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NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOURApril 6, 2013Skylar DigginsKayla McBrideMuffet McGrawNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA THE MODERATOR: Joining us now on the dais is Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw. We'll have student‑athletes Skylar Diggins and Kayla McBride. Questions for the student‑athletes. Q. You have an incredible basketball resumé. There's one thing missing from it, and that is the national championship. How much would it mean for you to get two more victories and win your first national title? SKYLAR DIGGINS: It would mean a lot‑‑ I say this over and over‑‑ not only to me but to our team and our program, the city of South Bend who has been supporting me my whole life, the university, Coach McGraw. It would just mean a lot, so many things so much bigger than myself. And the opportunity is here now. And, like I said, I'll keep saying it: We're going to leave it all on the court and try our best to get to that position where we can fight for a national championship. Q. Both players, this is obviously the fourth time you've played UConn. You know them so well. Have you found it more or less difficult to pay attention in the scouting report and focus in on what you have to do as opposed to a team that maybe you hadn't seen before? KAYLA McBRIDE: I don't think there's that much change. I think there's a few things here and there. We see on film what's wrong, we adjust from there. They couldn't have changed that much in about a week and a half. So we just try to go out there and play hard and play with intensity. I think it makes it‑‑ I think we pay attention more now than ever. I think you're at the point of the season where every detail matters even more. And we know so much about them, and likewise with them for us. But we just have to make sure we come out and still execute our scout defense and our keys to the game. Q. Can you talk about the level of confidence that you guys have playing against UConn, especially you won seven out of eight, four straight? KAYLA McBRIDE: You know, UConn is a great team. I think we just go out there, we have confidence in ourselves. I don't think that their games really matter. This 40 minutes matters the most out of any other game this year, and that's how we're looking at it. SKYLAR DIGGINS: I agree. Q. You and Kelly go back to senior All‑Star games, U.S.A. Basketball. Could you talk about the last four years, on‑court battles, maybe how ferocious they've been, and the respect you have, both ways, you and Kelly have for each other? SKYLAR DIGGINS: She's a good player, one of the hardest workers I've ever played with and somebody that never stops. She's like the Energizer Bunny. I think she's fun to play with because you love when teammates go out and just play as hard as they can every possession. That was my experience with her. Q. Skylar, I want to get a sense for the winning attitude, the mantra that you carry, along with the team. Where did that start for you, how long ago, and what's helped you progress to where it's at now? SKYLAR DIGGINS: When I was at a very young age my dad tried‑‑ he was super aggressive with me. He was in sports, and he kind of‑‑ my mom used to say how rough he used to play with me and what have you, but he was very competitive. And then my mom, she never played basketball. She was a cheerleader, gymnast. But if we played card games, if we played Monopoly, if we played anything, we weren't stopping until she won. And she always encouraged us to just try our best and you don't have to be the best but you have to be your best. And she was so competitive in everything she did. So kind of both of my parents. Q. Who is the most well‑known person to reach out to you this week to wish you luck? SKYLAR DIGGINS: Well, I had talked to Lisa Leslie. I talked to Nancy Lieberman. And on Twitter, Trey Songz told me good luck. I thought that was pretty neat. For those who don't know who Trey Songz is, he's a singer. Q. Skylar, half the state of Connecticut is debating how deep you are in UConn's head now after all that's happened. Is that something that you like to plant a seed of doubt in the opponent, or is that something you don't even care about? SKYLAR DIGGINS: Yeah, I don't think it matters. Not to me. I think right now I don't even think the past three games matter. I don't know if the tables have turned maybe because they're a team, when you play against them, they can get in your head. Because anything about Connecticut basketball, you think about the championships and All‑Americans and what have you, and I think we've overcome the intimidation factor. I don't know how you feel K‑Mac. KAYLA McBRIDE: I have to agree, we have a lot of confidence in each other, just a belief we can win. Not just with UConn, it's been every game this year. We've just taken that momentum and just kept playing hard. Q. Everybody talks about how this game might be different. I'm wondering if, Kayla and Skylar, maybe you could talk about how the last three were similar. Did they play out in a similar way? Were the matchups the same? Was there a lot of difference between the last three games played? And as Jeff was saying, UConn has only lost 11 games in five years and seven of them to Notre Dame. Is that incredible to you guys after what UConn has accomplished? SKYLAR DIGGINS: What was the first question? I'm sorry. It was like two long questions. Q. Skylar, how similar were the first three games? SKYLAR DIGGINS: Okay, gotcha. I think all three of the first three games were decided within the last couple of minutes. And I think both teams had an opportunity to win the game. I was proud how my team just made big plays towards the end. If you remember in Storrs with Ariel Braker with the block, and