NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - ST. JOHN’S (NY) VS. NORTH CAROLINA

March 18, 2023

Courtney Banghart

Deja Kelly

Kennedy Todd-Williams

Value City Arena

North Carolina Tar Heels

Media Conference

North Carolina 61, St. John's 58.

COURNEY BANGHART: Just really happy to be advancing. They call it survive and advance for a reason, and think we survived that one in large part of because of who's sitting next to me. Found a way. Not sure it was the game you all are going to press repeat and keep forever, but not sure that matters. We're just glad to be out of her with a win. And it's a big accomplishment that you guys should be prideful of. Winning in March is hard. So onwards.

Q. Was that final play where Deja gets the ball and gets the left wing and screens around Teonni, was that the intent, the play design?

COURNEY BANGHART: That's exactly as we wanted it. We have a play call, but I can't tell you what that is. Yeah, we felt like it was a great execution. Toddy made the pass, we trust her there. We had a time-out, she knew that. We wanted Deja going left and we wanted Teonni setting the screen so she could trail for the rebound.

We would have really loved for them to foul us, and they did, so that was even better.

Q. When Lis fouls out --

COURNEY BANGHART: Ugh.

Q. -- what's the energy on the sideline and what's going through your mind?

COURNEY BANGHART: That one is for me, huh? Alyssa does a lot of everything for us, especially because she can slide positionally. So if you're in your man, you can do multiple things, either aggressively, on the switch, or aggressive ball screen. And you can also play her in various spots in your zone, so she gives you lots of options.

As much as they're all valuable, when you take her away, the versatility that that provides. So we wanted to play a little bit more of her zone. Toddy is really good in our zone and we were just so small, we couldn't do that.

So for me, I felt like it gave away -- took away our versatility defensively, which I thought we really needed, so fortunately the guys that came in stepped up and did what they needed to do.

Q. For the players, how important was Teonni stepping up down the stretch?

DEJA KELLY: Oh, my gosh, Teonni Key, that's all I can say. She stepped up huge. When her name was called, she was ready to do whatever we needed her to do on the floor. She came and rebounded, she got a post-up, made two huge free throws, set great screens. And yeah, I think she just played her role really, really well tonight.

KENNEDY TODD-WILLIAMS: So much growth for her in this big moment. It's March, a lot of things can happen. But she really stepped up and came off the bench, but she gave a lot of good minutes. So I'm very proud of her. I think we all are. So very excited to see what she brings.

Q. Deja, can you maybe walk me through that play that you were talking about a minute ago?

DEJA KELLY: Yeah, we knew that, like I said, I wanted to go left, I knew I wanted to go left, and I was really just thinking get to the rim. I knew that I would either get a lay-up or get to the free-throw line, which is my comfort zone. But I knew if they gave me the pull up, I would have taken it. But that wasn't falling for me the second half. So I knew in my head I was like, get to the rim, take what they give you.

When it went in, I was like -- at first I thought they called a charge and I was going to be really upset, but it went in and we got the foul and I made the free throw, so there was a lot of emotions in that one play.

Q. Kennedy, how would you describe St. John's energy and effort in the first half compared to the second half? What changes did you notice they made that forced you and your teammates ultimately to adjust and hold them off down the stretch and go all the way to the buzzer? How did you defend that?

KENNEDY TODD-WILLIAMS: Yeah, they had a lot of momentum, I think, once they saw the ball go in. I think in the first half, they weren't shooting as well. But I think what really like hurt us is their offensive rebounds, some of our turnovers that transitioned to open buckets for them. But I think it was really just their momentum and seeing the ball go in for them made it hard for us to guard and contain stuff. But we executed it really well, and we won.

Q. For Coach, when you noticed St. John's' tenacity and motivation there in that fourth quarter, tying the game, putting your team there up against the wall, so to speak, how much can you speak to your own team's strength and toughness there down the stretch to be able to go down to the wire, get that bucket that you guys needed, and then of course like you said, survive and advance?

COURNEY BANGHART: Yeah, it takes so much grit to have an advance. You go up 8-0, I think the fans are happy and the coaches are not because we know the way the game can be played throughout.

They were really tough on the glass. Patterson went -- we knew she was dangerous, and like Toddy said the basket started looking really big. And these guys have just got enormous toughness, they really do. We talk about grit all the time, and they showed it when we needed it.

I have give our league a lot of credit. We've been in these tough contests night after night. We've had so many close games. And so there was two options, right, you walk away or you walk into it. These guys just thankfully keep choosing to walk into it. They showed some emotion, which I expect. But yeah, that's a player's game out there late in the game. I can make a few calls here and there, but these guys got to go make plays. Certainly glad they did that.

Q. Deja, just wanted to ask you, this team seems to be a very close-knit group. Could you speak to the collective chemistry you guys have developed this year?

