NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 29, 2001

Niele Ivey

Muffet McGraw

Ruth Riley

Kelley Siemon

KELLEY SIEMON: Well, I think that it was obviously a goal that we had in our mind for a long time. So, as much as we talked about it, just wanting to get there, you can't think that you are going to be there until that last game we just had on Monday. But it was something that we wanted to do for her and obviously something she wanted to do. She did get annoying, but we were excited that this would be the spot for it.

RUTH RILEY: I guess I might be a little biased on that opinion, but I think it says a lot for the type of players that do come out of Indiana. If you look at the players on Purdue's team and -- well, the people who are on our team, but it's just exciting. There's a lot of tradition that goes on with Indiana basketball and it's represented here.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: We have had great success. Beth Morgan led our first team, McMillan was on that team and now we have Ruth Riley and next year Jackie Batiste (ph). So we are excited about the way high school basketball is going in Indiana. It is a great state for basketball.

NIELE IVEY: I think it was Tuesday, and I think they just had a lot of banners. It was kind of a spirit day, and they had a lot of Notre Dame, "Niele Ivey, 33" all over the school. Yesterday when I came in from the airport they greeted me, the principals, and a lot of girls from the high school, so it was great to see so many people out there supporting me. Right when I walked off the airplane, they had banners, uniforms, candy, balloons it was great to see so many people out there supporting me from the beginning of when I got off the airplane. So I was excited.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: Well, I think Connecticut had the best team in basketball last year and they had everybody back. So I think to say that their chances of winning again, I'd say they were pretty good. I don't think you can ever anticipate injuries and things can happen during the year that you have absolutely no control over. Certainly, that had some effect on them. I think for them to get back to the Final Four without Svet and Shea is an accomplishment.

NIELE IVEY: I guess it was on the schedule for me to go to Minneapolis, but I guess I just came to St. Louis -- I don't know why.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: Well, she was invited to go to Minneapolis for the ESPN thing, and we just felt that she was so anxious to get to St. Louis, and we wanted to keep as few distractions as possible for her so that she could get here and relax and enjoy a little bit of all of the festivities that were planned for her. So we wanted her to be here.

NIELE IVEY: I hope that is not a factor. I think I'm going to be more excited than nervous. I've been focused the whole year, so it's going to be the same way on Friday. I just have more people I know, familiar faces in the stands so that's going to be good for me. I'll use it as a positive, not try too hard and just work hard like I've been all year.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: I think since we have joined the BIG EAST Conference six years ago, our program has really taken off nationally. And I would say that joining the BIG EAST was the best thing that has happened with women's basketball in Notre Dame. At that time UCONN had already won a National Championship and were predicted to win another one, which I thought it gave instant credibility to everybody in the Conference. This year our Conference was as strong as any league in the country. Probably the best league in the country, if you consider we have two teams in the Final Four and we are the only Conference that has two teams in the Final Four. I think the BIG EAST is a great league. We are probably not top to bottom as strong as some, but at the top, we are the very best.

RUTH RILEY: I think it is going to be a good game. It's exciting. We played both on our home courts and now are playing on a neutral court and in the Final Four. I don't think you can ask for a better site than that. Just the whole atmosphere in the Final Four and meeting Connecticut there is exciting for us. I think we match up well against each other. So we are just looking forward to the game.

RUTH RILEY: Yesterday was a pretty busy day for me. We practiced in the morning, and then we took off for Minnesota for the ESPN awards. We got there just about the time they were starting some of the festivities, and that was over, I think, about -- I don't know, two hours, 8 or 9. We got on a flight and got back here, so we got in a little after 11:00, 11:30 or so.

KELLEY SIEMON: Well, it's definitely the rubber match. We both have a win. Obviously, it's hard to go out on that loss, the second shot for us, but I think this is going to be just an incredible game. I expect it to be just like the one -- we both have something to prove, something we are shooting for, the BIG EAST tournament, which a championship was a big deal. But obviously going to the National Championship game is even bigger. So I think we both know each other well and we are both very prepared for each other's tendencies, and we'll see, I think on the floor, but we are expecting a great game.

RUTH RILEY: I think if you look at both of our teams, we are pretty physical in the post and we like to score a lot of points on the paint. So I think in that aspect we match up pretty well. Also if you look at our guards, talking about Diana Taurasi, she is a phenomenal freshman. What she has done this year shows how far women's basketball has come, for a freshman to step up like that, and I think she matches up well with our shooting guards, as well.

KELLEY SIEMON: I think that the post play is going to -- I don't think that it will determine the game but it is a very huge part of this game. Like Ruth said, we both score a lot of points in the post and I think that rebounding will probably be a very big key to whoever wins this game, just because, you know, every ball is going to be up for grabs. So I think that's really something that we need to be focusing on, and with the emergence of Diana Taurasi, I think that she has just stepped up unbelievably for a freshman. I don't think I have ever known a freshman to do that before. When Shea Ralph, I guess, went out she has been the go-to player and she has just done an incredible job. They are lacking in no way without those two all-Americans.