she got the final rebound to finish the game, and then South Bend, the three overtimes, just making plays, K‑Mac with the 3, and to put us into overtime and the countless amount of plays made in the three overtimes. And then finally in the Big East Tournament, the last defensive play that our team had and the presence of mind to sprint down the court after we got the steal, make the layup, and then sprint back down and match up. I think the game was decided in the last couple of minutes and just our ability to make plays. Q. Has it been total business for you, or have you had a chance to soak up a little of the culture? If you have, why is that important to get some little breaks in from the grind? SKYLAR DIGGINS: We talk about that all the time. This is a business trip for us as far as basketball goes. But we want to enjoy this experience. This is so much fun being a part of this team. We're in such a blessed position to have the opportunity to play for another championship. And this is an exciting time for me. I'm a senior, and I keep saying I want to soak it all in. I know the team went to Bourbon Street saw a little bit. And I was saying how we ate the crawfish, it was looking back at us. Had eyes in it still. The food is great, the people have been great. It's been a fun experience so far. Q. Skylar, when you talk about that intimidation with UConn, what did it take for you guys to get over that and put together this run you're on right now? SKYLAR DIGGINS: When you're playing against them you can't just focus on them and the front of the jersey. You have to really focus on what you want to do and executing your game plan. And I think we've been the aggressors for the most part the last couple of times we played them. And I think that helps us, when we're just worried about us, what we're going to do, and what we need to do to win the game. Q. Sky, two years ago you guys were in this position they're in having lost three times to them in the regular season and beat them in the Final Four. What was the mentality for you guys? Was it, okay, we know we can still beat this team and they're sort of in the position now where they've lost to you three times this year and now they're trying to knock you off for the first time? SKYLAR DIGGINS: For us, we felt we had nothing to lose. I think that was our mindset that we play, we're the underdogs, we had nothing to lose. When we come into this game, I don't feel like we're the underdogs. I still feel like Connecticut is America's team and they're going to cheer for them whether we beat them 20 times in a row. I think we approach this game with the mindset that we can beat them because we have before. At the same time they're a great team. And we didn't win by 20. Like I said, the game was decided within the last couple of minutes. So if we're able to make some runs of our own, sustain their runs, make big plays and believe in ourselves, fight adversity, make some big plays at the end of the game, we'll be fine. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. We'll take some questions for Coach McGraw. Q. Muffet, Skylar said their attention level has been good. How would you grade it over the last two or three days? COACH McGRAW: I think it's been really focused. I think it's a lot of intensity. I think there's a lot of awareness of the scouting report and what we're trying to do. Q. Coach, Skylar came to you as a great high school player, but she wasn't a great player at least to the level she is now the first day on campus. How does she become the player that she is now? COACH McGRAW: She's somebody that's a student of the game. She loves to watch film. We watch a lot of film. We talk a lot. We draw stuff up on the board together. We kind of talk about ideas and different things and experiences. And I like to watch the game from the point guard perspective. So I stand at half court so I can be in her ear I think the entire practice and what are you seeing and what do you think and what could you have done differently here. So I think a lot of back‑and‑forth conversation about things and here's some good things that you did, here's some things you need to work on. And just also having Niele Ivey on the sideline as a former point guard going through the same thing. I think between the two us we've done a lot with her. Q. I know you've answered various versions of this question over the course of the year, but here you are in the Final Four with three Big East teams here. Talk about the pride of the conference and obviously the mixed emotions of this is it. COACH McGRAW: We certainly think the Big East is the best conference in women's basketball. We've proven it this year to have two No.1 seeds, and then Louisville join us in the Final Four is a great accomplishment for the league. It's great that we're doing it in the last year together. I think it's a fitting ending for us to go out in a big way, and we're really proud of that. I think the Big East has elevated our team and our program. Since we joined the conference we've really become one of the nation's best teams. And so it's a little sad to see its demise, but we're looking forward to big things for us, too. Q. Muffet, why have you and Geno stayed civil when other coaches in this situation may not be so just because of how the rivalry has been, how heated the games have been? I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it seems to be stability and like between the two of you. Is that correct, and, if so, why? COACH McGRAW: Well, I think I don't really read anything that he says. I think that helps. I try to stay away from anything that's controversial. He would love to try to get some things going, I think. But it's really not in my nature to go back and forth like that. So I think we do remain civil. I think having Philly as a common