SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 7, 2024

Johnnie Harris

Sydney Shaw

JaMya Mingo-Young

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Auburn Tigers

Postgame Press Conference

Auburn 67, Arkansas 48

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by Auburn.

We'll start with an opening statement from the head coach.

JOHNNIE HARRIS: Just really proud of my team for just how hard they played in the second half. We had a meeting at halftime, I didn't think they were playing very hard, in denial, following our game plan. I thought they came out in the second half and played a lot harder, played Auburn women's basketball.

Just really proud of them holding a team like Arkansas to 48 points, it's not easy.

I'm really proud of 'em, but we know we're going to have to bounce back, regroup, and play a lot better tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student-athletes.

Q. JaMya, you had the most minutes of any of the players tonight. Flirted with a triple-double. What was working for you tonight?

JAMYA MINGO-YOUNG: I think playing well as a team, playing hard. Like she said, she got onto us at halftime. The second half we needed to focus more on the defensive end so we could get out and run in transition and do what we do best to score the ball.

Q. Three of six tonight from three, Sydney. What has it felt like getting your confidence back in your outside shot?

SYDNEY SHAW: I just haven't been thinking about it a lot. I just let it go. If I'm open, I let it go. If I see space, I let it go. If I see the basket, I let it go. It's been working, so I'm not going to change it.

Q. How difficult has it been to hold this team down defensively? What were the things you felt like you were doing effectively to get into them defensively?

SYDNEY SHAW: I think a lot of it, we were getting lost at times with our pressure. We built ourselves a reputation all year. Even when we do mess up, they respect it defensively.

I think how hard we played all year is contributing to how maybe how frazzled other teams get when we even do mess up.

THE MODERATOR: We'll let the student-athletes go. We'll continue with questions for head coach.

Q. You had three players in double figures tonight. None of them named Honesty Scott-Grayson. How good was it to be able to get contributions from other people?

JOHNNIE HARRIS: It was really good. The good thing about Honesty is when she's not scoring -- and Honesty is very unselfish. She probably could have taken over had she needed to, but she really didn't need to.

It was really good. I tell them that in the locker room. It's good that we were able to get contributions from other people, then Honesty wasn't forcing things.

Now going forward, we know we're going to need Honesty. I did tell her she took the night off, so she better be ready tomorrow.

Q. Mar'shaun Bostic, what did you like about what you saw from her tonight?

JOHNNIE HARRIS: She's a spark off the bench. She's a different speed. You get in there and you get used to one speed, and then Mar'shaun come in there and it's a whole lot faster trying to deal with her.

Mar'shaun, she's learning how to distribute the ball as she's going as fast as she go. She's finishing a little bit better at the rim, so...

You know, she's just a hard matchup. They played off of her, but she was still able to get to the paint.

Q. You said you felt like they came out slow in the first half. Do you feel mentally they said, We're going to cruise through this one and get to LSU? What was the reason?

JOHNNIE HARRIS: I'm not sure if they felt like that. I know we told them... We haven't beat Arkansas since I've been here. We got to get this one. We knew they weren't going to lay down.

I knew they had some injuries, wasn't at their full capacity. We can't take anybody lightly. I told this team that. You still have to go out and play the way we play. I didn't think we did that. I thought we were letting them catch it where they want to catch it. We weren't pressuring the ball. We were letting them drive us. They got a lot of open looks.

We had to address that at halftime.

Q. This continues to be kind of a record-setting thing for you as far as things you've done in your career as a head coach. First win here in the SEC tournament, what does that feel like for you?

JOHNNIE HARRIS: It feels good to finally get one. This team has worked really hard. It started with those players that came back that believed in us, believed in our vision, believed in our style of play. Then the nine that didn't play for us last year, they came in and they knew how we wanted to play. They believed in the game, in the vision. They went to work.

This was the goal from day one. A lot of people said that this was a rebuild, but we never believed that. We believed this was going to be a rise year. It just feels good to make sure that that happened.

Q. I asked Coach Neighbors this, if he felt like he played a tournament team tonight. He said absolutely. Do you feel the NCAA tournament should put you in right now?

JOHNNIE HARRIS: Yeah, absolutely. I feel like our entire body of work proves that we should be in.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

JOHNNIE HARRIS: Thank you.