NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - SOUTH DAKOTA STATE VS VIRGINIA TECH

March 19, 2023

Aaron Johnston

Haleigh Timmer

Myah Selland

Cassell Coliseum

South Dakota State Jackrabbits

Media Conference

Virginia Tech 72, South Dakota State 60

AARON JOHNSTON: Well, congratulations. I thought Virginia Tech played really well in that game. Their first half they were really good. We weren't good enough in that first half. I thought we settled in as the game went on, and we played well and gave ourselves a chance to be in the game and be competitive, so congratulations to them. They're certainly very deserving and had a great year.

It was a difficult challenging game because of the opponent and how good they are, but really appreciative of the atmosphere. That's what you want to play in. That's exciting, and the reason I can say that is because we get to play in a lot of those. A lot of people out here who maybe don't follow us as closely, we play in front of some really good fans back home.

So when I say I appreciate that, it comes from a place of knowing what that means, and I know our players understand the value of that, and so we appreciate that being here.

I'd also say, too, that I'm just really proud of our team. There's nothing else that they would have had to do this year for this to be a better year. Had we won another game, two, three, four, whatever it would have been, there would have been more wins stacked on top of what was a great year. That's hard to have those great years come to an end, but really proud of our Jackrabbit group and certainly our seniors, who were fantastic for us all year.

I wish it didn't come to an end today, but we were beaten by a really good team. Congratulations to them, and like I said, really proud of our group as a whole.

Q. I don't know what you and Paige said to each other at the start of the second half. I saw you smile and say, we've got a whole half to go here. What was said, and how proud were you of how you guys came back, because you made a great effort there in the second?

MYAH SELLAND: Yeah, I don't know exactly what was said, but just with this group, we never feel like we're out of it, and we had nothing to lose. We had 20 more minutes to make the most of it and try to claw our way back, and I'm just proud of the way we fought back in that second half. Obviously not the result that we wanted, but just proud of the way we battled until the end.

Q. It had to be tough seeing all those three-pointers go in from everywhere to start the game. That's got to be deflating. The fact that you did come back is pretty admirable.

MYAH SELLAND: Yeah, I think that's just something about this team this year. We never felt like we were quite out of it and believed in each other until the very end, and something that I've appreciated of this team the whole year.

Q. Haleigh, how did you weather the storm when they were making all those three-pointers in the first quarter?

HALEIGH TIMMER: Yeah, I think one thing this team always does is stay together and trust in each other, and we knew we could get the job done in the second half.

Obviously it was a big hole to come out of, but I think in the second half we knew what we had to do, and we believed in each other to get stops at the three-point line.

Q. Myah, you had a couple, an open three here or there or a missed lay-up, those kinds of things. Do you think tonight over the next couple days you'll think back to a couple missed opportunities and wonder what might have been, or do you try not to do that?

MYAH SELLAND: Yeah, I think we're all competitors. We'll definitely lose some sleep over a few days, but like A.J. said, this is a great program, it's a great team. They played great tonight, too.

We'll try not to let those go and just kind of reflect on the whole season, but yeah, we're competitors. I'm sure we'll lose sleep over a couple of them.

Q. What's one or two moments from -- what are you going to remember most from this season?

MYAH SELLAND: Oh, boy. I think just the people that I got to do it with. I think -- they mean a lot to me, and I think we mean a lot to each other, and so I'm grateful to be a part of this program.

But just more grateful who I got to do it with and who I was alongside the whole ride.

HALEIGH TIMMER: Yeah, I'd say the same. This team is special. This culture at SDSU is special, and I'm just so happy to have gotten to play with Myah and the other seniors, and I'm just going to miss them so much.

Q. What was it like to play in front of this crowd, because even sitting on press row it looked kind of fun.

MYAH SELLAND: It was fun. We're lucky enough to kind of get this kind of atmosphere back home in a few different venues, and so we've been a part of it, but it's always fun to be a part of a crowd like this, and there was just so much energy in the building, and even if it's not for you, it's still just energizing and fun to be a part of.

HALEIGH TIMMER: Yeah, it's fun to play for a crowd, like Myah said, and we get that at home a lot, but I think going against the opposite side of it was fun, too, just to have that noise and energy.

Q. Myah, coming into the game, nobody really kind of counted you guys out. What does that say about this program, that you're leaving it off on a good foot?

MYAH SELLAND: Yeah, I think it just speaks to the consistency of this program, and just kind of the culture that we've been building and the success that we've had here, and I'm just so excited for the future of this program. There's so much talent here and so many good people. Yeah, I'm excited to kind of be a fan now and just watch what they can do.

Q. You guys really kind of struggled from beyond the three-point arc. Was there anything that Virginia Tech did that made those particular shots difficult, or was it just something where it just wasn't your night and they just weren't going in?

HALEIGH TIMMER: I think we were getting the looks we needed. We just weren't able to knock them down. Obviously they can be pretty aggressive out on the arc, but I think it came down to us just not hitting shots.

