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

March 16, 2023

Kim Rosamond

Maaliya Owens

Jada Guinn

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall

Tennessee Tech Red Raiders

Media Conference

Monmouth 69 - Tennessee Tech 79

THE MODERATOR: On the dais from Tennessee Tech we are joined by head coach Kim Rosamond, senior Maaliya Owens and senior Jada Guinn. We will have Coach Rosamond make an opening statement, followed by questions for the student-athletes and then questions for Coach. Coach, the floor is years.

KIM ROSAMOND: What a special night for Tennessee Tech, our university. What a special night for Tennessee Tech women's basketball, our alumni, our fans, our families, but especially for those young women in that locker room. What an incredible group of young women that we have. To see the way they have grown and matured over the last two months, I'm just honored to be their coach. I'm honored that I'm along for the ride with them, and we're excited that we get 40 more minutes together on Saturday.

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

Q. Ladies, you both had 18 points, you both go perfect from the free throw line. The team hits 12 three-pointers tonight. How confident were you in the fact that you guys got off to a great start, but you were both able to have great games from both the line and the field.

MAALIYA OWENS: I think for me we knew in warmups we were shooting the ball well, especially Peyton. She shot the ball really well in warmups. She came out hot in the first quarter and I think we all knew that we really just had to everything that we'd been doing. We didn't have to make anything special. We didn't have to make this game a do-or-die, even though it was. Like we didn't have to make it bigger than it was. And I think that that's one thing that kept us poised throughout the game and even when it was close or even when they went on a run, we knew that we had been in these situations before, so all we had to do was the same thing we'd done all year.

JADA GUINN: And I would say our confidence just comes from our preparation. We have really great shooters on the team, And that just happens from them getting in the gym. So the confidence just comes from the work. And then when you get in those game situations, you just knock down shots. And I would just say me and Maaliya both, we just did what we had to do for the team.

Q. I'd like to ask, because it just seemed like everything was going in early, but have either of you ever been a part of a night where it seemed like early on everything you put up was finding the bottom of the net?

MAALIYA OWENS: Yes. I think a couple times this season as a team we've had games like that. Like me specifically, we played Southern Indiana at home, and it was like the gates just opened up and the goal was huge. So I think once one person starts off like that, it's also really easy for everyone else to kind of chip in and we just feed off that energy.

Q. This is something not a lot of OVC student-athletes have ever done. Only two OVC schools have ever won an NCAA tournament game, and this is the fourth for Tennessee Tech. What does that mean to you guys?

JADA GUINN: I think it means a lot that we just not only get to represent our school and our community and stuff, but we get to represent the OVC just in general. So I'm really happy and excited that we did, because I didn't know that there had only been like a few schools that did that, so I'm just glad we're in that position.

MAALIYA OWENS: And I think one thing Coach Rose always says is success leaves footprints. And so I think that since we started this this year, this paves the way for not only Tech and our teams and our younger kids going forward, but like schools in the OVC to be able to just be able to keep paving that way and keep winning games in the tournament.

Q. Maaliya, I know you mentioned it yesterday, being from Kentucky, you know about Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and what this place means. I just want to get your thoughts. Now that you've played here for the first time and you get your second game against IU Saturday. And, also, for you, Jada, what's your thoughts going into Saturday's game?

MAALIYA OWENS: Honestly, I'm really excited to be able to play against Indiana on their home floor. Like you said, I'm from Kentucky watching a lot of basketball games there, and I think to be able to do that and be able to play against Indiana, they're a great team, and I think that's something that every Mid Major, every smaller school wants to be able to have a chance to take a shot at that big team. So we're really excited for that.

JADA GUINN: Yeah, I would say we're excited, too, regardless of who we're going to play, I know that they're a great team and there's a great environment here, so I'm excited to get to play in it.

Q. Maaliya, with your fourth three-pointer tonight, you set the single season three-pointer record, a record set by your assistant coach, Alison Clark. How cool is that? Did it even cross your mind you were even -- 87. That's an incredible number.

