NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - GARDNER-WEBB VS UTAH

March 17, 2023

Alex Simmons

Jhessyka Williams

Ki'ari Cain

Jon M. Huntsman Center

Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs

Media Conference

Utah 103, Gardner Webb 77.

ALEX SIMMONS: I think our team fought extremely hard, especially in the third quarter. We tied the third quarter. Obviously Utah is a team that once they get in the flow, it's tough to stop them. Especially when they're making threes how they did in the second half. I thought our team did a great job of making adjustments, taking some adversity because we had a lot of adversity during that game. I'm proud of our team. I'm proud of the fight we had tonight.

I told the team in the locker room, one game can't define the historic season that we've had. So hopefully they'll keep their head high and learn from this and move on.

Q. Jhessyka, how tough it was when the three of you got early fouls? It seemed like you were trying to play physical in the beginning, but once you picked up fouls it seemed like you had to back off a little bit. Was that tough to play through the foul trouble?

JHESSYKA WILLIAMS: Yes, it was very tough. I mean, it's kind of like we barely touched them and their whistles were blowing. We realized we just had to back up a little bit.

Q. Personally what does it mean to you to be the second leading scorer in university history, even though you didn't get the win? What does that mean to you?

JHESSYKA WILLIAMS: Like Coach said, we made history, so all I can do is be proud of what I did and what my team did this year.

Q. It seems like you took away their three-point. They've been a good three-point shooting team in that first half especially, but you were giving up some points in the post. What was your hope in that and being able to counter what they were able to do?

ALEX SIMMONS: Well, we're a pressing team and we're a pressuring team. We knew we could take advantage of them with our pressure, especially when it came to turnovers and trying to convert some of those turnovers. We knew we were going to leave our 5s and 4 players sometimes out to dry and it's going to be a one-on-one game.

They were able to get us pretty deep in the paint for a little bit longer than what we're used to. Alissa Pili is very good around the basket, especially when it comes to counter moves, faking moves and making moves. But we thought our pressure would hurt them. Our pressure would slow them down a little bit, and they wouldn't be able to run what they wanted to.

Q. Ms. Cain, how did you feel like your defense was tonight and what this experience has been like in the NCAA Tournament?

KI'ARI CAIN: As far as my defense, I would just lock in to what my head coach, Coach Alex was telling me before the game. I already know what kind of player I am offensively and defensively, so I tried to lock into the details she told me. If I pressure the ball, it's going to be in my hands, so I tried to do whatever my head coach tells me.

As far as experience-wise it's been awesome. I wouldn't ask for another team. We've been through so much on and off the floor and people wouldn't imagine everything we've been through off the floor. For us to come together and have this historic season is really good, and that's all we can really ask for. Of course we want to win, but we did everything -- like no other team probably in Gardner Webb history will do what we did, so we should just keep our head up and keep moving.

Q. Alex, you can scout and watch film and prep for this opponent, but what is it like when you actually get out there and you see Utah and having to deal with what they do?

ALEX SIMMONS: You know, our team was a little shocked because of certain things when we finally were able to see Utah in person. Scouting is one of my favorite things to do as a coach and as a head coach, and I thought we came into the game with a great game plan. I think foul trouble really got us out of the flow of what we wanted to do.

But again, the way they shoot the three, the way Alissa Pili finishes inside, it's always going to be a tough matchup who matter who they play.

Q. You cut the lead to 10 in the third quarter. What was your message to your team knowing that you kind of had them on their heels a little bit?

ALEX SIMMONS: We were getting stops, and that was my message to them. We've been talking about ever since our championship game, defense wins championships, and we wanted to come in with that same defensive mentality. I thought we cut it to eight even there for a little bit. I believe we fouled a three-point shooter and that kind of cut our momentum.

But I felt pretty good actually when we cut it to eight because we were able to do what we wanted to do, but especially being aggressive on the defensive end.