NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - MIAMI (FL) VS INDIANA

March 19, 2023

Katie Meier

Lola Pendande

Jasmyne Roberts

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall

Miami Hurricanes

Media Conference

Q. For either of you, coming off such an emotional win like you had yesterday with that big comeback, how do you get ready to play one of the best teams in the country?

JASMYNE ROBERTS: Well, obviously we were really excited about the win last night, and being able to come back, we just have to refocus and get ready for the game on Monday or tomorrow, and so we'll watch film and we're going to go to practice and come up with a game plan and get ready and lock in for tomorrow.

LOLA PENDANDE: Just going off of what she said, we're on to the next day, on to the next game. We're focused. We want to play hard and win the game, so we're locked in.

Q. I think you were in a similar situation last year getting through the first round and then I think you played South Carolina. What kind of lessons do you take out of that experience that you can use tomorrow night?

LOLA PENDANDE: I would say we just have to have each other's back, believe in the game plan, believe in what the coaches brought us here for. Like you said, we've been here before, and it's not new. We just have to play hard.

JASMYNE ROBERTS: Lola said it great. We have experience from last year, and so we know what it takes to compete against a great team like that, so we just have to come locked in from the start and not fall behind like we did last night, but I feel like now since we're comfortable, like we've played last night, so we know what it feels like, we got our jitters out, so we're ready for tomorrow.

Q. Indiana is one of the best teams in the country. What do you see as the biggest challenge in facing them tomorrow?

LOLA PENDANDE: They're a great team, like you said. It's just another game. We just have to go out there, play hard. We've been in situations like this before. We've won against great teams like Virginia Tech. This is another challenge, and I think we can overcome it.

JASMYNE ROBERTS: Piggy-backing off of what she said, we've played great teams before. We play in a great conference where every game was tough. We've competed against great teams, and we know what it takes to beat a great team, and they are a great team.

I feel like our defense is going to be what we focus on a lot, and I think that we're ready to do that.

Q. Coach said yesterday that when she came in the locker room, you were already really talkative and really kind of working through what happened in the first half. Could you take us inside the locker room and how that started, and was it -- just walk us through the emotions of the locker room at halftime, and then obviously it turned into a win for you guys.

JASMYNE ROBERTS: Yeah, when we went in at halftime, everyone was very -- I think everyone gave positive feedback. We knew what to fix, and it wasn't like super big adjustments. It was just like stop this person one-on-one, box this person out. There weren't huge adjustments we made, we just all played a lot harder, more aggressive. We played a lot more like a team.

We were all pretty much on the same page about what we needed to fix, and when Coach came in, she was like, all right, what did y'all fix, and we were like, this, this and this. We already communicated really well. We all agreed with what we needed to do, and that's why we came out in the third quarter and we fixed it.

Q. You look at Indiana's team, they've got Mackenzie Holmes and a bunch of three-point shooters. Is there a team you've played once or twice this year in your conference that sort of mirrors what you're going to see tomorrow night?

LOLA PENDANDE: Yeah, Virginia Tech, they have King, they have Amoore, they have a big that's really good, Kitley. Like I said, we've beat them before, so we've been in this situation before. We have to play hard, we have to follow the game plan, and just go out there and play hard.

JASMYNE ROBERTS: What she said.

Q. We talked to your coach last night. You only got six points from your bench last night, but Coach made the point that the points may not have given the whole story on what the bench did for you. Can you talk a little bit about what those girls coming off the bench have done for you?

LOLA PENDANDE: I think our bench does great every single game. That's something that I am -- like the coaches did a great job recruiting because we play 10 players. If I don't have a good night, I know Kyla is going to come up and show up for me, and vice versa.

I think our bench, they play or not play, we do a great thing as a team because we're a great team, and it's play for each other, win for each other, be happy for each other, and we have each other's back at all times.

JASMYNE ROBERTS: Our bench is great. All the games we've won, it's been the bench, they come in, play great defense or give us a spark off the bench, like you have Shae, Hanna, Z. Everyone just comes off the bench, and everybody knows their role and what they're in to do.

Even though they only scored six points last night, defensively, though, that's why we made the run, because our defense and like rebounding and whatever else they could have done. I mean, the bench is why we win.

KATIE MEIER: You know what, we're really thrilled to be preparing today. Great opponent, great atmosphere. Unbelievable crowd, like shout-out to the growth of the program and how much work Teri has put in to build this program. I have tons of respect for her. We battled a really nice game in the Bahamas last year, and after the game, it was like two coaches that just really admired each other, like tons of compliments for each other.

I told her her late-game stuff is great; she was like, no, I love yours, and was like, I'd like to get together and X and O sometime. She's special. She's very, very good, and I love the way her teams play. We're excited. It'll bring out the best in us.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about the challenges that Indiana poses in terms of Mackenzie Holmes in the post and their perimeter game?

KATIE MEIER: Right. They just score. They're really prolific scoring team. Almost 18 assists a game, which for us is -- that threatens us, okay, the fact that there's a team that will share the ball that much and can get that many assists in a game. It's very difficult to defend, no matter what your defensive style is. Teams that will share the ball, that makes them great.

We've got to figure out a way to invite them to do something differently, and we're going to try our best to do that. But last year in this same situation, you all referenced, and we were at South Carolina, and they were a team that was okay with the game being a little bit low scoring, so even though we've been in this situation before, to be at such a really, really great, mature ball-sharing team is a different challenge and really just as difficult.

Q. With Grace Berger specifically, obviously she's just really good at getting to her spots and finding those shots. Is there a player that you've gone up against this season that's kind of similar to her, that can give you a sense of what you need to do against her?