denominator‑‑ I think we both understand each other. Q. Muffet, how much has the dynamic for UConn changed in the last few weeks with them playing Moriah Jefferson as much as she has this week and the emergence of Breanna Stewart? COACH McGRAW: Yeah, I think both of them are playing much better. And I think the expectations are high coming in for someone that's ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the country. Everybody expects that you're going to come in and be a great player right away. And different kids respond to that differently. It takes some of them longer. We were fortunate with Jewell Lloyd that she was able to come in, really make that statement, and join the starting lineup immediately as one of our best players. So I think they've come a long way. And they're playing really great basketball right now. I think Stewart, to be the most outstanding player of the regional tournament, that's quite an accomplishment for a freshman. So I think they're definitely playing better now and playing probably like everyone expected them to at the beginning of the year. Q. Would you speak to Louisville and what qualities they have that allowed them to get this far? COACH McGRAW: I think confidence would be the keyword for them to go into Baylor‑‑ that game, and just shoot the ball as well as they did. And Shoni Schimmel is a very confident lady, as the leader of that team, and I think they have a little bit of a swagger to them. And I think that's something that you need when you're playing against a team of Baylor's caliber. Q. Two years ago you guys were in this position UConn was in having lost to them three times and beat them in the national semifinals. This year is a little different because every game was down to one possession or triple overtime. Mentally, how is it better to have your team able to focus to maybe beat a team a fourth time since all three games were so close‑‑ I think two years ago the teams were a little more distant, that, okay, maybe there's a little confidence UConn had that they could still beat you? COACH McGRAW: I think we came out of each game, with, wow, we didn't play well. Here's some things we can do well. Here's a some things we can do a lot better. I think we learned a lot from each game because they were so close. So I don't think we have that feeling of we've beaten them so easily, because certainly it wasn't an easy game. So I think it's a different mentality than it was two years ago. Q. Muffet, could you talk about the vibe of this Final Four. Lindsay Gottlieb joked that that game tomorrow night is the undercard because you guys have played so many times in such tough games. But you had good things to say about Cal when you played them at the end of last year. Are you surprised to see them here? What do you think about sort of the vibe of this Final Four grouping? COACH McGRAW: I'm not at all surprised to see Cal here. Last year I thought they were severely underseeded to be in the 8‑9 game. We just barely beat them at home in a great game. And I told her next year they'd be a top 10 team for sure and certainly a team that's on the rise. And they've really exceeded the expectations in just her second year. I think it's exciting for them first time to be here. I don't know the vibe. I don't leave my hotel room much. I don't know what the vibe is on the outside, but I think that the game between us and Connecticut is such a big rivalry game in the country, that, sure, the national‑‑ ESPN and everybody's pretty excited about having that game on TV. And it is a sell‑out. So I think it will be a great game. Q. Muffet, you say you don't read much what Geno says, which is probably a good thing. About a month he was addressing a Chamber of Commerce breakfast in the state, and he told the audience that there was no way that Notre Dame was going to beat UConn a fourth time, and pretty much guaranteed that they were going to win the game. Did that get back to you? COACH McGRAW: No, the guarantee for these championships, ‑‑ and so that was a great motivational speech that I'd never have to give to my team. So I think that was something that we did see. Q. Muffet, at the beginning of the year you talked that you liked this team, but you did say you didn't expect, I shouldn't put words in your mouth, but I wonder if where they are has turned out to be a surprise based on where you thought they would be at the beginning of the year? COACH McGRAW: I thought after the Baylor game I changed my whole thinking on this team. I came out of that game. We lost the game. It was relatively close. And I thought we played really well, did some really good things. And so I gained a lot of confidence coming out of that loss. And I really looked at the team a lot differently and where we could be. We went from there to play Texas A&M in a tournament in Vegas. And I thought they were a great team. And we managed to beat them. And coming into early January and beating Connecticut in the Storrs first game. And I think from that moment on, we felt totally different, like we got here a lot earlier than we thought we would. I think our expectations changed in that time. Q. What did you saw on this team that made you feel like that? Was it something they were doing on defense or just a mindset? COACH McGRAW: I think a little bit of both. I think the mindset was there, the confidence. I think that's what we saw that we went in, we executed what we needed to. We made shots when we needed to. And I think certainly Jewell Lloyd had a lot to do with that. I think early on Kayla McBride. You knew Skylar was going to be there. You expected big things from her. But to have the rest of the team step up, I think that was the big difference. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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