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NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOURApril 8, 2014Michaela MabreyKayla McBrideMuffet McGrawNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE UConn – 79 THE MODERATOR: We'll open with a statement from head coach Muffet McGraw, then take questions for the student‑athletes. COACH MCGRAW: It's hard right now to remember what a great season this was. But I think that's what we need to reflect back and think about, getting here. Tonight's game was incredibly disappointing for all of us, in particular the seniors. I know how much they wanted it. And I wanted it for them. But Connecticut was‑‑ they just overpowered us. They killed us inside. Their bigs were just too much for us. I thought Stewart was phenomenal. Dolson, 16 and 17 is pretty amazing. I thought we were overmatched in the post. And I thought if they could‑‑ if we could have made them go to their bench a little earlier in the second half, we might have had a chance. I thought that's when we made a run in the first half, and unfortunately they didn't have to go to their bench in the second half. THE MODERATOR: We have Kayla McBride and Michaela Mabrey. Questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Kayla, can you talk a little bit about the dominance that UConn had inside? And would Natalie have made somewhat of a difference in that regard tonight, do you think? KAYLA MCBRIDE: You know, I think that we just came out undermatched. I don't think anything could have changed to change that. They just came out and they went directly in the post, and our help side wasn't there from the get‑go. They got comfortable. They got into a rhythm, and it went downhill from there. Q. For either of you, how much is UConn affecting your shooting? You had stretches where you couldn't get shots to fall. How much was it the ball just not going in, or how much was UConn affecting that? KAYLA MCBRIDE: I think a lot of it was ourselves. I think we were kind of being ourselves, we weren't in the rhythm in the offense, we weren't making the extra pass, we weren't playing the normal way we've been playing the past 37 games. I think that's what made it look so bad. Q. Again for Kayla. As the coach was talking about, is it difficult right now to look back and think about how good a season it is when it ends in this manner? KAYLA MCBRIDE: No, I'm proud of these girls regardless. We've been through so much this year, so much adversity. If you look at what our bench has done this year, I couldn't have been more proud of them. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else or playing with anyone else. Q. Michaela, you held your own with them on the boards for a half, I believe it was 20‑18 at halftime, and they came out and just completely overpowered you in the first five minutes of the second half. What happened that allowed them to just completely do that? MICHAELA MABREY: You know, we really weren't boxing out at all. We weren't getting a body on them. To begin with, they're bigger than us, and I think we tried to make that a point at halftime to box it out and get a body on it. We came out. We really didn't do that. So I think they got mostly their offensive rebounds. THE MODERATOR: Anything further for the student‑athletes? Okay. Thank you, ladies. Questions for Coach McGraw. Q. When you shook hands there with Geno after the game, what did you all say to each other? COACH MCGRAW: I said something like I thought we were playing the Miami Heat for a while; you guys are just that good. What a great season. Things like that. I thought they were just missing LeBron was the only thing they were missing. Q. The shooting, you guys have been shooting the ball so well all season long beyond the 3‑point line, et cetera. What did you see that was not working tonight, and how disappointing when you've been that good all year? COACH MCGRAW: Well, their defense was very good. When you have somebody like Stewart on the perimeter, she's such a good shot blocker, I think that that made it a little bit more difficult. They were looking to double, I thought, a little bit more. The post was stepping out and trying to take the guard, and they had had a lot more size with that. And a little bit of it, I think, was just the bad start, then we were pressing. We were really‑‑ we were just trying so hard, and we went one‑on‑one instead of ‑‑ our game has been team and assists and working the ball together. And I thought we tried to go a little bit too much off the dribble. Q. Geno said before the game you couldn't match up against both Kayla and Jewell. Looked like they just concentrated on taking Jewell out of the game, and they did. Were you surprised by how effectively they were able to do that? COACH MCGRAW: Well, no, I don't think they get enough credit for their defense. They're a good defensive team. And Jefferson is kind of like a gnat. She was really feisty. K‑Mac was able to get her shots, but Jewell struggled a little bit to find her rhythm tonight. And I think you have to credit their defense for that. Q. You battled back late in the first half and I imagine felt decent where you were at halftime. What changed right at the start of the second half when they went on their run? COACH MCGRAW: We made our run when they went to bench. We went to the triangle and two. It was very effective.  We made some shots. I think we got into a little bit of a rhythm on our own. And then the second half they didn't sub. And that was the difference. We couldn't go to the triangle with their starters. We couldn't play them man to man and we couldn't play them zone. So they went off and running. We couldn't rebound. We had no answer, really, for anything they did. Q. Muffet, what does this senior class for you mean to the culture of what basketball is at Notre Dame? COACH MCGRAW: I think they changed the culture, the expectation level. I think they set the bar really high. They've achieved so much in four years, and all of them have contributed a great deal to it in so many ways, on and off the court, with leadership and the basketball part as well. But it's going to be a really hard class to let go of. This was a real emotional one for me. And this group has really meant a lot to me personally, too. THE MODERATOR: Any more questions? Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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