KATIE MEIER: Well, Dwyane Wade when he played for the Heat. (Laughter.) When he wanted his pull-up, he got it. Yeah, she's really that good. She's so efficient.

Take away her pull-up. Okay. I mean, that's easier said than done. She's very, very poised, very balanced, incredibly athletic in terms of the lightness of her feet. She can get a shot off pretty easily, and if she's determined to do something, you'd better have a lot of determination to stop her because she's pretty determined.

Q. You kind of referenced this yesterday, but you've seen where teams come back from those kinds of deficits and they run out of steam at the end because the energy level. Do you worry about taking something -- having a comeback like you did last night and running out of energy going in, or what do you do to try and avoid that?

KATIE MEIER: I'm worried about not getting in that deficit. That's for sure. You can't do that two nights in a row and get away with it.

But we really literally -- one of the reasons we were kind of calm at halftime and didn't make a lot of adjustment is because when you grade the efficiency of some of the looks that we got offensively, I was fine with them. I was fine with them. You saw a lot of maybe we were a little rushed in the first quarter, but the second quarter we did what Miami needed to do, but we weren't able to get into our multiple defenses because that little round thing wasn't going in the big round thing for us, so we couldn't switch up our defenses. If we're able to score a little bit that'll help us, and if we're held scoreless it'll hurt us.

Q. Yesterday at halftime, what was the vibe kind of like in the locker room? Who was speaking up? Who was saying what? Was it, we don't have to switch anything, we're doing good?

KATIE MEIER: Yeah, no, it literally was. It was very -- I did a quick formula for them, I said, okay, two bank threes and a bank two off of the scout. They did four things that put it on the coaches, and I'm always fine with that. If you can blame the coaches and the players are happy, then keep them happy. But they did their job on the scouting report, but there was 10 points that they got when we were doing the right thing, and then there were 12 points that we missed doing the right thing.

Maybe the best adjustment I did was to just stay calm and say, believe in what we're doing, but you have to play better than this, and they played this much better than this on the defensive end, and they played a lot better on the offensive end, and then our faith reappeared. But boy, if I had pulled the plug and changed the scheme, I think we would have lost by 30.

The players did not want a lot of adjustments. They wanted someone to just believe in them and say, do what you're doing but do it better.

Q. We talked about Grace Berger on the other side, but how important is it to have somebody like Destiny Harden, who -- Chicago is a different style of basketball, to have her out on the court maybe to match up against some people like Grace as you kind of move along?

KATIE MEIER: Well, I think Destiny and Jasmyne Roberts who was up here, I think their shot charts give us a chance. What they're hunting, what I think is a good matchup for us, where their spots are in each particular game, and if you really study them, it changes based on what we think and what we see the other team doing defensively. Those two are pretty special for us.

Then combined, if they kind of play the same position or split minutes a little bit, you're going to get a double-double on every night from that position, so I think that's one of our keys.

Q. The girls mentioned comparing Indiana to Virginia Tech. Do you see similarities between the two teams, or do you think that IU compares maybe more similarly to another team that you've faced this season?

KATIE MEIER: I mean, we got a little taste of the Big Ten when we played Michigan. I thought Michigan played extremely well against us, but stylistically, I see a lot of the grit and the defensive end and a lot of discipline that both of those teams share, but recently I would say, yeah, Virginia Tech. Just shot makers at every position, and everybody warrants extra attention.

If you're really good, all right, if you're a good player, you've got two eyes on you. If you're really good, we take half of everyone else's eyes, and maybe you've got six eyes or four eyes -- but there's a lot of people that deserve more than two eyeballs on them to try to stop them. That reminds me of Virginia Tech.

Q. In terms of atmosphere and environment, does playing in Assembly Hall, what you're going to see tomorrow night, is it similar to places that you've played --

KATIE MEIER: Yeah, luckily our conference prepares us for that. I think, shoot, even in the ACC Tournament, we were at NC State, so yeah, we've played in front of big crowds. But I hope there's a big crowd. It's huge. Congratulations for the support. It's awesome.

Q. How have you seen that grow over the years, just getting some of those hostile environments?

KATIE MEIER: It's amazing. It's amazing. I think there's a certain extra passion. I'm not going to say why, but I just feel like people feel really connected, a little bit more personal, to be a fan of a team that's so accessible and makes themselves available, and I just feel across the country that we tend to do that a little bit more on the women's side than the men's side, so the fans have a little extra heart into the cheering. It's not just to wear the tee shirt but it's because they feel like they know Grace Berger or they know Destiny Harden, and I think that's really important.

I think it's something that women's basketball coaches, we are charged with. I take it very seriously. We have to be inviting, accessible, available, and promote, and I think Teri does it, and I know I do it.

Q. You talked about Virginia Tech before, and I know Lola mentioned Kitley particularly. Obviously she and Mackenzie Holmes are different players, but having gone up against another big who's one of the best in the country and having beaten that team earlier in the season, do you feel like that gives your team any more confidence that you can go in and have success?

KATIE MEIER: Hey, anytime you can reference a competitive memory that's a good competitive memory, you're going to do it. That's just coaching, right? They've all got memories in their head, and sometimes they go to a memory you don't want them to, and we're going to reference our good competitive memories and then we're going to reference and fix and adjust to the things that didn't go our way.

But playing somebody -- that's not just for points, it's just the ball can move through her, offenses can move through a post player, and any coach who has that feels really good about their chances in every game.

Q. Does Holmes' availability, does that impact your game plan? Do you have a plan A and a plan B? Is that something that goes into it?

KATIE MEIER: No, no. We're going to be prepared.