Q. Aaron, as well as Virginia Tech played and as well as you guys played, do you come away from a game like this feeling like your team is capable at some point of beating a No. 1 seed in this tournament?

AARON JOHNSTON: Oh, I think so, for sure. That's not a knock against No. 1 seeds. I just think that's more of a belief in our program for sure. But we just didn't get off to a good enough start, obviously. I didn't think our plan early on -- in hindsight, it's easy, it was probably good enough; but those are hard to walk away from as a coach. But they shot it really well, and that was tough, and we made some adjustments, and I think we settled in a little bit better defensively.

You know, but if you're going to beat a No. 1, the bottom line is you've got to have some things go your way, and you've got to have some things kind of go against them, and they shot it so well in that first half that that doesn't go our way.

I do think we had open looks that weren't easy. They defend, and they fly at you, so they're under duress, but we didn't make enough of them. So we didn't really have things early on go our way, and things certainly went their way.

But in the second half I thought we were really resilient and settled in, and honestly we played really good basketball probably for the last 24 minutes I really thought. We had chances to make it closer for sure, good looks that would have changed kind of the feel of that game.

But to their credit, they made some really big shots early and late. They had a couple of daggers there where we felt like we were getting back into it, and that got the crowd going and turned the momentum again, and that's what I mean. That would be true of any team, not just South Dakota State. Whoever is going for it in the Sweet 16 after that, some things are going to have to go their way, and some things are going to have to go against their opponent. That's just what it takes at this time of the year.

It's really hard to overevaluate because you should and we should think about what we can do better, but ultimately this time of year also has a lot to do with just that simple idea.

Q. You had said yesterday how you were going to have to play better on offense than you did on Friday to win the game, but you shot only 37 percent. What about their defense made it a tough shooting day for you?

AARON JOHNSTON: Yeah, again, I think we did miss some very makable shots, but I do think their length -- anytime we play a team at this level, length is a difference. It just is. That changes things. It changes things for our post touches, it changes things for our perimeter players, and it impacted this game.

But I thought we got good looks. I think we turned it over maybe eight times in the first half. I think we only turned it over three times in the second half, so we were a little more efficient there.

Took us a while to -- again, I think I tried to do a little bit too much, and we were just better in our motion stuff, and after we got settled off in that I think we were better.

So yeah, I just think their defense was good, plus we didn't shoot it well enough.

Q. I asked the players how much fun the crowd was, but it really felt like the crowd did make a difference at the beginning of the game in terms of the confidence maybe that Virginia Tech had. Maybe a little overwhelming for your team; was that a fair assessment?

AARON JOHNSTON: Yeah, it's always hard to know. Again, I think it goes back to making shots, missing shots. They're making shots, we're missing, so that becomes a focus, and the crowd does get into it. When you have a couple of things go our way, maybe it is a little bit different. But yeah, I think crowds absolutely impact games, no doubt about it. Our crowds at home impact our opponents, and we go on the road and play in front of these crowds, they impact us.

So yeah, I think like our players said, it's still fun. I wouldn't look back on it and feel like we'd want it different lip. But yeah, I certainly the emotion in that building impacted both teams, and that's what you want. That's what it's supposed to be.

Q. You guys played a difficult schedule and played a lot of good teams. How good is Virginia Tech? Is this a Final Four caliber team?

AARON JOHNSTON: Yeah, it was not the -- I'm not the comparison person. I always get hesitant with that because there's a lot of people out there listening.

They're really good. I would say that for sure. It would not surprise me if they went on and played in a Final Four and advanced. They shoot the ball really well. They shoot it like that tonight, and they're going to beat a lot of teams. They're good enough defensively. They are so good in their spacing and so good in their execution. They're a really good team. Nothing would surprise me with how far they'd go. I think that's fair to say.

Q. Similar question to what I asked the players. When you reflect on this season, what are you going to think of most?

AARON JOHNSTON: I think you always think about the people. Time runs out on games, but time doesn't have to run out on the relationships and the people, and you can enjoy that and take that and move forward with it, but unfortunately sometimes the games don't go as long as we would like.

But certainly you remember the people, and just how they came together, and I thought really got to the best version of themselves.

We had some things in this game that didn't go our way, but I don't know that I'd go back and say we didn't play tough enough or hard enough or compete. We just kind of let it get away from us. That was in a loss a good reflection of the kind of togetherness and toughness this team has played with all year.

Q. You outscored them in the second half. What did you get going in the second half? You had to do a lot of that mostly in the half court.

AARON JOHNSTON: Yeah, again, I think we settled into a better defensive plan that I just wish we would have gotten to sooner, and that's hard. So I think that helped. They weren't getting as many good shots. They certainly missed some open ones in the second half, but in the first one I thought they were all just rhythm threes, and that's kind of on us as coaches.

Then in the second half I just thought we started to get to the rim more. We got to the free-throw line, got more aggressive going to the basket. Again, we just ran more motion stuff, and it seemed like we were in a better rhythm there than some of the sets we were trying to do.