alright, is it ready? Ready? We're gonna open up the brief seven coach and we'll take some questions after that. I
really appreciate you guys coming out. Obviously coming off a really tough loss and really proud of the resiliency of this group. You know, I thought yesterday I knew coming back that we were going to be a little gas was a pretty fiscal game in Virginia and but I loved their ability to recalibrate and refocus and, you know, we talked a lot about trying to leave the country and weekly improvements and trying to learn from those opportunities and I thought we really did some nice things defensively in regards to our rotations and putting fires out. And that was honestly a really, really big point of emphasis for us. That's to me, where we've just got to continue to grow and get better and I thought they had a heightened sense of awareness. And we're really intentional about better better coverages and spacing and rotations on the defensive and I thought it was really important that we got some fresh legs out there tonight. I thought a lot of players a lot of really good things that we played really unselfish moved the ball well. Did a good job taking care of the ball outside of maybe the first couple minutes and just a good team with Randy
touched on it a little bit, but really the mindset of your players coming off in those couple of losses. You have to see what they do that earlier in the season. What did you like specifically about their mindset coming into the basketball base here?
Yeah, you know, I think we're all in this space. of understanding. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and, you know, just really having laser like focus and really trying to learn, like I said, trying to make lead the country and weekly improvements and not getting too wrapped up in outcomes. Although human nature is when you put a lot of time and effort into your craft, you know, it's hard, but not to get too attached to the outcome and really focus on the process and really try to just get better in all areas. So I think that locker room that gets some great leaders in there and I think just great maturity in that locker room and their ability to keep you know just First things first and keep the main thing the main thing and that's everyday we want to get a little bit better.
Feel getting your first college starts but
I felt really good. I was definitely a little nervous coming out of the game, but just out there. We're all having fun. It's nice I my best friends were on my side. So it was really fun to be
out there. All your says you and all your sister score today. What was that? Like?
Yeah, that was really nice. Just being able to support each other through that and just knowing that we all did that. So that was good.
Coach, you talked a lot over the past couple of weeks about defensive communication and about how our team needed to be a little more direct with their defensive communication. How would you evaluate your team's performance in that regard? Tonight,
so much better. Again? Is there a room for growth? Absolutely. That's so much better. I mean, you could hear them talking. You know, when we talk a lot about giving you a loud command and then the execution and there's no in between. And so, to me that that's something that you've got to be really intentional about spending time on in practice. So it becomes more habit for me and so it's the daily disciplines of creating better habits and that's what we've really tried to focus on honestly within the last couple of weeks knowing that that was a area of weakness for us. I think we've done a much better job with our transition defense than when we started at the beginning of the month of November to where we're at today. And now we're just going to continue to hone in on that and half court defensive rotation and pressure and communication. Robin
and obviously we see Angie up there with the sling after she got injured against Virginia. Do you know how long that she might miss or is
it hard to tell day to day we're still waiting for some results back from the doctors so really unfortunate, you know, I she was playing really well in Virginia. That was we could have really used her in that second half. And I loved just the energy that she was playing with. She was playing with some just bounce and tenacity and grittiness and you know, she she actually injured it getting on the floor for a loose ball. And, you know, I didn't feel like she had been playing at that level and we had some tough conversations. The couple of days leading up to that and again, great maturity and her part to be able to embrace that receive it have little self reflection and make the adjustment and she she Galli That one hurt us for sure. But hopefully so she's nothing too serious and she'll be back before long.
And I noticed you're kind of always one of the more vocal and energetic players celebrating your teammates success. Have you always kind of been that type of teammate?
Yeah, I'd say so. Just trying to warn others around me and try and make them as best they can be with my energy. Ashton, you
had a little bit of a rough start, start the game, couple quick turnovers but you're able to kind of settle in what was going on right on that end. Could you so what was how were you able to settle into a role and kind of really get better as the game went along? Yeah, I
think just getting to reflect after coach gave me a breather and just think back and just kind of settle on. I think maybe trying to force stuff a little too much. So just letting the game come to me, use my teammates and just get in the flow of the offense
that we were able to kind of get so that young talent out there. You know near the end of the game. What do you what did you like that you maybe saw from some players that managed to get out there get some of this today? Yeah.
Well, I thought Hannah had some really good minutes for us. But even going deeper in that rotation, some players that maybe hadn't seen submitted I thought he Okay, really had some nice minutes for us. You know, she's she's still there's a learning curve for her. In in we just need to get her more reps because she's got a really really good feel for the game. You can see that you know, she just can play really well in space. She has a good understanding and feel. So really trying to get her more minutes. I think she does a lot of really good things and got to somehow find a way to keep throwing her out there, you know, even if it's in smaller spans throughout the course of games because I think she can really help us as she becomes more seasoned.
Coach we talk a lot about that young talent Haley Frank just continues to be consistent 18 points nine rebounds, only missed two shots. What's it like to have that consistent rock who's going to be great day in day out?
