NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - EAST CAROLINA VS TEXAS

March 17, 2023

Vic Schaefer

Shay Holle

Shaylee Gonzales

Rori Harmon

Moody Center

Texas Longhorns

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We will begin the press conference with an opening statement from Coach Schaefer. Congratulations to everyone once again on your NCAA Championship.

COACH SCHAEFER: Thank you very much. And thanks everybody for being here. Excited to be here. Really proud of my team. Proud of their accomplishments this year. And again, I think they are excited to have this opportunity, certainly, we're appreciative of the opportunity to host. I think the other three teams, congratulations to them as well. I know they have had a great season. And they are all hot. And so it's a great regional here. And just again, congratulations to them. They are going to get to play in an amazing arena. They are going to get to be in an amazing city for the next few days, and hopefully, they will get to enjoy the great culture and the food that we have here, and the people that are here in Austin, Texas. So again, excited about our opportunity. This group has been through a lot. Awfully proud of them. I couldn't be more proud of a group that's had to endure and go through what they have been through this year. I think Jeremy told me maybe I saw this in the paper that Shay Gonzales is the only player on our team that's started every game this year. And, you know, I was just asked by the ESPN folks about our team, and maybe what makes them so special and where we are today. And you know, I think it's the journey. I think it's going through those things that we have been through and the accomplishments and some of the challenges that they have had. I think that's what you have to learn to embrace and just keeping your eye on every step of the mountain. If you don't you will slip and fall all the way to the bottom. We talked about that way back. And I think this group has had great focus in that. They have really focused on the step every day, trying to climb the mountain and trying not to slip on their way. Again, I'm really proud of them. I think again, I heard it this morning, you have to play the hand you're dealt like it's the one you always wanted. We certainly didn't want the injuries that we had this year. When we had those happen, we had to embrace that. The kids that were available, we had to coach them and teach them and give them everything we had, and we had to trust that our training staff would get those that were injured and hurt, get them ready to go, which they have done. Really enjoyed this group. They are a fun group. Great kids. I'm happy for them. And excited about getting to play tomorrow night. I'm always excited about the next game. Appreciate everybody being here today.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you. If you have a question, please raise your hand.

Q. Any of the players, all three of you have won tournament games. Shaylee at BC. What can you learn from the prior years that you can apply to this tournament run, and just what these next two weeks are about?

RORI HARMON: Like you said, we have all been through some -- we all played some big games and won some tournaments, some championships. I feel whatever worked during that time, you should capitalize on that. And whatever wasn't working you just work on it until it works.

SHAYLEE GONZALES: I'll just say that the NCAA Tournament is just a dogfight. I feel like any team can have their night. There's been upsets already on the men's side. And you know, we have to come out there focused and prepared.

SHAY HOLLE: To add to that, having all of us having that experience, I think we need to share that with our younger girls, since we do have a lot of new faces playing big minutes and we need them to play well for us. I think just sharing that experience with them. Making sure we are ready to go no matter what team we are facing. Everybody here is talented and capable of winning. Passing on that experience and making sure we're ready to go.

Q. Rori, can you just address what Vic was talking about, just the fact that at any given point in the season somebody was down and somebody was hurt. And you had your own -- what it was like trying the adjust to those constant line-up adjustments and how you were able to kind of knit it together at the right time.

RORI HARMON: It's definitely hard, like you said, I have been through my own. And it was really unexpected. All the other injuries, not being able to play the first five games. It kind of set us back a little bit. Like I said, it was unexpected. And I have been practicing every day up until that point, basically. But like he said, you kind of, just have to deal with what you have and everybody is very capable of doing what they can do and giving to the team. Whatever we had. I know we had to switch up a lot of line-ups. We had people go down, like M.O. out for the season. Stuff that you don't expect like that. You just rely on what you have. And uplift the other ones that are not playing because it is very difficult to not play the game that you love.

