies, obviously a lot of emotion, but when you get a chance to look back and see that you won four games in four days to get to this point, what will you take away from that ride and getting to this game and getting the NCAA appearance?

LUCY THOMAS: I'm just so proud of everyone, my teammates, just the hard work and effort we put in throughout the whole year and just never giving up and just fighting to the end and getting the trip. I'm just really proud of them, proud of all of them.

ARIANA VANDERHOOP: Like she said, I'm super proud, and I previously said knowing that we could do it besides us in that locker room. So it was a special feeling to make it that far when knowing that we stayed together throughout those days, and it's a great experience and a learning experience looking forward to get back to work and get right back here.

Q. Ariana, you talked about it yesterday all of the graduates and seniors and people that are going to leave this program this year. How do you take what you've learned from them and maybe pass it on to the next group that you're going to try to get back here next year?

ARIANA VANDERHOOP: They're leaders. Even when they're not in the mood, they bring the energy to the team every single day. They work hard. They compete. Like she said, Lucy wasn't even a starter, and she was a huge part of us this season. Extremely inspiring to how hard they work, and I'll definitely carry that over.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else for the student-athletes?

Q. For both of you, your first time playing in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Obviously a historic place with a lot of tradition. What's your impressions of getting to play here?

LUCY THOMAS: Truly a great experience. Like I said, first time being here, so it's just something I will never forget, and I'm just glad I got to do it with this group of girls and the staff, coaches and everyone.

ARIANA VANDERHOOP: Like she said, it was a great experience, something I'll never forget.

THE MODERATOR: Anything else in the room? Ladies, thank you so much for joining us. You may return to the locker room. Congratulations on a great season.

ARIANA VANDERHOOP: Thank you.

LUCY THOMAS: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: We'll now take questions in the room for Coach. Coach, I'll kick it off. What does it mean for the student-athletes that chose to stick around this program to be at this point from where they were just a couple of years ago?

GINNY BOGGESS: I mean I think it says so much about their character, their integrity, their families, how they were raised. You know, when I got the job, the thing that stuck out the most to me was that everyone stayed. I know it's a testament to Monmouth and the community and the athletics department and the education, but it's a testament to the trust and the leadership to make the right hire for the next move. And we got to work day one. And state the obvious, right, it happened a lot more quickly than any of us thought it would happen. But we were able to assemble some talent and then get on a run and get hot. Just, again, overwhelmed with gratitude and pride in this team and who we're becoming. And I couldn't be more grateful to do it with this group of women. We have so much fun, and you can't argue that. They genuinely love each other. They show up for each other every day, like Ari said, even when it's hard. And that's what you want. You want to create an environment where they can learn lessons to go forth and carry those into the next phase of their lives, and I think we've been able to do that for these seniors.

Q. Coach, at what point with this group did you know that you had something special, especially having to go through that grind of the conference tournament and winning four games in four days? At what point did kind of the light click and you knew that you had an opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament?

GINNY BOGGESS: We beat Drexel at home, and I think that was a big moment for us. They're obviously very good, perennial CAA power, perennial mid major power in our area, and then we went on the road and lost a tough one to Elon and then lost another tough one to A&T, and I could feel them slipping away a little bit, just a little tired, a little beat down from the travel and the pressure and the demands that this new league brought with travel and everything. So just challenged them really hard, and I said, yeah, who am I think to think that we should go on the road and win at A&T? At the time I think they were second or third in the league, and that's an incredible environment to play in. I was like, our first year in the league, like who am I? Like what was I thinking? And they all just started shaking their head, like, no, Coach, we should have won. I was like, good. Good. I've been saying it, and that was the first time they really owned kind of their greatness. And from then, again, we got Jania Hall back healthy; Lovin started to get back in shape; Belle's dust kind of shook off from the shoulder, and they were just locked in at a different level those four games of the tournament, and we executed at a really high level, especially defensively. And, yeah, it was kind of crazy, but yeah, it was after the A&T game at home. We could have gone either way, and credit them, they really stepped up, laced them up and were ready to go.

Q. So obviously that last locker room of the year is always really emotional, and we saw with the two young ladies up there. What was your message to the ones that won't be back and to the ones that will be returning hoping to replicate this year's run?

GINNY BOGGESS: Yeah. To the ones that won't be back, you changed our program. You chose us. Thank you for trusting us. And you made me better. You know, we talked about a book "Legacy" that we've read, and one of the main core principles is to leave the jersey better than you found it, and they did that. And they left me better, for sure. They made me want to be better for them every day, and we're grateful for them. This 2023 team, you know, the funny phrase has been '83 wants some company with the banner up there. So '23 is the company. And they'll always be back, and we'll celebrate them forever and ever. And then the ones that are coming back, why did we get here? Why was today harder than maybe last Sunday? And what are we going to do in this off season to make sure the next time we get this opportunity we're even more prepared? And you heard Ari, she's such a gym rat. She's such a hard worker, she probably would go get a workout right now, but we're obviously take a little time off. But that was the message. How can we carry forward all the work that we've done and build on it?

THE MODERATOR: Anything else in the room for Coach? Do we have any questions from Zoom? If there are no more questions, Coach, congratulations on advancing to the NCAA tournament and best of luck in the off season.

GINNY BOGGESS: Thank you.