BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2025

Marisa Moseley

Ronnie Porter

Serah Williams

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Wisconsin Badgers

Postgame Press Conference

Iowa - 81, Wisconsin - 54

THE MODERATOR: We want to welcome Wisconsin to tonight's press conference. We have Coach Marisa Moseley and student-athletes Ronnie Porter and Serah Williams.

Coach, we'd ask you to give an opening statement, and then we'll turn it over to the players.

MARISA MOSELEY: I think credit to Iowa, obviously shot extremely high percentage tonight. Knocking in 11 threes. I think our first quarter really hurt us as far as being able to get a rhythm going. The ball just wouldn't go in the basket for us.

Extremely proud of my team and how they continued to compete and fight, especially these two that are up here. Obviously not the way that we wanted the season to end. Really grateful for the seniors who have been with me for four years.

Q. For Serah, you and Carter in the beginning, it seemed like it took a while to get going in the paint. Really started to elevate that mid-range jumper of yours, and we really got to see that in the second half of the game. Can we talk about that piece of your evolution that we got to see last year and how you were able to utilize it today?

SERAH WILLIAMS: Coming off last year, I know a lot of people tried to make it difficult for me to catch it in the post and stay limited in the post. I just always want myself to expand and grow as a player, so I really got in the gym this summer and worked on my shot, and always made sure that I wanted people to respect me outside of the paint.

Q. Serah and Ronnie, can you talk a little bit about how Halle, Tess, and Nat have grown the program and how they've been an impact?

RONNIE PORTER: Being here three years with Hal and Nat have been great. I think their impact on and off the court, you can see it, like the difference, when they're on the court, when they're off the court. In our daily lives, they're just two great people.

And Tess coming in this year, her leadership has been great for us all around. It's somebody we needed, something we needed big. She is, like her vocal skills are like great, and she's just a great person as well.

All three of them definitely will be missed.

SERAH WILLIAMS: Nat and Halle have been here our entire career so far, and they kind of saw us grow up in a way from freshman year to where we are now. They come in every day. They work really hard. They're very motivated. They truly love the game of basketball.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about the experience of playing in an arena that's used not only for the NBA, but the WNBA as well, and your experience, having the opportunity to play in a venue that's got great Big Ten Tournament history.

SERAH WILLIAMS: I'm just excited we were able to make it to the tournament this year, given that they added new teams to the Big Ten and the opportunity to be here and play in this environment. I mean, it's one of a kind, but it was very fun.

RONNIE PORTER: I'd say the same. I think it was like a great opportunity to be able to be here today. We're all grateful for the opportunity. It's great playing here in the atmosphere like this.

Q. You kind of mentioned that first quarter you guys were able to get off, and then Iowa finishes on a 16-2 run. How, when you get in those situations looking forward to the future, how can your team try and respond to those a little bit differently?

MARISA MOSELEY: Obviously I think, if you can get the -- some stops and then be able to convert that and get some buckets going, that always helps to kind of put those runs at bay.

I think tried to take a timeout, tried to get us kind of reset, but I think their momentum had really picked up. I think it really started -- I'll have to go back and watch the film, but I think there was a couple plays where they're a little bit demoralizing where the ball goes in and out or it's right there or maybe we got bumped and didn't get a call or something like that. We had some unforced turnovers there, where we missed the catch or something like that, that I think we could have converted.

In the future, I think it's making sure that we're sharper, we can execute a little bit better, and then obviously defensively we've got to not allow them to get easy buckets. They shot an incredible percentage that first quarter. So that didn't bode well for us either.

Q. With the expansion and the addition of teams and no guarantee that you would actually make the postseason, how important was it for you against a very, very deep conference to ensure that your players were focused and they knew that the outcome of each game could play a key role in getting you to this postseason?

MARISA MOSELEY: I think you kind of hit the nail on the head. It was so deep and playing each team once and then obviously Minnesota twice. I think every night we knew it was a battle and that every -- not every just win but every possession would lead to win or loss. And understanding that of the 18, only 15 would go.

We had mini goals throughout the nonconference and then the conference and then obviously the postseason. So getting here and being a part of one of those 15, I made sure my team understood that that was no easy feat, especially when you're continuing to still build the program.

Q. Do you think that this opportunity could help and will help your team as it heads into next season and next year's conference schedule as well?

MARISA MOSELEY: Yeah, I think any time you get an opportunity to do something the first time, there's definitely lessons that you learn from that. I think that our team and the players that are coming back, they'll understand, whether it's the travel, whether it's the competition level, whether it's the style, all of those things, I think.

Then the things that we need to do and the lessons we learned, especially taking care of some games that we maybe let get away, and that positions you in a different place in the conference.