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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 10, 2013Natalie AchonwaSkylar DigginsMuffet McGrawHARTFORD, CONNECTICUT Notre Dame: 75 THE MODERATOR: With Notre Dame's win they get the spot in tomorrow's semifinals, they will face Louisville, and while we wait for the players we will take an opening statement from Coach Muffet McGraw. COACH McGRAW: I thought Natalie's numbers were record setting at Notre Dame, 20/20, it's an accomplishment and tied the record for most double/doubles at Notre Dame but I thought Ariel Braker was the player of the game, she made so many big plays when we needed them, she got put‑backs, made a couple of jumpers, above and beyond her call. She is one of our best defenders and rebounders, but she helped us on tonight's game, and that was instrumental and I thought Madison Cable off the bench was a huge, huge game. Q. Coach, can you talk about the sequence where she hit that jumper and blocked a shot by Smith and that run you had late in the second half? COACH McGRAW: She was all over the run, she did it at both end of the floor, refused to lose. She played more minutes than I hoped she would have to but she got us goin' at both ends of the floor. I think she gave us energy, the intensity we needed and she is so smart, she knew when to switch out and did a great job, that was a key play, I thought that started the run. Q. Coach, you talk about the game, 20/20 was huge, she got every big rebound early on, and they made a run at you early and she came back to make it 55‑51, talk about this year and what it's been like tonight. COACH McGRAW: She's been big for us all year long, in the second half she was 4 or 5 in the field, she didn't miss much, we got down 4 we needed something, we were trying to go inside, especially when Akila McDonald got in foul trouble, I thought that was important, that we go inside. Q. How did you turn things around to give you that 10‑0 run to give you that lead in the first half? COACH McGRAW: I thought Michaela Mabrey when she hit that 3, that was a big part of the run we needed. We got out in transition a little bit but we were "off" for a lot of the game, Kayla McBride was off in the first half and we didn't have our normal good rhythm. I thought the game was a track meet, and we didn't keep up at times. We defensively at times had major breakdowns, but overall I thought we did finally rebound when we had to, and it was closer to halftime in the rebounding so we thought we did a better job in the second half. Q. Muffet, with the exception of UConn and Baylor, South Florida played Notre Dame as close as anybody in the season, is that something that made that possible in your mind? COACH McGRAW: Anytime you make shots you can beat anybody. I think that's the key for any team offensively and they made ten 3s, it was like playing Villanova, we lost 'em for a second and they hit a shot, we had our hands down for a second and they hit a shot. I think they're a great team, they have speed, great team speed, they push the ball well, McDonald has improved, she is big for them inside, you know, they know their role, and they can shoot themselves in or out, yesterday they couldn't make a shot, they saved them all up for today, I guess, and they played well. I think they're a great team. Q. Sky, talk about the game and coach said before you came in that it's like surviving in advance now, now it's just about getting wins, not if they're pretty or not, but if they go well. SKYLAR DIGGINS: Natalie is a great player, like coach said, we were trying to get the ball inside to her, she was great at moving without the ball and she knows her spots and pick and chooses them well, she did a great job at the free‑throw line and getting there and got the big rebounds when we needed 'em. Every game is an elimination game so as long as we're winning. Q. Natalie, how physical was tonight's game under the boards? You had 20 rebounds but did you have to work to get those? NATALIE ACHONWA: Yeah, definitely, especially when a team is quick and their guards come down and rebound like this that, too, I felt sometimes like I was boxing out multiple people and they were aggressive and attacking and I worked for the‑‑ like you saw, a couple I turned over so it was a battle for every one. Q. Natalie, can you talk about what turned around the second half in terms of the shooting? NATALIE ACHONWA: The first half I was trying to force too much, I came back with the ball and I tried to shoot the jumper and I traveled so the second half I worked before I got the ball so it was catch and shoot. The guards did a great job of finding me off plays and padded it inside. Q. Ladies, you look at Louisville, coming up next and they're similar in the fact that Hammond played well inside and how do you prepare for a mirror image type of game? SKYLAR DIGGINS: I think its just focusing on what we do in shoot around and personnel. If we can transfer over from the tips its smart. We were aggressive, like today, we were almost too aggressive and not smart. I think we were running at people that aren't shooters and leaving wide‑open shooters so as long as we stick to our personnel and the time we put in before the game I think we will be all right. Q. Coach, do the uniforms stay or go after this game? COACH McGRAW: It's a team vote, I get no say in that. Whatever they want to do. I'm good with that. It will be interesting, though, I think Louisville has the same uniform so it could be adjusting the TV sets tomorrow when they see that coming. Q. (Away from mic.) COACH McGRAW: You know, I think you saw it with football last year when they came out with all those crazy things and Adidas wanted to get something out that was different, and eye‑catching. I like the color, the lime green, I like that part of it, I think it makes a statement. I think they're trying to get on the cutting edge and I saw a couple of Tweets from kids that we aren't recruiting but players saying wow, love the look of‑‑ there was a picture of all 5 teams in the "New York Times" and young people like 'em. They're younger than I am. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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