NIELE IVEY: I think Sue Bird is an amazing point guard. She does so much for the team. She stepped up also with the injuries that UCONN has suffered this year. I love going out and having a challenge every night. It's going to be a huge challenge for me on Friday because she is such a great guard. She's so hard to defend; she does so much for their team. I love the challenge and I'm just going to step my game up to an even higher level on Friday.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: I think the point guard position is going to be definitely important in the game, as important as every other spot, really. I think Sue Bird is a great player. I think Niele is a great player. I think they are both going to have great games.

NIELE IVEY: She has NBA range. She can shoot over anyone. I think she's just playing really, really great basketball right now. I think UCONN has a lot of weapons that we have to guard. So, I think we are going to be on our toes, making sure we have a hand up in everyone's face.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: I thought she was a big factor in the -- certainly in the second game. She was not in the first game, I think when she fouled out, that was a key point that happened in the game at Notre Dame. But I think she just didn't play enough minutes to get that many points in the game because now with the injury she is playing more minutes and scoring more points. I think probably points-per-minute, she probably has not changed too much.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: Well, I think last year in Philadelphia that was the first time that I ever saw scalping tickets, at such high prices and the arena was full for the Championship game. A lot of times, even though it was sold out, the seats were not always taken because a team would lose and nobody would take the tickets. I don't think there's enough tickets to go around for the host schools, the schools that are in it. We could not come close to meeting the demand for tickets at Notre Dame. We didn't even have a general sale. We could have used probably a couple thousand more tickets than we were allotted. I think we do need to go to bigger arenas. Our game has finally grown to that point and it would be great to see everybody that wants to come get a ticket.

RUTH RILEY: The first USA team I played on after my freshman year Jackie was my roommate. I know her pretty well. She is a great girl and I don't think I ever seen anyone who works as hard as she does on her game. She gets so excited about basketball and means so much to her. I'm happy for her to be able to lead her team here. I know it's something she really wanted and I'm looking forward to seeing her play.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: I think it is an extremely different feeling now. We felt like Cinderella at the last one and just so excited to be there. I think that was the key point for us. We had reached a pinnacle for our program, and that was maybe enough for us at that point. We enjoyed all the surroundings and everything there was to see. We were taking pictures from the head table out to the audience. We just have thousands of memories from that. With this team, they are a little more determined a little more focused. The staff has been there before. Niele has been there before. We got to the locker room in Denver and the first words I heard were, "Two more games" from the team. They have been so focused and they are not just happy to be here.

NIELE IVEY: Personally, I didn't get a chance to play that year because I was out with an ACL injury so I have a different feeling. I was so excited, freshman year to have the team do so well that year but I know sitting on the bench watching them play I just really wanted to get back and contribute physically. I think that's probably what I was thinking after that whole weekend. It was just so exciting and we were just so happy.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: I don't think that the attitude in the locker room was shock or anything like that, actually. I think that we were all just, you know, pretty proud of ourselves. That's a tough place to play, and especially when they had every motivation in the world to beat us, you know, on their home floor and when they got a second chance at us. So, we played a great game. Came down to a couple, you know, errors on our part. Every possession counted in that game, and so it was definitely upsetting, but not something that we really dwelled on very much. We would have loved to have a rematch with them and obviously we have that now, and not to say that, you know, we are out for blood, but I guess we have something to prove, definitely, and I think that in order to get to our Final goal, that needs to be a game that we need to win.

RUTH RILEY: I think in basketball, when you are playing teams, the only relationship you really have is on the court. When we are on the court, it's completely businesslike. I think you have to respect your opponents, definitely to a certain degree and how can you not respect Connecticut for what they have done, the tradition they have built and the players they have. I think as a team, we are really -- like the challenge that they face to us. I think that's what we respect them for.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: Correct me if I am wrong, but I think our number was 800.

DEBBIE BYRNE: That's correct.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: I think she is so successful; one, because she is a very intelligent player; and two, because we have so many great players around her. Ruth is not the type of player who cares if she scores 2 points or 22 points. It does not matter for her; her frustration level is very even keel. If she can come and get six assists, which she did in the regional game, she's actually happier making a great pass. If you watch the games on ESPN, she gets excited when she makes a pass that leads to the basket, but when she scores she just kind of runs down the floor. Our team is not solely based on Ruth Riley last year we were; when Ruth fouled out or there was a problem she was out of the game. This year we have Ratay on the wing, Kelley, Jeneka Joyce on the bench, and I think each of those players feel that they are capable of stepping up and having a big game.

RUTH RILEY: I think if you compare our games from freshman year to this year, you can see a huge difference in the way we have played Connecticut in the past, in this past year. I think the evolution of our game has gone a lot in these last four years, and it's because, you know, coming in as a freshman, Connecticut was the team to beat in the BIG EAST. You know, we wanted to be a contender up there. You know, we've raised our game to those standards.