MAALIYA OWENS: I have no idea actually. Coach Rose came in the locker room, and she was kind of looking at me, and I was like, what's going on? I was a little nervous. But I think that's something that this whole season for me has been kind of like surreal, and I just want to thank God for that, honestly, because I've been here for four years now and kind of not really performing at the level that I am this year, but I think everything kind of just came together. And I think playing on a team with a bunch of great players also helps that. Like if one person is the only person that can do something on your team, they can just lock in on you, but the fact that we have so many weapons on our floor and anybody on any night can go off kind of gives you a chance to get those open looks. So it's not only credit to me, it's credit to my teammates as well.

KIM ROSAMOND: I want to say this, too. And congratulations, Maaliya. We recognized it in the locker room, and what an incredible accomplishment the way she has shot the ball this year has been unbelievable. But it also comes from a lot of work. These two have been in the gym for four years, and so it's not an overnight success. I mean, Maaliya and Jada both have put the work in, and just super proud of her and what she's done. But to see her become the complete player she has, even when the ball is not going in the hole as consistently as it has for her most of the year, she's been doing so many other things that help us win basketball games. She's our ball stopper in transition. I can tell you, not a lot of people want that job, right, Jada Guinn? That's a tough job. She has to stop the ball in transition, she and Reagan Hurst, every time down the floor. The way she has grown defensively, rebounding. You saw her get to the paint and hit an important runner tonight, which she's done so many times. So just really proud of how she -- of the way she has played this season.

And then down the stretch, obviously Jada just took over, like she has so many times over the last couple weeks. So these two are playing like you would expect your seniors to play, and it was awesome to also see sixth-year senior Jordan Brock, who broke -- we've got the career three-point record on our team and as well as the season, and it was held by both Coach Ali Clark. So that's pretty special, and that's pretty neat. And so to see her have the game that she had tonight on the stage that she had just really, really proud of our senior leadership tonight.

THE MODERATOR: Great. Maaliya, Jada, thanks for joining us. You may return to the locker room, and we'll see you back here tomorrow. We'll now take questions for Coach.

Q. Coach, so obviously you've been around the game. You've watched the tournament. When did it sink in not only that you were coaching your team in the tournament and that now you've won a tournament game as a head coach at Tech?

KIM ROSAMOND: Well, this has been an incredible week for our entire program. Cookeville and our fans and our families and our administration, what they have done for us this week, they have showed up and showed out. And so I wanted to make sure, you know, so many times in athletics you don't get to enjoy big wins. You don't get to enjoy big moments, and so it's awesome. I love that we were the first ticket punched, because we didn't know who our opponent was going to be. And we practiced and made sure we were prepared for tonight. We also let our kids enjoy it. But I had a moment before -- when the team was out warming up in the locker room when I was in there by myself, and you see all the March Madness, and I've been fortunate enough to be here. This is my 13th time. But it's also, as you said, my first time as a head coach. And they're all special, but to know that we have worked so hard to build this, and from where it was when we got here in 2016, to see where it is today back on a national stage, it's a blessing to be part of it.

Q. Coach, of course, we talked about the three-pointers, but you all were 17 of 19 from in the free throw line. You also went the last 2:29 without a field goal. So were you a little nervous toward the end of the game when things weren't quite going the way they were supposed to?

KIM ROSAMOND: I won't say nervous, because I had full confidence in our team. Sometimes we tend to make it interesting down the stretch and a little bit longer than it has to be. That last minute and a half seemed like an eternity. But to our kids' credit, we finished it at the free throw line. And up until that point, up until the last two minutes, I loved the way we defended tonight. We won -- we either won every quarter or tied. There was not a quarter that we lost, and I really thought it started tonight on the defensive end. But Monmouth is a very good basketball team. They came in probably one of the hottest teams in the country. They had to win four games to get here. They had to beat a very talented Towson team on their home floor, and they are one of the best rebounding teams that we have played against all year. They were averaging nine made three-pointers a game the last four games. And so to hold them to six 3s tonight -- now, we gave up a lot of paint points in the process, but we felt like they relied on the three, three ball a lot to win that championship. And so we wanted to take away the three, and we knew we had to do a great job rebounding the basketball. And while we didn't win the rebounding war, we lost it by one, I thought we did an incredible job to hold them to only nine offensive boards, and I thought that was a key, a big, big key tonight.

