NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - PORTLAND VS OKLAHOMA

March 17, 2023

Michael Meek

Alex Fowler

Maisie Burnham

Pauley Pavilion

Portland Pilots

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the Portland press conference. We have Alex Fowler and Maisie Burnham. Thank you. We'll start with questions from the room.

Q. You guys have had a day down here already. What has this experience been like so far?

ALEX FOWLER: It's surreal we're here in the first place, for our whole team to be here. Every team likes to come to this tournament. It was nice to get some sunshine. The whole team was kind of out by the pool, which is really nice.

MAISIE BURNHAM: Yeah, you don't know when you're going to get this opportunity again. So I think it's really fun to just enjoy it. I think we're all doing that, and we're not taking anything for granted.

I think it's just a fun experience overall. Yeah, we're enjoying the moment.

Q. The 5-12 matchup gets a lot of publicity in the tournament. Do you guys -- I mean, you know that. Does that give you any sort of, I don't know, any sort of motivation or anything like that, being a 12 and knowing that's a pretty popular seed to have?

ALEX FOWLER: Yeah, I know the history with that, and there's been some upsets with the 5 and 12 seed before in the past, but I think for us and our team, it's a privilege to be here. We like being the underdogs. We like coming in having to prove ourselves and show everyone we deserve to be here.

So I think just being that 12th seed is also, it's a good spot. We like being in it too at the same time.

Q. For either player, when you played Gonzaga, they were probably pretty close to a 5 seed, so maybe similar. Does that give you -- what does that mean for you from just an experience standpoint, having played a team that's pretty good like that and then beating them on a neutral floor?

MAISIE BURNHAM: Yeah, you get to this level of play, and everyone's going to be good. I think our goal is just to come out no matter what game, who we play, and give whatever team our best shot we have.

We know that we're a good team. We have confidence in ourselves, and we have confidence that we can get the job done tomorrow. But, again, we're facing a great team as well.

So I think we're just going to focus on what we can control and the stuff that we have worked on for ourselves to improve and just go out there and give it all we've got and have fun.

Q. Alex, how does it feel to be in the tournament since 2020 you won an automatic berth, but you couldn't participate due to COVID?

ALEX FOWLER: It's incredible. (No microphone).

Yeah, as Maisie said already, we're taking advantage of every part of this journey. It's really fun to be here. We have such a special group, and I'm really excited to see how we do in this next game.

Q. For both of you, just scouting Oklahoma, just what do you see? Second leading offense in the nation. How do you try to slow that down?

ALEX FOWLER: They're a really great offensive team, as you just said. Something that I know we're good at defensively is taking away three, so hopefully that's something we can continue to work on in this game coming up against Oklahoma.

Again, we've just got to play our own game and play to our strengths. We're a team that likes to get other teams out of their style of play and pressure and get all over them. So hopefully, if we're able to do that and stop those transition buckets and their three-point game, I think we can come out with a W.

Q. Just to piggy-back on what Alex said, everyone's good at this point. They live off the three. They have a really good three-point shooting team, and they are very good offensively.

But we're an aggressive team, and we're going to try to make our defense a problem, and we're just going to try to get those 50-50 plays, hustle, rebound, focus on the things that are in our control, and hopefully everything else will come.

Q. For either player, as far as I can tell, none of the players have any NCAA Tournament experience. Maybe Lucy does, I can't remember if she did at Oregon or not. But the coaching staff has plenty of playoff experience. How much can you draw from the coaches? Is there a line where at some point you've got to play the game, they're not. What are they telling you about this experience?

ALEX FOWLER: I think we're all on the same page with that. It's just control what we can control. Things happen. Upsets happen. You don't know what to expect. Every team in this league now is the best of their conference, the best, the top three, top five, whatever it may be.

Any team is beatable, but at the same time, each team is so good that it's going to be a hard game going into each one. So we just have to find a way to control what we can control and use our strengths to win the next game.

Q. How much are you guys looking forward to just going out and practicing on and playing on such a historic basketball court?

MAISIE BURNHAM: It's fun. Just look at it. It's beautiful. That's what's so awesome about getting the opportunity to play at the Division I level. I mean, we had the opportunity of traveling to some amazing places this year, last year, and now we get the opportunity again to be here.

It's one of those living in the moment type of things again. It's just so fun. All these experiences that we're getting right now are so fun, and we're just going to soak up every one of them and just be super grateful that we're here.

Q. How much popularity does the women's tournament have down in Australia? I know a lot more players are coming up and playing at the D-I level.

ALEX FOWLER: I think there's a lot of popularity. We were all watching it growing up and seeing it. It's just amazing that I'm here right now. We used to watch this growing up at home, seeing the NCAA Tournament on, and it's just a privilege I get to play here right now.

Especially we have so many Australians coming through in the college Division I programs now, which is amazing to see, and it's a credit to Basketball Australia for getting the development and bringing all these young women through. I think it's a great achievement for us.

THE MODERATOR: First round press conference with Portland. We are joined by Portland head coach Michael Meek.

We will start with an opening statement from Coach.

MICHAEL MEEK: First of all, just want to thank Scott just for this opportunity to help lead this Portland program and the assistant coaches we have, we have just a phenomenal staff that I'm really proud of. But more importantly, just the great athletes we have.

