NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - ALABAMA VS BAYLOR

March 18, 2023

Kristy Curry

Brittany Davis

Hannah Barber

Gampel Pavilion

Alabama Crimson Tide

Media Conference

Baylor - 78, Alabama - 74

THE MODERATOR: We are currently joined by student-athletes Hannah Barber and Brittany Davis. In lieu of the opening comments, we will open up questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Brittany, heck of a game, heck of a season for you guys. Obviously you all got off to a really good start. What changed maybe in the second half that allowed Baylor to get back in the game?

BRITTANY DAVIS: I would say when we got tired, we got a little lazy.

Q. With you guys having the ball towards the end of the game with an opportunity to go ahead, what kind of did you think led to the inability to get a shot off and just not able to execute down the stretch?

HANNAH BARBER: Obviously we've been in those kind of situations all year. We've played in a lot of close games. And we just didn't execute.

Obviously I ended up turning it over, and at the end of the day, that's on me. We have to find a way to get a shot off in those kind of situations.

THE MODERATOR: First we would like to let Coach Curry have her opening statement.

KRISTY CURRY: First of all, I'm really proud of the kids in that locker room for the season that they've had. Obviously we're visibly upset. Any time that -- I mean, you have a group of kids that have poured their heart and soul into the program, three straight postseasons.

For a group of kids that came to Alabama and turned the program around and put it on a trajectory that's really special, the legacy that they will leave is they left it a whole lot better than they found it.

So I don't want their body of work to take away from how disappointed they are today. I'm really proud to be their coach and love them a lot. You know, we just had too many mistakes down the stretch. A silly foul, a travel, a missed box out there on the free throw.

Basketball is a game of mistakes. I don't want those three mistakes to define who they are and what they've done for the program. Baylor made some plays down the stretch, and we weren't able to. At the end of the day, that's the game.

Q. Kristy, you've obviously been coaching a long time. Basketball is a game of runs. When it's 22-4, are you telling them, hey, we've got to stay locked in because our run is coming?

KRISTY CURRY: Yeah, it's four quarters. It's 40 minutes, and it's a game of runs. I thought in the third and fourth, we had too many mental mistakes. We gave up 24 and 24. We put them at the free-throw line. They were in a situation late where they didn't have a foul the last minute and a half of the fourth. We just made too many mistakes.

I thought we quit being aggressive, and you can't quit being aggressive this time of year. And we weren't able to get to the free-throw line. I think we had 13 second half turnovers. Those things really catch up with you down the stretch, and they caught up with us.

Q. Just kind of following up on your last answer, because Brittany said it may have been more of a fatigue issue, did you see if maybe that was influencing the mental mistakes, or is there anything that stood out for how that kind of went throughout the game?

KRISTY CURRY: I don't think that -- again, it's about making shots, making plays. Again, we have a foul and a turnover and a missed box-out, but before that -- when you look at the free-throw line, and I think at the half we had -- first half we had six free throws, and we had nine for the game. I just thought we stopped being aggressive. I thought that we missed some shots. Big play by Jada, and then we just had to go back and get one stop, and we just weren't able to.

I think tired is a state of mind this time of year. Since March the 2nd, we've done a really good job with our recovery. Nobody has any excuses. Just credit Baylor. They made a couple more plays than we did.

Again, I wouldn't trade the kids in that locker room for anybody in the country. And the body of work and how they've competed all year long in the toughest league in the country. I'm just disappointed that I couldn't do a little bit more to help them down the stretch.

Q. What can you say about the way Brittany started the game? Like she's going to go off for 60 at some point?

KRISTY CURRY: She really struggled the first four games of the season, but I'll tell you what, that's Brittany Davis right there. At the end of the time, when we sit back and hopefully we can all take a deep breath and find the positives, what she has meant to this program, her story -- as a mom and her comeback from that, there's nobody in college basketball that has ever done what that child has done.

The way she came back the past two weeks, three weeks, and got back in the gym. She's always in the gym. She's always texting Coach Kelly to come in and meet me. If we practice at 10:00, she's saying meet me at 9:15. If we practice at 1:00, she's saying meet me at 12:15. She is just a phenomenal human, and I know her future is incredibly bright. She's going to leave Alabama with two degrees. She's a phenomenal mom.

I just can't say enough about what she's done for our program, and she's laid the foundation for more Brittany Davises to come to Alabama. We're excited about the legacy that she will leave and how she has impacted in so many more important ways than just bouncing a ball. She's pretty special.

Q. After having a career night tonight, can you speak to Brittany Davis' growth over her time in Alabama?

KRISTY CURRY: I just spoke a little bit about her story. Brit puts the work in. Confidence comes from knowing you've put the work in. We want her to shoot it every time she touches it. She just puts so much work in.

To have a baby girl, it's bigger than basketball for her. Her response to that was to make sure that she takes advantage of her education and the ability to continue to play. Brittany's going to play for a long time with two degrees.

Again, there's not a better comeback story in March Madness than Brittany Davis and what she's accomplished on and off the floor. I'm really proud to be her coach.

Q. Of course it would be fair to take some time off now that the season is over, but how do you and your program plan to move forward and learn from this?

KRISTY CURRY: We feel like we have moved the program forward. In our early signing, we're signing the No. 12 recruiting class in the country. We signed the second McDonald's All-American, two four stars and a five star.

The portal is very, very -- you know, something that, along with preparing that, we've been working really hard. So I think that the legacy that this group will leave, they've impacted in recruiting as well.

So we're just excited about the opportunity. I also want to end by saying thank you for covering our program this year. We really appreciate you.