SHAY HOLLE: I think to add to that, I talked with Coach Schaefer a lot about this just being ready when your number is called because you never know what it's going to be. That means bringing it every day in practice. No matter on the scout team or in the starting lineup, you just never know what's going to happen. And I experienced that last year, too. I started starting around the same time last year. It's just you never know when the lineup is going to need a change or someone is going to get hurt, so you always have to be ready. You can't be ready right in that moment. It starts with all the preparation and practice the whole season. So I think that's just really important for us to always stay focused because you just never know.

Q. Shay and Shaylee, now when Sonya went down -- I know that Rori is the quarterback, but when Sonya went down what were your conversations like, that you had to step up with that?

SHAYLEE GONZALES: Sonya plays a huge part on our team. And she was averaging around 11, 12 points a game. And people like we have been talking about, other people have to step up as well. And you know, that's what we did.

SHAY HOLLE: Yeah. We talked about how when you lose such a special player like Sonya, it's not like one person can fill that role immediately, it's everyone needs to step up. We kind of took it as a team effort. Not one person needed to fill that role, but more everyone stepping up in their own way, not playing outside their role, but just doing their job the best they could to help fill that role.

Q. Question is for all three of you. You are ambassadors of the University of Texas. Have you ever stopped to think about your impact on women's sports across the globe, fans watching, watching on TV. Do you ever stop to think about the impact that you are having on the younger generation?

RORI HARMON: For sure. We meet with fans after our games and just to see the one of, like, I guess schools from Austin or ever closer like San Antonio just to come and watch you play and to want your autograph so bad, they are willing to wait, and the crowd and whatnot. It feels nice to know that I'm affecting people and influencing the younger ones. Even on social media, I get small direct messages on Instagram of children who are asking for advice. Rori, I know you are pretty short. I'm pretty short too. Tell me how you got through it and all that. I love to respond to them. They could be middle school or high school, around my age pretty much. It's just nice to know that I'm affecting the game much bigger than just here at Texas.

SHAY HOLLE: I agree. It's always super fun and really cool just to key everyone line up to get our autographs after games. Like they took the time out of their night, they had their parents bring them or whatever it was. Just to watch us play. And I think -- you take a step back and you just really appreciate the platform we have and just being able to affect people other than our teammates and ourselves.

SHAYLEE GONZALES: Yeah. I also agree with them. You know, I'm the oldest of five and I have two younger sisters, so I'm a big role model for them. I mean, like they said, after games I'm always talking to those little kids. Just the next generation of being able to inspire them. And hopefully they will be able to be athletes like us.

Q. For Rori and Shay. Rori, you talked about just the other day how this team gets better. Vic Schaefer's teams get better during March. What have you guys done the past week? How have you improved this past week after the tough loss?

RORI HARMON: You could see a lot of the grit that we have. We're not going to just fall after, you know, losing a couple games. We're willing to come back and, you know, practice is where it starts. So in practice, you can just see through every drill that we have been doing since the beginning of the season, it's gotten so much better. We're breaking goals. One of our drills like Maryland, easily know when the goal is really 120. We get like 140 now. Just to see stuff like that. Those things matter. And like you said, we do really kind of skyrocket in March and we're very ready.

SHAY HOLLE: Yeah. With any loss, especially the championship game, you have to take it as a learning experience and not stay down because we have a lot to work. We're fortunate enough to have more basketball to play after that. So we just have to take it as a learning experience. Obviously we watched the film, we learn from it, it was painful and it should be painful. We're just going to grow from that and see what we did wrong and how we can fix it for the next game.

Q. The expectations are through the roof because of the recent tournament success. As you guys have been talking, the personnel loss has really added up this year. Are those expectations fair from the fan base to think, "Hey, Elite Eight or bust."

RORI HARMON: For sure. It is fair. You have done it once you can do it again. There's not really a bunch of excuses that we can give, even though there probably is some. We just have to do what we can do and play with who we got and give it our all and just, you know, any game could be your last game. And that's how we should play.

SHAY HOLLE: Yeah, my freshman year I think we were a 7-seed or something like that; 6-seed. So anything is possible. We went to the Elite Eight that year. We're fortunate to be at a higher seed this year. But anything can happen in March. But I think those expectations are very valid. We have the pieces. And I think we've shown that we can play at a very high level.