It's a wonderful opportunity for our group to play in the NCAA Tournament. We know we have our work cut out with Oklahoma, but we're excited for the opportunity for sure.

Q. First of all, obviously, who was calling you?

MICHAEL MEEK: I don't know. I have no idea.

Q. I have a couple questions. (No microphone)?

MICHAEL MEEK: (No microphone). I think especially for our five seniors, but even the younger players. Our five seniors won the West Coast Conference in 2020 but didn't have a chance to play in the tournament. I'm so excited for them and so happy for them.

I know that it was really important for them to have this opportunity. I think it's really a relief for our staff just to allow them to have this experience. I think it started a week ago just with the exhilaration of winning the tournament and having a second chance to get back and just the whole atmosphere around the tournament is phenomenal.

Being at UCLA, I don't know if we have anybody in our program that's ever been here before, and all the history of basketball here. So it's a great feeling.

Q. What do you think it's going to be like for your girls and your staff to be playing out on a historic court like Pauley Pavilion?

MICHAEL MEEK: We're going to practice here in about 15, 20 minutes, so I think that will just hopefully allow our team to get used to the court.

They've been a really resilient group that's been awesome through adversity. I'm really confident that they're going to come out and play together and give their best team effort. They've really been awesome about kind of not thinking about anything else but each other when it comes to game time. So I'm confident when the game starts it's going to be back to focusing on each other and trying to be the best version of themselves.

Q. Now that you've had a little bit of time, quick scouting report of Oklahoma?

MICHAEL MEEK: They're just a phenomenal scoring team. I think sometimes scoring gets overlooked by there's defensive possessions that lead to that scoring too. So it's not that they just score. I mean, they defend, and they're athletic. I think they're like a plus 9 rebounding team. I think they're shooting like 26 threes a game.

They just do so many great things. We know that they were co-Big 12 champs for a reason, and we're definitely excited to be in the tournament. I think the truth is at this point whoever we played was going to be a great team. They clearly earned the right to be here. Again, we're excited for the opportunity.

They're an amazing scoring team, for one. I think second in the country in scoring.

Q. At the point where, if it's a lower scoring game, it would benefit you or would it benefit Oklahoma? Or whatever results results?

MICHAEL MEEK: All through the season, we think it benefits us if we score more than they do at the end. We've had games where we've scored in the 80s, 90s, and we've had games where we've scored in the 50s.

I do know that we can't allow them to get too many second chance opportunities, and I do know that they're an amazing three-point shooting team and we're going to have to be able to guard the three-point line. They're a team that can get in great rhythm as a team and start knocking down threes at a high level.

So I think we can play a lot of different ways, as they can too. I don't necessarily think we're going into it with any score or anything like that. We just know there's certain things that we have to defend at a high level, and we can't give them a bunch of second shots.

Yeah, again, we're excited to play them. We know they're an awesome team for sure.

Q. Coach, how much more rewarding is it this trip with your daughter on the squad and one of the starters?

MICHAEL MEEK: I just love the whole team. I think for me I'm excited to have brought -- you know, allowed her to be a part of the culture we have and to be around the team that she is. It's been awesome to have her a part of the group, but she's just another player on the team.

I think that, as a lot of you know, losing Haylee halfway through the year was devastating to her and devastating to our whole team. I'm just proud that she's been part of the group because there's been so many people that have picked up so many amazing things that Haylee has done.

We'll never replace a player like Haylee Andrews and the leadership she brings and the awesome things that she's coming right out here and still being the leader of our group even though she's not playing.

So it's been awesome to have her part of the group, and I think that she feels the same. She just loves being part of the team.

Q. I have no idea what's been asked, but in beating Gonzaga, they were probably pretty close to a 5 seed going into the WCC Tournament. So what's your level of confidence that gives you going into this tournament knowing you've beaten a team that's pretty close to that quality of opponent?

MICHAEL MEEK: I think the thing about that is every team kind of has their own identity, and I think a lot of that is matchups. I think what I'm most proud about having a chance to beat a team like Gonzaga is just the proof of improvement throughout the year. It's one of the few games they've been back full squad, and we played them a few times not full squad.

Obviously us losing Haylee, who had 27 in her first game against Gonzaga, just so proud of the improvement we've shown throughout, and our team never wavered. I think a lot of people may have thought with Haylee out, we still couldn't be competitive. Obviously she brings so much that we won't replace, but our team just stayed together.

It was a great late season win. But Oklahoma's really just a completely different type of team. They play different. They have different personnel. So we're going to have to play them differently than we played Gonzaga for sure.

Q. Outside of Lucy, I don't think any of the players have ever been in a tournament, NCAA Tournament, but your coaching staff, you've been, obviously Sharon and others. You guys have a lot of experience with this. I guess, what sort of wisdom can you give the players, and is that even going to matter once the game starts?

MICHAEL MEEK: It's so much more about our players, the culture that they have, and how much they care for one another and how much they want the season to keep going.

I do think there are some things, having a chance to play in eight Division III tournaments has helped with some experiences. But for the most part, we just like look at every game like it's just a new game with a new opponent, and there's certain things that that opponent does that we're going to have to do, maybe shift things a little bit to be a little bit better at stopping those things.

I think our team has always done a really good job of not getting caught up in the moment and just focusing on themselves and being the best version of themselves.

Even though it is an NCAA Tournament game, it's still another game that we're just trying to be the best version of ourselves.