NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - MISSISSIPPI STATE VS NOTRE DAME

March 19, 2023

Sam Purcell

Ahlana Smith

Kourtney Weber

Purcell Pavilion

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Media Conference

Notre Dame 53, Mississippi State 48

SAM PURCELL: As I reflect, now that the year is officially done, but a question comes to mind that everybody's asked me: What's the hardest thing being a first-year coach? And I honestly had no answer because we went so hard in this program that it was the best thing and the best environment ever.

But to answer that question, it's this right here. This team is so special. These seniors are so special. What we did was so special. You have a program that a lot of people around the country said, it's done; it had its glory years. But these young women were an absolute joy to coach. They gave their heart, they gave their soul and they were a great representation of Mississippi State and the university, and most importantly they are winners on and off the court.

This was a game where -- what a week. I want to, again, thank the community of South Bend. This has been nothing but first class. I want to congratulate Notre Dame and their program; they are also first class.

But tonight was just a night where you've got your third game in a week, the first two were just shooting the ball like no other and things are going well, but you have to give credit to Notre Dame's defense. They are long and they made us take some rushed shots.

For us to make a run, it was just fitting of who we are. We've bent, had bad moments, but we never broke. They laid it on the line and we had a chance at the end but came up a couple free throws short, a couple of layups short, and that's life.

But again, I told them in the locker room, I could not be more proud to be their head coach, what they did to get this program back and special things are to come because this is not just a one-year thing for us. We plan on being back every year.

Q. Ahlana, obviously Coach Purcell, as well as anyone on this team, what gives you the confidence knowing that even when your time with the program is done that Mississippi State is in a good place with him at the helm?

AHLANA SMITH: Just him and what he stands for and his purpose, he's a great coach but he's a better person. I know that he will take care of the X's and O's, and I know that everybody is going to love him for him and I think that makes the job much easier.

Q. Kourtney, just how frustrating was it out there in terms of just shooting the three-point shots, especially two days after what you guys did at Creighton?

KOURTNEY WEBER: I would not exactly say it was frustrating. We just wish some more shots would have went in. But I think everybody was just in the moment. For a lot of us, it's our last college game ever. So we were happy to be out there, honestly, and just to compete and be here and make it out the First Four, I mean, we are doing stuff that nobody has done.

Q. Following up on that, what do you think this team did well today to make up for the shooting struggles and stay in the game up till the final seconds there?

KOURTNEY WEBER: I think the preparation we put in, everybody being locked in. We tried to execute on everything. I think we played phenomenal defense, team defense. And more importantly, I think we just had each other's back, even though shots weren't going in, we had each other's back the whole time.

Q. You talk about this being a lot of people's last college game, and just the emotions are very evident. Reflecting on your time at Mississippi State, how glad are you that she went through this and can be sitting here now?

KOURTNEY WEBER: I think I'm very glad. I think this year taught me a lot, honestly, and I went through a lot of adversity (tearing up).

Just to be here right now, to make it to the tournament in my last year, to change the culture of this program, I mean, it meant everything.

Q. Building off that, both Kourtney and Ahlana, can you talk about what does it mean to end your college career getting a tournament run like this with this team and doing it with a first-year head coach like Coach Purcell?

AHLANA SMITH: It means everything. We came; nobody believed in us, and we made history. I feel like you can't ask for nothing better than that.

Like I said, nobody was on our side. Nobody believed in us, so the fact that we made it this far is amazing and that's something that we'll never take for granted.

KOURTNEY WEBER: I think just looking back at it, as we get older in life, this is just something we're going to look back at. We trusted Coach Sam. We both left different schools to come here. We had one year left. I mean, making it here was everything. We put in prep since the summer, the first day we stepped on campus.

Q. To any of y'all, if you can speak about Anastasia Hayes and what she's meant to the program, similar position to y'all and just everything that she's done.

AHLANA SMITH: She's been amazing. Like I said, what she stands for, her purpose, the way she attacks every day is amazing, and I have to give her all her flowers. She's one hell of a player, but she's a great person. It was a joy just to be able to spend my last year and play with somebody as great as her.