Q. For either Rori or Shay. What has Aaliayh's contributions been to this team since she came?

RORI HARMON: She has a very big presence to this team. She's very uplifting, and I hate to talk about that game where she did get injured, but you can just tell how close we were as a team. It really brought us all together. Once she did get injured, there was tears being shed throughout the whole room. That's just not something you want for anybody. But somebody like Amo, you always wonder why would that happen to her? She's just so positive and uplifting. She's always coaching from the sidelines. She's doing rehab with Rosemary and she's coaching the forwards and the fives, giving good energy throughout practice. And that's something you need from her, especially she was that presence before she was injured. And she doesn't want that to go away, basically.

SHAY HOLLE: She's still a very important piece of our team even though she's not able to play. Like we always talk about, we need Amo on the road with us. She needs to travel with us because she's that important. She just brings that energy and she also holds people accountable, because she knows what we are capable of. She's been a part of it. And she's now on the outside looking in, and she's kind of taking that as a good thing right now and really seeing what we can work on. And she's able to hold us accountable. And it's always different hearing something from your teammate than it is a coach necessarily. I think sometimes you react better to it. Or you are like, oh wow, I know she's being real with me. You don't -- it's just different. I think it's actually really important and obviously you hate to see what happened. But we're definitely -- she's still using it as a benefit for us.

Q. Just wanted to know, they have such an inexperienced squad. You have such experience. But what do you see on film when you look at the entire team?

SHAY HOLLE: They are very talented. They are very athletic. Obviously, they won their conference championship game. That's hard to do. We know that. So you have to respect them a lot. That's three games in three days, that takes toughness, and clearly they have it. So we watch a lot of film. They are very talented. They have very good pieces. And they have a competitive spirit. You can see in it how they play. You have to really respect that and be ready for it.

RORI HARMON: Basically, adding on to what Shay said. The team is very well-coached. You can tell the way they play. They are here for a reason. You have to get ready for them.

Q. Tip-off at 9 o'clock tomorrow night. It's just brutal. What are you going to be doing all day?

RORI HARMON: We'll be here probably.

SHAYLEE GONZALES: Shoot around.

RORI HARMON: Those types of games, we never had a game that late. It's a set time. You can't change it. You just deal with what you have. And I'm pretty sure our schedule says we will be here for the majority of the day anyway, so you may see us here and there.

SHAYLEE GONZALES: We'll have to shoot around, we'll eat together as a team, mentally prepare ourselves for the game that night.

SHAY HOLLE: East Carolina has to play at 9 p.m. too. We'll be here just getting ready, try not to lay around too much. Stay moving and stay ready for the game.

Q. For Shaylee, how enjoyable has this season been for you? Coming in the way you did. Is this kind of a where you envisioned yourself being, the position you are in?

SHAYLEE GONZALES: Yeah. It's been super fun. It's been a great experience I will never forget. I have grown as a player. And super grateful for that, and Coach for giving me the opportunity to be here. This is definitely where I envisioned myself being, in the NCAA Tournament. And hopefully, we can make that run. That was a goal of mine: To make it far in the tournament, and that's why I came here.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. And best of luck tomorrow against East Carolina as you open championship play. Questions for Coach Schaefer.

Q. Vic, Sonya update?

COACH SCHAEFER: She's worked out two days in a row. Probably hadn't made it through a whole practice, but she's made it through a significant amount. That's the update.

Q. And then what did you see from your team this week, practice-wise as the response to the loss last week?

COACH SCHAEFER: They have been pretty consistent all year. I was careful with them on Monday and Tuesday. Came back and had a pretty good day Wednesday, yesterday. And so they have been locked in and pretty focused. You know, it was encouraging to have Sonya back in practice for periods of time and gave us an added depth that we have been missing. They have been good. This group has been -- they have been really good all year long. We have been pretty solid most of the year with our work ethic and focus, and that's why they have had the success they have had.

Q. Coach, early in the year you talked about on your desk there is a [inaudible] what happened last year when you didn't make it. Do you have that for the NCAA Tournament?

