NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - TOLEDO VS IOWA STATE

March 17, 2023

Bill Fennelly

Thompson-Boling Arena

Iowa State Cyclones

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Coach, if you don't mind, open us up with a statement about being here in the NCAA Tournament?

COACH FENNELLY: Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone. Nothing better than being in the NCAA Tournament. I want to thank the people here at the University of Tennessee. It's been incredibly organized. But we're just excited to be here. Any time you can represent your university in, in my mind, the greatest sporting event in the country, it's a great thing. Our kids are excited. We have a big challenge in front of us, but really looking forward to playing on Saturday.

Q. Bill, after the Big 12 Tournament you had talked a little bit about how you thought Ashley's draft stock probably rose from how she did. What can playing in the NCAA Tournament do for her going forward? Is this another big opportunity for her to, I guess, improve it?

COACH FENNELLY: Oh yeah. It's like I told her, like you're interviewing for a job, and you just want to keep doing things that show your future employer that you're the person that they want. It's the biggest stage there is. Everyone is watching. Everyone in the Big 12 saw it -- what she did last weekend, but this is a whole other level. And I think she's one of the kids that's always embraced that. She can't wait to play. And I think -- I would be shocked if she doesn't continue to play well.

Q. When you first saw Toledo pop up on the screen Sunday night, what was your instant reaction? Is it, is this cool or damn, I don't want to play my friends?

COACH FENNELLY: Damn, I don't want to play my friends. Literally, Tricia and I had been texting. Congratulate them on winning. It's always great when Toledo wins. It's always great when Toledo beats Bowling Green, too. That's always a bonus for us, Toledo people. You don't want to do it. You know you are going to play a really good team, and of all the teams that could pop up, that's the one that did. I think, you know, I'm sure the committee has a slight sense of humor. But no, I wasn't excited about it. Especially watching them on tape, I'm less excited about it. Congratulations to them. And really proud of what they have done. Like I said many times, Toledo is a part of my life that will never go away. I had seven great years there. And it's truly a place that is near and dear to my heart.

Q. Obviously, kind of a nice home combing for Denae Fritz as well. Have you talked to her about that and have you sensed maybe any extra motivation from her? And what has the last month been like for her?

COACH FENNELLY: For as far as the last month, I think part of the reason we're here -- a big part of the reason we're here is Denae and Ny, the way they have played. Obviously, she's excited to be here. I don't know -- her mother teaches at the University of Tennessee. And I got a text message, she's hoping to be here. She's in Africa. I'm like, "What?" But obviously, Ny and Vick are excited. Just so everyone knows. Her name is Maggie Vick; we call her Vick because we have another Maggie. Don't write anything that he was rude and he calls her by her last name. She goes by Vick and she loves it. I have to clarify. Obviously, it's an exciting time. When you go to school in Iowa and all of a sudden you get a chance to come home to play, I think she's very excited about it. Ny is a lot like Ash. "What time is practice and where do we play?" I don't care where. That's kind of her personality.

Q. Coach, as you guys kind of got here and got through the week, probably stung a little bit not hosting on Sunday. Has that kind of completely left everyone's heads as the week goes on?

COACH FENNELLY: I can't speak for anyone else. It wasn't even in my head. I can't control that. It doesn't matter to me. I'm just excited we're playing. And I'm one of those people that when I saw her name come up, great, let's get organized and let's get ready to play. So there's a lot of things that you can't control, and that's one of them. So our job is to play Saturday against Toledo in Knoxville, Tennessee. So we will be here to play.

Q. I'm curious, as someone who had a player Ashley Joens last year had good draft stock, decided to come back for a fifth year. I feel like that's been discussion with Rickea Jackson. What was your conversation with Ashley like -- what's your advice to these kids who have these extra years and could go really high in the draft but could come back. What's your advice?

COACH FENNELLY: Everyone in the SEC didn't like to see that, her coming back. Our discussion with Ash was we gave her all the information that we could gather. We talked to every WNBA team, and we just presented it to her. And she made the decision to come back because she loves college. She loves Iowa State. She really enjoys this team. I think every person has to make their own decisions. Obviously, it's not a monetary decision. Some kids are probably making more money in college with NIL deals than they will in the WNBA. Some of it is age, some of it is where you are in your life. I think our job as coaches, kind of like when you are a parent, here is the information, here is what I suggest. Ash asked numerous times she asked me, "What do you think I should do?" "I'm not going there. My job is to present you with the information." And she made the decision to come back, and obviously, it was a really good decision for us and hopefully for her.

Q. When you look at Toledo with the streak that they have on, what are they doing so well? It's been a while since they have won at Michigan. When they are able to do that on the road and put that streak together, what's the one thing that you guys have to focus on the most tomorrow?

COACH FENNELLY: Well, I think no matter when the game was at Michigan, I promise you, I've done this -- I don't know anything about their team personality-wise, but I would promise you that my guess is they talk a lot about, "Hey, we beat Michigan at Michigan. We beat Michigan at Michigan." Doesn't matter when it was. They know how to win. They have won some close games. Only a good team, a tough-minded team, a connected team, a well-coached team wins that game against Buffalo. And that's how you get to this point. You look at what they have done. They are very skilled, they can score in a lot of different areas, and they play with a lot of confidence. I think they have a lot of confidence in each other. You can tell their demeanor with their coaches, their demeanor with each other. You don't win 16 games in a row by accident. I coached in the MAC for seven years. That's a really, really good league. And to know that you go into a conference tournament, believe me, we did it seven times, and you have to win to get in the NCAA Tournament, the edge that you build up is really something that a lot of people don't understand. Our fans at Iowa State don't understand that. Tennessee fans don't understand that. "Hey, if we finish fifth or sixth in our league, we're in the tournament." That doesn't happen in the MAC. You know how good they are or how tough they are, and they just have a winning culture. Tricia has been there 15 years, and you look at what they have done with their team, it's very impressive.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.