KOURTNEY WEBER: Yeah, I think Annie doesn't get enough credit for the role she had to take this year. She was like the returning leading scorer in the SEC, and in order for us to succeed this year, she had to take, like, a role and distribute the ball more, and she took that with class. She didn't complain. She took that role, and as you can see the way we ended that season, obviously it helped. So thank you, Annie, for that.

AHLANA SMITH: Thank you, Annie.

Q. What can this run do for the national landscape of college basketball?

SAM PURCELL: When I hired my staff, our goal was to bring the returners back because we knew how special it was; go in the portal and get some good kids and try to make as many positive statements as we could in year one.

And it just wasn't basketball. We were fortunate this year to have a Top 15 attendance in the country that values women's basketball. We wanted to give back to the community as much as they gave back to us. My young women had the highest GPA turnaround of any sport on campus. And then what they did this year on national television in a week where we went from, are they getting in the first four outs, and now being a team that said, why were they seeded like they were.

All we wanted to do was let the world know that Mississippi State is a special place with special people, and we plan on doing special things, and I think we did that in year one.

Q. Along with Kourtney and Alana, this team had a good amount of seniors that saw their career end today. What does that senior group mean to you and how much did they help change the culture as Kourtney said?

SAM PURCELL: Yeah, obviously with me being a first-year head coach, they are going to be forever special. Nobody ever for gets your first.

So for this group, like I said, in a climate where it's easy to transfer schools, or I was with some of their fourth head coach and they are being patient and sticking with me. But like Kourtney and Alana talked about, for me it was more special because of the relationships that we had.

I talked about when I took the job that, you know, any time that I've had success, anywhere else I've been, it's been more than basketball. It's felt like a basketball family, and it felt like a basketball family this year who truly care for each other, and obviously today is a hard day because we didn't want this to end and didn't plan to.

Q. This game specifically, they out-rebounded you by 17; obviously that played a big factor in today's game?

SAM PURCELL: It did. It did. In a game where we struggled to score points; we are phenomenal when we can get out in the open court and run. But if you can't rebound, they just were able to slow the tempo.

We've had games like this before where we get stagnant and they are just able to load the box. Notre Dame has got something special. They have got a lot of size, even at the point, one through five.

We knew it would be an absolute war so that's why we tried to get after it full court and wear them out for as strong as they were. We were trying to get steals. I thought early in that first half, we were one or two passes from getting a deflection to get an easy one. We had some breakaway layups that when we finally got it, we wanted it to bad that we should have took one on five. That's the one we needed to kick out for an easy shot.

But again, you've just got to credit them. They were able to mix defenses. They played relentless and they played power basketball. I thought it was a great game for women's basketball and two teams that absolutely left it out on the floor.

Q. Were you given any word on what exactly happened to Annie's hand in the first half?

SAM PURCELL: I didn't. I just kind of looked at it, like all year, she gave me that look, like, "Okay, Coach. I'm ready."

So I said, "If you say you're ready, let's go." So she went back out there and left it out on the floor.

Q. Have you gotten a read at all on whether Jessika may make a decision to come back?

SAM PURCELL: That hasn't been a discussion. When I took the job, my first goal was, you know what, let me earn your trust and your respect. Let me give you everything I've got in year one, and we'll have those discussions afterwards.

I have a responsibility as a head coach along with my staff like we did to pour into these young women and give them stuff, because as you can imagine they have been through a lot. So we wanted some stability in year one and love on them as much as we could, and I thought we did a great job of that.

Q. To hear Ahlana and Kourtney getting so emotional and playing their last college basketball game in that uniform, what does it mean to you to have them say that and get so emotional about it?

SAM PURCELL: Yeah, you going four-for-four today? All right. You always get me.

Again, that's the goal of a head coach. Yeah, we get hired because you want to win championships and there's expectations in sports.

But it's bigger than that. It's about pouring into the young women's lives. Trying to make a positive impact from years 18 to 22. Help make sure that they get their degree, but also have a healthy environment that they can thrive in and enjoy.