COACH SCHAEFER: I think what you're talking about is my practice plan starting the first day all the way until the last. That seems to be a popular question about how is it that we seem to be able to have some pretty good success in March with our teams. And you know, I'm a creature of habit. I'm pretty much the same. Just depends on who the opponent is, we'll tweak certain things defensively on that day, is the defensive part of practice, and maybe offense. Just like this week, did the same thing this past Tuesday that I did last year on the Tuesday of the NCAA Tournament. Did the same thing on Wednesday that I did the same thing last year. It's the same thing I did for the five previous also. And so I think as you get closer to the game and the team that you're playing, you will do certain things differently from an offensive philosophy and how you guard them. But from a fundamental standpoint, those don't change. That's part of our success this time of year is the culmination of what we do and how we do it every day throughout the course of the season. If you want to know what's in the bottle, that's in the bottle. In my opinion, you win games in February and March in August and September when you're on the track at 6 a.m. And that's just what I think. Don't make it right. But that's my philosophy. That's what I believe. That's why we get up at 6 a.m. and we're on the track three mornings a week in the preseason doing our conditioning. We're all in the same shoes, the same socks, the same shorts, the same t-shirt. We're all ready to go. And to me, that's when you win games in February and March. When your first month and a half together in basketball. And so it's just always been something that works. I don't know why you would change anything if something was working over a period of time like it has for us.

Q. Have you had a season like this with the injuries and off the court. If you have, what's changed the dynamic behind the scenes, the stuff we don't see. Because you are a planner.

COACH SCHAEFER: Well, I think you have been as long as I have, you learn to adjust so that you are not just ad-libbing and flying by the seat of your pants, so to speak. I think that's what somebody that's done it as long as I have. And having access to people that I have access to to throw things off of -- because I don't claim to know it all. Again, that's why I surround myself with the staff that I surround myself with. People that are winners, that are highly motivated, they are like-minded. And former players. You know, people that have been there that understand. So you know, like I said, I think that the key is, you know, you dictate what you do. I can't control some of the things that happened to us this year. Without a doubt. And it's from an injury standpoint, you know. It's really been unlike anything I have ever, ever seen or experienced. And those things are heartbreaking, they are -- you don't want to see anybody go through what we have been through. But yet I think it's why our team is as good as we are right now and as tough and resilient as we are. The game on Sunday we missed 10 lay-ups and missed 8 free throws. We make 2 lay-ups and make 6 free throws, that outcome is probably better. That's the fine line that you have this time of year, whether it's in the Conference Tournament or the NCAA Tournament. Everybody is good. And you have those opportunities, you got to make them. You have to do your job. We got to be better. And I think that's what the film, you heard me say this, the film doesn't lie. I think that's what the film shows this week watching it. You can't just flush film. I heard that a lot. Well, how are you going to learn? How is there going to be an accountability for you if you don't at least show some of the things that you can fix or that need to be addressed? And so thing that you might notice about me is I'm always going to be real. They are going to know how I feel and get better and different. And so I think that this team, I'm really -- again, I couldn't be more proud of them, for their toughness and resilience, because they have really overcome a lot. It's just really amazing when you think about it here. It's been 20 years since we won a Conference Championship. It's a really adverse situation. Excited for them. Happy for them. Proud of them. And we'll see what the rest of the season holds.

Q. You mentioned doing the same thing over and over every year. You have two of those two players 40 minutes, have you had to make any kind of concessions or ease up in practice at all? Especially with Shay.

COACH SCHAEFER: Yeah. That's probably the most well-conditioned and finely-tuned athlete on our team. She's certainly the most athletic and the fastest. You know, in August and September I'm constantly looking around for [inaudible] she's good. She is fast. But I don't worry about her because she is in great shape. Some of the others maybe a little bit. Shaylee is new to our program. Probably hasn't practiced as long and as hard, and as well as the other three that came in as transfers. Of course, you are always worried about freshmen. Probably had to tweak a little bit just because of our lack of depth. That's only from a time type thing in practice. We do the same things but maybe might not just do it as long. We might take more water breaks. I'm not one that plans water breaks in practice. There's nowhere in my practice plan, go get water. You get it when you can get it.

