ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 7, 2024

Megan Gebbia

Kaia Harrison

Alexandria Scruggs

Elise Williams

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Postgame Press Conference

Florida State 70, Wake Forest 53

MEGAN GEBBIA: Obviously not the way we wanted to finish the season. We fought, though. We did what we did all year, battled back. Cut it to 13, almost cut it to 10 there on Elise's three. But I think we learned that foul trouble has caused us problems all year, and that hurt us in the first half.

Proud of them in the second half, though. We won the second half, which is really important to come out after you didn't shoot the ball well in the first half.

It's a group that they constantly battle, and I think they stay locked in in the moment. If we can continue to do that moving forward, even without these two fifth-year seniors here -- but really proud of them and how they brought leadership to the team this year. They brought energy, focus, toughness, I think was one of the things that I take from watching them over the last two years.

Obviously not our best performance, but we look forward to this stage next year.

Q. Kaia and Alexandria, when you came off the court tonight in the final couple minutes, you got a rousing ovation from Wake Forest fans and your teammates. What was going through your mind as you're walking off the court knowing it was your final time suiting up in the gold and black?

KAIA HARRISON: I think we both had a long journey here at Wake, and I think that it was just kind of an experience that we know it's over, but we know we can always come back because we have a family here.

Obviously it's upsetting that we lost, but we know what we've done here and what we've built here. And just looking at the fans, we kind of just felt that family feel of like, thank you. Like thank you for their support and for always being there throughout the way.

ALEXANDRIA SCRUGGS: Yeah, I was going to say -- like I said, me and Kaia have been through a lot here. And when I came off the court, the thing that I could pinpoint the most, seeing all the fans, was grateful. Because like you said, we've had a tough season, but we still had those people that believed in us. I know there's a lot of people who don't believe in us. Like, I think Muffet McGraw was saying stuff about us today.

That makes me realize that we're all we've got, we're all we need. We can ride with what we've got, so we're just grateful that we have these people behind us.

Q. Elise, you've had a terrific back half of the season. What do you think it's been for you? What light has turned on that has helped you become what you've become this last half of the season?

ELISE WILLIAMS: There was some ups and downs towards the beginning of the season, but I think what clicked for me was just trusting in myself and just trusting the amount of work that I put in to get to this point. Just knowing that no one can stop me but me, I feel like that kind of just helped me throughout the back half of the season.

Q. Coach, obviously it's such a tough format here. You just have one night to prepare. The win last night over UVA, and then coming into the Florida State game, what does that preparation look like, and can you speak to the difficulty of this one-night format?

MEGAN GEBBIA: Yeah, I mean, we talked about as I was walking back after the game how difficult it is to prepare for anybody without a practice really. You can't practice. They've been on their feet and playing.

It is difficult. The format is hard. That's what we talked about in the locker room. We need a bye. We need to get to the point where this team will get a bye and feel a little bit looser and stuff like that.

But it's hard. Florida State is always really difficult to prepare for because they just put the pressure on you the entire game with their penetration, and it showed up in the free throw differential today.

We talked about working on finishing through contact and things like that in the locker room, but it is not easy. It's just not easy. Especially if you want to add things and change things. It's helpful to have a veteran group that you can do that with. Younger groups, it's a lot harder.

Q. What have you seen from Elise this last few weeks, and what is it you hope she can grow into as you guys get closer to next season?

MEGAN GEBBIA: I've been saying this all along. Like this kid is really special. She had to realize that, and she had to be in a different role to realize that.

But what I'm going to say to Elise is it can't take all season. It needs to be starting in November, October even, scrimmages. I don't care. But she needs to build off this and bring it like she's the top of every scouting report next year, and it still shouldn't matter. That she's prepared herself for that senior year ready for whatever teams throw at her.

Q. How has this program helped develop you into a better person?

ALEXANDRIA SCRUGGS: I would say first being the people that they hire. We were just talking about this in the locker room. They make sure that the people around us truly care about us as individuals first and then athletes second.

I would also say they provide us with the best facilities possible. Like we have everything at our disposal to make us the greatest athletes that we can be.

KAIA HARRISON: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. They put a lot of investing into our school to make it as comfortable as it can be for us student-athletes. I think also just like the family feel of Wake also helped and also how the alumni always come back and connect with us.

I think all those little things matter and how Wake is just so family oriented and how it goes throughout with all the student-athletes at Wake, as well.

ELISE WILLIAMS: I'm just going to second and third that.

Q. I saw John Currie embrace you as you guys won last night. How important is it to have him here supporting the team, and what are the challenges and excitement level as you try to build for next season?

MEGAN GEBBIA: I mean, for me as the head of the program, it feels really good that he's there watching and he notices all the little things. He really pays attention. I can't say that for every athletic director.

He calls me, tells me even when we lose, great job. I see them fighting, all that kind of stuff. That makes you want to do it more. It gives you more energy to put back into the team.

It feels terrible at times when you lose, but it helps. It definitely helps. His leadership has been terrific.