NIELE IVEY: She basically said everything.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: Whenever a player gets injured, I always think, there's got to be a reason for this, and let's hope that it is a really good one. A couple years later, we found out that the Final Four was going to be in St. Louis so we thought God had a plan for Niele Ivey. He wanted to take her home for the Final Four. In order to get there, she had a lot of work to do and faced tremendous adversity in coming back from that knee injury but she did a great job in rehabing, and it's very, very lonely and takes a lot of dedication to come back from any kind of injury. But she did a great job of coming back and had to go through it again in the semi-finals of the BIG EAST tournament. That time, I don't think there was a reason and we felt like life was being a little bit unfair to her. We again went back to God's plan and said, "This has got to be it. We are going to make it to the Final Four." It's the only way that we can say there was a reason for what happened to her.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: Well, I think people are looking at the seeds and saying here are the two No. 1 seeds playing each other in the semifinal, would it not be great if that was the Final. But when you get to this part of the season, there's only four team game teams left and everybody deserves to be here. Our game, because we have played them before, I think everybody knows that level of play in that game and they are thinking they would like to see that sort of game in a final. That's not to say it won't happen regardless of who wins the other game. But I think people are just going off that game in the BIG EAST tournament and their expectations are high for a great game.

NIELE IVEY: I think that it's just -- it's just exciting to see two -- I know we are just excited, seeing two BIG EAST teams getting a chance to be in the Final Four, I know personally. With Jackie Stiles and Purdue, Katie Douglas, so many great players are in this tournament, I think it's just great to see so many great teams in here.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: Well, they have not lost anything in terms of their talent level. I think they are just playing a few more minutes with the guards. Their rotation is not as deep as it was before, but basically, they still have the same talent level, and they are a great team. They do all of the things they did before very well. The only difference is their depth on the bench is just a little bit less than it was before.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: Well, I think there's always a concern that you won't come back to what you were before; you won't come back 100%. I think it took a long time for Niele to come back from the first one. I don't know that she was playing her best basketball until the very end of the season that she returned in her sophomore year. Came back her junior year and I think really, at that point we felt like she was back to where we thought she would be. She made a much quicker return after the second one, maybe knowing what she had to go through and knowing what to expect in terms of the pain, made it maybe a little bit easier. But you always worry that maybe a player will lose a step or will lose the confidence to go out and play. I think that that's a big hurdle, as well, the mental part of it, and I thought Niele handled that very well.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: Ted Drewes, I took Kelley, yesterday -- she is my roommate. I took her to the Loop to go shopping a little bit, but we were late so the stores were closed. But I'll take her to Central West End, different other sites that are fun.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: You know, I feel like I like the way things are now, but I think we maybe would get more attention if we had our own weekend. I think we get a lot of attention now. We certainly have great crowds and we are followed pretty well. But when you open the sports page, there's a lot to read/, and on Tuesday, there's not going to be really -- maybe Wednesday, there won't be anything to read, as far as I'm concerned, because basketball season is over. I think maybe if we did have different weekend, if they played the weekend before us or if they played the weekend after us, or there was some kind of difference, I think that we would get a little more attention.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: I think it's great that Jackie Stiles and her team are here. I think that's the first time in a really long time that we've had that kind of Cinderella story. I know everybody wants to see her play and is really behind her. I think that that's the thing a women's tournament needs. I think when you saw the regionals at neutral sites that was a big boost, seeing Xavier beat Tennessee. Those things are great for women's basketball. You watch the mens tournament and see Ganzaga, and all-the-teams-everybody-wants-to-rally hype. I think it great for everybody that we have different teams in the Final Four every year.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: This is the first year we have actually had a rivalry, because I don't know that you can have a rivalry until you beat somebody. So I think that this year as a really tremendous rivalry. And yes, I do think because of the importance of the game in the BIG EAST, the game with Notre Dame in Connecticut in the Final was much bigger than the Tennessee game. I think that Tennessee/Connecticut is a great rivalry and has all of stuff rivalries are made up, great wins on the other team, and maybe a little hostility, too.

COACH MUFFET MCGRAW: I think our programs, hopefully, will be similar. I think they have achieved so much, and we certainly have wanted to be where they are, and I think it's interesting that Geno and I got our start from the same person and probably philosophically have a lot of the same ideas. I think it is just recently that we have attained the level of success that they have, and we would really hope to continue that.

RUTH RILEY: I think, you know, the first game, playing at home with the five seniors was just something special for us. We were really excited about that opportunity, and we were playing well up until that point. So, you know, we felt like we had a pretty good chance to give them a good game and we were just excited about what happened there. If you look at what happened in January compared to the BIG EAST tournament, both teams matured a lot. That first game was early in the season, and there's still a lot of work to do in between that time. So the second game was a little more refined, I think. Both teams played -- I think the basketball was better in the second game, if you look at it. The competition was about the same, the competitiveness and the aggressiveness. I think we were just excited about the matchup, playing them out here.