Q. We talked a lot about Jada and Maaliya's contributions tonight, but there were a lot of contributions tonight, from Peyton Carter to Anna Walker to Jordan Brock. It was a complete total team effort.

KIM ROSAMOND: I mean you said it. You can go down the list. I thought the way Peyton Carter came out and played that first quarter. I think she had maybe 12 points in the first quarter, if I'm not mistaken, had hit four 3s, and to get that kind of confidence and that kind of swagger early in a game like this on a stage like this, I thought it just was infectious to the rest of our basketball team. And I'm so proud of Anna Walker's toughness tonight. She didn't have the best first half, but she regrouped at halftime, and she came out and was the aggressive, athletic Anna. I thought she came up with some huge rebounds, hit a big three. We didn't hit a lot of threes in the second half. I think we had ten at halftime, if I'm not mistaken, and then only hit two. And she had one of those.

Again, Jordan Brock came up huge for us tonight, and to see her confidence start flowing. I thought Kiera Hill came in and gave us some big minutes off the bench. And while Reghan Grimes's numbers don't wow you, she is such an important piece. We're just a more confident basketball team when she is on the floor, and she gives us the next level of athleticism and physicality that our team really needed. And it was really good to get Reagan Hurst. She's still battling an injury, but she toughed it out tonight. She said, Coach, I'm not missing tonight. So I thought our depth was huge.

And, again, we went to -- we became a pressing team after we lost to TSU on February 11th, and I said this in the press conference earlier. I have to credit Coach Melanie Walls for that. She came in and made that suggestion, and I won't say I've ever been the smartest person in the room, but I'm definitely smart enough to listen when I have smart people around me. And I thought our press really bothered them and wore on them and really kind of took their legs from them and helped us with defending the three-point shot as well. We gave up a couple late out of our press, but I thought the risk-reward won out in that sense.

Q. Coach, even with the shots that your team was hitting early, it seemed like Monmouth always had a response. How proud are you of your group to just keep responding to every time they kind of came back and got in the game?

KIM ROSAMOND: Well, it's part of our culture. It's what we preach every single day, probably sometimes for those guys to ad nauseam. But I mean, it's our SOAR culture. The S is for serve others. The O is for on it. The A is for acquire knowledge, and the R is for respond. So we truly, you know, throughout this season have had to learn how to respond. We've had adversity. We've had injuries, just like every team does throughout a season. But we said this after the championship game, there's a reason they call it a season. And we have stayed true to our process. We have believed in our process.

Even when we were -- I think we were 9 and 5 in the league after the TSU game. We didn't change -- we didn't totally change everything we did, but we did tweak things, and our kids just -- they were already bought in, but I think they got all in after that, and the response -- they have just -- every time that their backs have been against the wall this year, they've responded, and that's the heart of a champion, and I've got a locker room full of kids that have the heart of a champion.

Q. Coach, one of the words that I've heard you use and the young ladies use a lot is confidence. How rewarding for you as a head coach is it to see just a group of young ladies come together and to be that confident, both on and off the court?

KIM ROSAMOND: Well, what is so special -- there's a lot of special things about our team, but we have an all-female staff. And we have -- I gotta credit my coaching staff first, because they pour into these young women not just as players, but as people first. And that's our job. It is our job as adult women to help them build confidence, not just as basketball players, but as people. And we want them to walk into a room and be able to own a room, whether that's a classroom, a locker room, a boardroom. It doesn't matter. And we talk about that every day. And so to see them obviously build confidence as a team, but also just to watch the way they carry themselves, I mean, you just saw two of our players just stand up here and so eloquently answer questions, and there is not one young woman in that locker room that I couldn't bring up here that wouldn't represent us in that way.

We have first-class human beings in that locker room. We have character in that locker room. And we said it before the game. You know, we didn't become connected when we won a championship. We won a championship because we were connected. And there's just -- when you are part of something that's bigger than yourself, there's not many times in life you get to do something like this, and this is something that is going to carry with them for the rest of their lives and carry them hopefully to places outside of basketball that we could all only dream about and imagine.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you so much for your time. We will connect again tomorrow.

KIM ROSAMOND: Thank you guys.