NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 28, 1997

Katryna Gaither

Muffet McGraw

Beth Morgan

MUFFET McGRAW: This is the most outstanding run in the history of Notre Dame basketball. I couldn't be prouder of these two people beside me. They are both all Americans, tremendous seasons, NCAA tournaments and I couldn't say enough about them, where they took our program to the Final Four. Although we are disappointed in our performance tonight, certainly the results, I couldn't be prouder of these two on the team. I don't think any team in the country has gone through what we did this season, winning 31 games. It is an outstanding accomplishment.

BETH MORGAN: Any time we play a zone with a team as good as theirs, you will find openings. And obviously Holdsclaw is a good player, and when we were making a stop on her, she was finding somebody else. I think one of the keys was to rebound, and I think we gave them a lot of easy put-backs, or baskets on the boards.

BETH MORGAN: I don't think -- I think I tried to stay aggressive. Early on I probably should have given a few shot face or a ball face rather than going straight up. Tiffani is a great player, they all are, did a great job defensively and has the long legs that seem to go forever.

KATRYNA GAITHER: I just wanted to play hard to last me. We had a couple of times where we were taken out of the game a little bit and we wanted to play hard until the end. We should have played hard the whole game but we just wanted to go out, and we came this far, and not for nothing. We wanted to play hard.

BETH MORGAN: I think it was definitely a great experience for all of us. To make it to the Final Four was a great accomplishment for our team, for our program. You know, you just hate to go out playing as poorly as we did. Half of that is due to Tennessee, a good team does that to you. But I think then again, I think we really struggled tonight. You know, I think it has been a great experience for all of us. There are so many players that go through basketball programs that never have a chance to do what we did. And you know, I think looking back we are very proud of that. Memories last a lifetime.

BETH MORGAN: I don't know if it really came down to the experience of playing in the Final Four because I think we -- I was not intimidated at all. I think, you know, it was just turning the ball over. We have done that at times this year. It is something not new for us. We knew going in we couldn't do that. We struggled sometimes during the season doing that and other times we have done well with it. Tonight was one of the nights we didn't.

DEBBIE BYRNE: Ladies, you are free to go. Thank you very much. Now we will continue with questions for Coach McGraw.

MUFFET McGRAW: A highlight film? She is the best player in the nation. She is outstanding, talented, works hard. She is good on the floor, can shoot, can do it all, and she passed. I think the situation like this, great players will step up, and she had just an outstanding game.

MUFFET McGRAW: We thought we would get defensive and rebound. We had a little bit of luck with a score but we had a little trouble defending.

MUFFET McGRAW: Well, I felt the defense was pretty much the same the whole game. I thought that they had good pressure on the ball and that's a key to good defense. I think that they face-guarded a little more effectively in the second half than they did in the first half. But I thought in 40 minutes they played very aggressively and a great defensive effort by all of them.

MUFFET McGRAW: This team has improved to the very best in the country. We are proud of that. We lost starters from the team, and rebuilding, that's the word for next year. I think that we hope we can reload rather than rebuild. The people that are coming back and the kids that are injured will take this experience and learn from it, and hopefully will be among the nation's elite in the years to come.

MUFFET McGRAW: I don't know if the post players on the block or Chamique had anything to do with it, but we know the problem that we had with that. They rebounded a lot better, I think, and guarded the perimeter a little easier. So I thought Chamique really was the difference, not so much the post player.