Basketball is something they have played all their life, and I take pride in making sure that every day they show up and wake up that they are going to come into an environment that they love.

For them to say those words and forever be grateful to play here, and most importantly be grateful for our fan base, again, that's bigger than any win can provide.

Q. When you took the job, you had to rebuild fairly quickly with some players out of the transfer portal and obviously worked out for you well. A downside is a lot of players moving out and you had to add some more this year. What's your outlook on the team returning and what you can possibly do with next year's team?

SAM PURCELL: Yeah, you know, to be fair, again, it's kind of like the question asked earlier. My mindset right now is let's put our product on the floor in year one because obviously like we've talked about, there's narratives out there.

I'm forever grateful for Mississippi State hiring a first-year coach because you've got to have somebody believe in you, and I'm forever grateful to the university for giving me a chance.

So my mindset was once I was given that chance, just like my team, just let me in the door. Let me put me put my foot in the door, and once I'm in the door, let's kick it wide open.

And then once we've kicked it open and we've shown joy and we've played at highest level and we have made a national stance. Those things and those things that you're talking about, players, we'll find the right players now that the season is over with that want to be a part of something special and continue to do special things.

Q. Similar to what I asked your players, can you talk about Anastasia Hayes' impact? I know you were eager to keep her in Starkville, and what she's meant to this team; and going off the previous question, what do we expect next from Mississippi State?

SAM PURCELL: Again, I can't say enough good things.

When I think about it, I came, I told her, I said I know you're the leading scorers and they had seven players and you played significant minutes. But our goal, Annie, in your last year is to be more than just a scorer because I believe that's who you are. I believe that you're a winner; that you're going to be able to get after it like no other like she did tonight.

I mean, she was an absolute joy to watch. There was a couple calls that obviously didn't go her way but she was pressing like no other. There's a reason we held them to 53 points and it started with an any Hayes. She just has a skillset and a speed that I compare to Dana Evans that's a joy to coach. She can change the game.

But most importantly she has a great smile, and like you heard, this season happened because an any Hayes was willing to be the ultimate team player. So because she was willing to take on a roll and set the standard for other only I'm forever grateful.

The second question, again, like I said, I'll never forget when somebody came up and I was walking the basketball field and they said coach, "NCAA or bust?" And I told them, I didn't come here to lose, all right.

So with this season being done, obviously I'll still reflect on it because I wasn't prepared for an end of the -- speech because I thought this team was going to make a possible Elite 8, Final Four run; I thought we were that good. But at the end of the day you have to give credit to Notre Dame.

Like I told them in the locker room, this is by no means about me being the leader of the program being a one-and-done. I've got one of best staffs in the country. I've got a university that, most importantly, supports women's basketball. We'll put the right pieces at the right time for next year's team, and we plan on returning back.

Q. I just was interested in what you learned this year being a first-time head coach. You've been an assistant and around great coaches but I know until you get in that chair, can't really fully grasp what it takes to be a head coach. What did you learn from the day-to-day operations of being around these girls and running your own program?

SAM PURCELL: Yeah, great question. What I learned was you win with people. You win with people in life. No one person can do this by themselves.

Again, I'm so thankful for my athletic director, our school president, the university who invest in women's basketball and invest in women's sports because first and foremost, that's not how it is around the country.

Then for anything that we needed, support for my young women, there was never: 'Why are you asking this' or 'what kind of question is that.'

There was always: "Let's find an answer and let's do what's best for our student athletes."

Then I learned again that what you can overcome in life when you get a group of young women who believe. We put, again, "why not us" on the board, because when we got this job, the narrative was: Mississippi State Women's Basketball is done. Its glory days are done.

But I told them, if we get the same amount of days as everybody in the country and we walk up every single day and we think we outwork our opponent, then why not us? Why can't we be one of the better programs in the country? And no matter who writes about us or would doesn't write about us, go get what's yours.

And I try to teach them the beauty in sports. Those are life lessons that when people doubt you, roll up your sleeves and go to work and be an absolute Bulldog, and most importantly, they were unbelievable Mississippi State Bulldogs.