BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 8, 2024

Billi Chambers

Mohegan Sun Arena

Xavier Musketeers

Postgame Media Conference

Georgetown 62, Xavier 40

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Xavier head coach Billi Chambers.

BILLI CHAMBERS: First thing I think that's important to say is how proud I am of the Georgetown team and the way they've rallied around Tasha Butts and the way Coach Haney has -- and the way they've performed. That's the most important. Everyone needs to realize it's so much bigger than basketball.

And that team has put that together and really wrapped each other's arms around each other to support each other in such a hard time. Kudos to them for the way that they defended through the second half and really shut us down and made it really hard for us to put points on the board.

Obviously a very challenging year for us. We are sad to see our seniors graduate and go on such a tough last go-around, but we look forward to the future and building the culture and coming out much stronger next year.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Can you please talk about the heart and the effort your team has put into this season and what you are going to be looking forward to in the future?

BILLI CHAMBERS: I do think there's some heart and effort there, and I'm glad it is noticed. I think this is a team that has battled through a bit of adversity of our own. We've had some key injuries early in the season. Obviously had to cancel a couple of games. That can rattle you. Especially as a kid trying to figure all of that out and put all the pieces together.

Then trying to figure out the losses and how to put the points on the board. How being one player away each time how we make this successful. I do think that they've worked hard for us. They've tried to do everything that we've asked, and they've tried to put it together all the way through the end of the season. Just coming up short quite a few times kind of takes its toll on you.

I do look forward to giving them a break, letting them reset, making sure that the mental health piece is there and giving them those resources to take that next step, and then really getting after it in the postseason.

It's going to be a huge postseason for us to take strides individually in our one-on-one games and be able to be able to put points on the board, but collectively as a team having a better understanding of how to play the game, how to approach some of the critical moments in the game where you have to be a lot more on point.

I think this group has a lot to learn, but I think they're ready for it.

Q. Tomorrow is the Big East Legends Ceremony. Xavier selected their player to be honored. Can you just talk about why that player was selected and kind of what your relationship has been like or the impact on the program?

BILLI CHAMBERS: Yeah, Ta'Shia Phillips, an incredible young woman. Always sends great messages and support for this team. She's watching from afar and really looking forward to seeing this team get back to somewhere where she's carried the team, an NCAA Tournament run and incredible success.

Great human. We're looking forward to seeing her get honored. She's well deserving. I think just a great example for our young women. She is a player that they want to be like. They want to be in her shoes. They want to be exactly where she was and do what she did.

We're excited for her and excited for her to be honored tomorrow.

Q. You mentioned the word "culture." What kind of culture are you trying to set here at Xavier?

BILLI CHAMBERS: I think one piece is to be able to handle adversity well. And I think there were moments this year where we had a lot to learn in that regard, and we didn't step up and make sure that we were even. We do a lot of mental toughness work, and Coach Simeon Spurling on our staff handles that along with our chaplain, Father Murphy. And a lot that we talked about this year was finding that even space and not saying negative words out loud so that you can handle the ebbs and flows of the game a little bit better and you're more prepared for that.

That's an area where we want to really grow. We want to have a culture that handles adversity well, individually, but collectively. How do you need to speak to your teammates to make sure that they stay locked in and they don't hang their head when things aren't going their way.

We want to be a culture of hard work and accountability. The system that we want to run offensively, you have to be accountable. We should be creating a lot of open shots for each other, and I think we did that in the first half. In the second half, we really got away from that. We got ahead of ourselves. We saw the run, got excited about the run, and really started pressing and taking some contested shots.

We want to be strong in our culture of just accountability, handling adversity, and really being there for each other and working hard through it.

Q. Building off that momentum, that great first quarter lead, 16-9. Halftime within six points, 30-24. Is that anything you can build off of as you talk about the culture and the pride you have and how hard this team fought?

BILLI CHAMBERS: Sure. I think there's been quite a few moments this season that we want to build off of, right? The success we had in the first half, some of our defensive performances, some of our performances against St. John's at home. Against Seton Hall, we had some really good possession we put together. Playing Providence to a nine-point game.

I think we can go back and pick different areas where we liked what we saw, we felt like we were putting it together. And then obviously areas where it just got lost and we have to clean up. We have to go back to the drawing board, figure out why specifically it happens, teach our young women how to figure out how they can manage it in-game so we don't burn through all of our time-outs.

Again, this is a group that wants to work. I'm probably going to have a hard time keeping them out of the gym for the time that we're giving them off. But we're looking forward to getting in the gym with them, working one-on-one and really growing this group.