DEJA KELLY: Yeah, I think our chemistry is something unlike any other team. I don't think you see that a lot. We have it, we built it off the court and that definitely shows on the court for us. We stay so connected. I think that showed in this game today when we easily could have broken apart and kind of just let them really take over. And we didn't, we were all -- our talk was we have to stay connected, stay together, and we all want to play for each other.

We all want to win so bad so we all have goals, so really that gives us a little bit more to play for. And we love playing with each other, it's very exciting. We have great energy, we make it fun for each other.

So yeah, I think our energy definitely carries.

COURNEY BANGHART: If I can extend on that because it's a great question, the competitiveness that comes with that. These guys are so competitive that they know they need each other. It's not like we make super psych pep bags and things like that. They don't hold hands and sing kumbaya.

They compete and know they need each other, and I think there's a great amount of respect for one another. They're different. They have their own little -- look at these two, they have their own little things. But there's an enormous amount of respect they have for one another.

We talk about that as a team, as a coach, how important that is. I think nights like tonight it's just on full display. They can be competitive but they know they need each other, and it pays off.

Q. Deja, I was talking to your mom after the game about the heart thing you do.

DEJA KELLY: Oh, Lord.

Q. She said it goes back a childhood thing with you guys blowing kisses to each other. Could you explain that a little bit more?

DEJA KELLY: Yeah, I have a really close relationship with my mom. She was my coach, as well, so every time I saw her -- well, she was my coach, so we would always do that before games. But once she started watching from the stands, we would look at each other, we would either blow a kiss or now we do a little heart. So we form a heart before every game and then we did it after as well. So it's just a representation of how close we are.

Q. For either player, just touch on Eva Hodgson, her leadership on the court. I saw especially she was getting really fired up in that second quarter. What was she saying to you guys to keep motivating you?

KENNEDY TODD-WILLIAMS: She was just telling us to stay together. She was like, let's go, like let's put our foot on the gas and keep going because we all need each other. And in that fourth quarter when we were down, she definitely like held us all together in a huddle, and I thought that was really a seniority thing for her to do. Because we definitely needed that. We leaned on each other and we just told each other like we got our backs. I thought that was really a stand-out moment.

And for our team, because we've faced so much adversity throughout this whole season that I felt like we really needed this moment, and we definitely executed that really well.

COURNEY BANGHART: We had a handful of alums send in a video to our team, and we surprised them with it earlier today. I sort of looked at Eva later on in the day and said, next time that's going to be you. So let's prolong it. So yeah, she really cares about their tradition here and about keeping these guys together.

Q. For Coach, Alyssa goes out there in the fourth quarter, I think about six minutes to play. You guys endure a scoring drought I think of about three or four minutes. How did her actions kind of change things? I know you're not happy with that question, sorry.

COURNEY BANGHART: It's just adversity. We were rattled clearly. We were rattled. We didn't have much of -- when we were running our sets, we weren't running with great pace and assuredness. When we were playing with freedom we were settling. We were just a little rattled. Then when Alyssa fouls out, she creates extra possessions for us. You know what you're going to get. You can trust that.

It just added to our rattledness. It wasn't a game where we felt settled the whole time, so it just kind of added to that, if I'm being honest.

Q. Deja, watching from home here, when the time-out is called, I kind of assumed having watched you guys all year that you're getting the ball in that situation. And it seemed like St. John's assumed that, too, the way they collapsed on you in the paint. How much do you live for those kind of moments?

DEJA KELLY: Yeah, I love those moments. I'm a competitor, so I'm just going to do whatever it takes to win. With Coach putting the ball in my hands, just trying to make a play, whether that was -- if they doubled, I was ready to make a pass. Just anything like that, just trying to make a play down the stretch and will my team to a win.

COURNEY BANGHART: Previously she made the pass to Teonni. She also made that pass, so yeah, it was --

DEJA KELLY: And T hit both free throws.

Q. Is there some sort of motivation and feeling under-seeded at all that's fueling you guys?

COURNEY BANGHART: I felt like I was worried we were proving them right with how we played part of that game. What do you got?

DEJA KELLY: Yeah, in a way it's just another time that we have to prove ourselves. It's the second year in a row that we've felt under-seeded, but at the same time we have to prove ourselves each game, and we definitely had to do it tonight with how down to the wire that game went.

But you know, it definitely puts a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, but we've just got to keep proving ourselves each night.

Q. Kennedy, if you want to touch on this, you guys are preparing to play Ohio State; should be a pretty similar environment to at Arizona last year. How are you using that experience to inform your preparation for this next game?

KENNEDY TODD-WILLIAMS: To silence them. I mean, I think last year we did exactly that, and I think Coach Walt is the perfect guy for this game. Last year it was build a wall, so he'll probably have something new.

We're just going to keep going, and we're not going to let up, honestly. I mean, home court, so...