Q. Vic, a little bigger picture on the tournament. You have been through a few of these. I would like your thoughts on the new regional structure of the Seattle -- and putting more games in those sites and what they might do and win this tournament in general. Positive, negative.

COACH SCHAEFER: Yeah. I think my answer is going to be I think the verdict is still out. We don't know what the attendance is going to be like. I can speak for Greensboro because I have been there. Played there in that Conference Tournament, and that's a great city. It really has embraced women's basketball. It always helps to have a hometown school that's three hours from there that's part of it. I think that will have that again this year. That has a great following. But I think we have to wait and see, you know, what teams are in the east and what teams are in the west, because those fan bases are going to have to travel. There's nothing in the Midwest. And hardly -- you know, I don't know what that's going to look like I guess is my answer. I'm anxious to see. Probably a little concerned. But I'm anxious to see what it looks like. And I think the powers that be believe it's going to be great, and I'm hopeful that it will be. Those are two opposite ends of the spectrums, west and east, three time zones between both of them. And there's just nothing in the Midwest. And we have a lot of teams in the Midwest. We'll see. Hard sometimes for families to travel. And those are both a long way for a lot of people.

Q Coach, just your thoughts on East Carolina, what you have seen on tape.

COACH SCHAEFER: Welcome to Austin. And the University of Texas. It's a great place. And I know you will be treated great and you will enjoy your time here. You got you a heck of a team that you are following. They are well-coached, as Rori said. My team and myself watching film, really come to admire and respect that team and what they have accomplished. They are going to be a big challenge for us. They play as we have our own style, they have their own style. And it's unique and very effective for them. They forced 23 turnovers a game, average over 13 steals a game. They are great in the open floor and in transition. They have difference-players on the floor. And one of the most exciting freshmen in the country. They are really really talented. They have great point guard play. And of course, you know, McNeal, she's special. She's played -- she was at Clemson before she was there. And now she's there and she's, you know, I don't think she will be intimidated the least. So we've got our hands full. And again, lots of respect and admiration for this team. And again, I think Coach has done a great job with them. Talk about competitive now and competitive spirit, toughness. You watch them throughout the course of their season and then in that tournament, what they were able to accomplish, it's really admirable. So they have my attention, I assure you. My team as well. We're going to have to play well for sure.

Q. You raised the bar so high with those Elite Eight wins already. How different does it feel in the locker room as you start this March as far as expectations, and do your young ladies get any fuel from that?

COACH SCHAEFER: Well, I just when you sign up to come to the University of Texas, whether you're a coach or a player, it's what you sign up for. The expectations here and in any and every sport are the same. I've said this before, last year we make Elite Eight, finish top 10 in the country and that's not even good enough for top half out of University of Texas out of 19 sports. We have four national champions, six others that were runner-ups. And Elite Eight is pretty good in basketball, men or women. And that doesn't even finish in the top half here. So I just think that's the bar. The standard is the standard. And certainly for us in women's basketball, you know, we've talked about the standard, what my expectations are. The miserable way to live as we've talked about. And that's it. That's just the way it is. And it's what we sign up for. And it's what we strive to accomplish. So I think for our kids that have come back, I think they understand it. I think for the new kids coming in, that's why they chose Texas. And I think that's it. And you have to admire those kids that choose to come here because they know that's the standard, especially those four that transferred in. And, you know, the ones that have been here, they have learned to embrace it. And so I think for all of us, this is the time of year that we have worked so hard throughout the course of the season to get to. That's why when you see all these teams that play and they do stuff they are told, and this is why they are so upset, because you work so hard to get to this point, you are not ready for it to be over. You know how hard you worked. You know the blood, sweat, and tears that you put into it. You are emotionally involved, you are attached, you are committed. It's just really hard. There's so much joy when you win, and yet there's so much pain when you do happen to lose. I think that shows the commitment of each and every team, each and every coach. It's what makes us the greatest sporting event in college athletics. So we're so excited to be a part of it. Again University of Texas itself, we appreciate the opportunity to host. I know my university is going to do an unbelievable job and these three teams are going to have a great experience here.

THE MODERATOR: Coach Schaefer, thanks so much for your time today, and best of luck tomorrow against East Carolina.