Yeah, you know, I was just saying before the game I was really impressed with her focus. I just I felt like she was you know going into this game which can be a trap game you know, you're kind of in your feelings and in your you know, own head a little bit disappointed and frustrated. But again, give a ton of credit to these ladies. I mean, their ability to recalibrate and they know the importance of not getting attached outcomes good or bad, but just to really be present be where our feet are. And I just felt like Frankie coming in, very focused. But at the same time, present with her teammates. She just kind of carries herself that way. You know, and just, I mean, every coach would love to have Haley Frank on their team. She does she works so hard. And I think a really good teammate and you know, she's putting in a lot of time like all of these young ladies have but you know that I think we get spoiled with her because we you know, she's been so consistent over the years and, you know, just a great appreciation for how she shows up every day for all of us
a little bit before the season started, but you don't have that kind of rock like Haley to learn from you know, now in your second year, you know, what does that like for you guys and your teammates, you know, younger people on the team?
Yeah, I mean, I think her presence and leadership just shows on the court but I don't think people see like what, what goes into practices and just outside of the locker room and off the course is just such a great teammate and such a great person on top of that and the relationship that she's been able to build with just everybody on on the team is has been really awesome to see and just her personality, personality that shows
you're able to take a couple of big charges during the game where those kinds of Ananda Haley.
Yeah, I'm just learning from her trying to help her out in that aspect of things.
Coach, how would you evaluate Abby's growth as a scorer this farsh score, I believe 13 tonight how would you evaluate your grocery store
at the store? Yeah, yeah. You know, she shoots it at a really high level, high percentage. She's really consistent in practice, you know, just like all of these girls, they get in a lot outside of what's required. And you know, I think she really takes pride in it. She's got a beautiful shot here. I think sometimes she's a little bit too unselfish. And you know, I think we're all feel really confident when she gets an opportunity for catching shoot threes. I mean, she's shooting I think in practice, probably in the upper 40s, maybe low 50s And you think, but what a great teammate because she doesn't force the action and she's just like next play and wants to do whatever she can do to help her team succeed. When
you are playing like that last year had to find your shot at the college level. How difficult is that for a young player to find that shot this early? I
said I didn't find it too hard. I think obviously many people turned it on Frankie and Mama and trip last year and a lot of our our bets that we had so I just got too much, got to my spot and relied on people like moments who who play so unselfishly to find me and just had to worry about knocking down the shot. So very unselfish players. I didn't have to do too much.
Good. You mentioned it being a marathon, not a sprint. And so looking at where your team is, at this point in the end of this this leg of the race, how big is it not only get a win at home, but in blue at fashion to kind of see things working on both ends of the floor and how can you guys take that moving forward?
Yeah, you know, I just I'm proud of their ability not to play the scoreboard, but to really try to play to the standard that you want to play to. And, you know, there I've seen a lot of great things from this group. And again, it's part of it's just getting used to playing together. I think we're trying to play more up tempo, so understanding pace, but also attack. But I think we're all well aware that defensively is you know, our biggest challenge right now and I love the fact we don't we're not fighting it. I mean, we're embracing that we're looking in film and said okay, you know, I gotta get better here. I gotta get better there and they're being really intentional about it. But you know, regardless of that scoreboard, I've said this several times, it's an incredible group. They're such a joy to coach. They set the standard for themselves. It's very player LED. And, you know, I want to support them in a way I can and just continue to, you know, build from where we're at. And I think we've got a chance to do something really special this year. But it's one day at a time. It's got to be that growth mindset that we can embrace. In the good and we've got to embrace adversity and that's hard to do sometimes because you just want it like now. But big picture knowing that we've got a lot of really good pieces offensively and bottom line is when it comes down to defense. It comes down to grit and heart and toughness and trying to tap into that. I thought I saw that at Virginia. We did sustain it for 40 minutes, but we had stretches of in and I felt like we did a much better job tonight maintaining that throughout the course of the game and that's what we got to build on we do that we're gonna put ourselves in a great position.
We'll take one or two more because coach
you talked about that. Adversity. Rebounding has obviously been a struggle for you guys, but you look at this game 49 rebounds to 26 you outscore them 4616 in the paint, just how are you able to control both ends of the floor, especially in the pain area? I
mean, a team like this, we've got size advantage, obviously. You know, I thought I think we did. A good job of offensive rebounding I mean, obviously shot the ball well, so you know, that limits maybe a few of them. I think there's still another level though of pursuing the ball. We've got a couple kids getting back and taking care of transition defense. I think we can be more relentless pursuing the ball but plenty of stuff to work on. Yes, grow excited about it, but plenty of stuff to still kind of hone in on and work on. I think that's another thing that we've focused on a lot over the last week is rebounding. And just the intentionality of either you're gonna get hit or you can hit first you know, who's gonna throw the first punch when it comes to getting the box out? And you know, just the importance of being assignment correct with that. So definitely seen some improvement in that area too. I think there's been a lot of growth. Still a long way to go but a lot of growth and that's the most important thing.
I'm gonna have one more problem
when you see mama built the statue, but that even scoring a point today to have a player like that I can facilitate in so many different ways. How important is that for a team like this?
Mom has been a rock star this year. I'm so proud of her so proud of her. I think she's really finally to the point of feeling comfortable feeling like her voice understanding that her voice really matters, how she shows up the connectivity. It's been huge. And, again, you know, none of us are perfect, you know, she'll have a moment here or there but her ability to recalibrate has been on point this year and that's the thing. She impacts this game in so many ways that doesn't even show up in that stat line. And for her to not get consumed with the offense is huge because she she scores so many points through her ability to you know, create those opportunities for other people and some of her passes just amaze me. She sees the court really, really well. Really, really unselfish. I've seen so much growth in her could be more proud of her.
