don't know pretty good. Yeah, I feel pretty good. That's definitely a fun one
you got any more the spec sheets that I have?
Ready
Can everybody hear us? Yep, we can hear you. Perfect. All right, we're gonna open up the briefs from coach and then we'll take some questions after that.
Yeah, really appreciate you guys jumping on. Great game for us tonight. It was really awesome to see the resiliency and just the connectivity out there in that court. Definitely a game of runs. It was a great environment. Really, really great environment. But felt like felt like we grew a lot from our K State game. You know, one of the biggest challenges or opportunities that we had coming out of that K State game was to close that gap. Mentally when things weren't going well for us and I felt like you know, today we're very resilient. It was the next play mentality, which I thought was was really on point and we knew that you know, we had to make sure we just took this game one day, one game at a time or one possession at a time but physical game both ways. Both teams competed at a high level Illinois got a great squad. Shot as a great coach. So this was certainly a big win for us on the road.
Robin you talk about resiliency. You know those final two, three minutes can you talk about the resiliency you saw in those final stretch to outlast totally get that win? Yeah, you
know, just missing free throws. And you know, there's could have been deflation but you know, we knew that we had had the mindset that you know, we've got to get some stops and, and I thought we did that I thought we other than a couple possessions real late I thought we really rose to the, to the occasion and again, that's something that we've been struggling with is you know, just lender offense dictator defense and felt like our players did a really good job with that.
Oh, he's talking about the game mama had obviously you know, 20 points solid game for her also Haley as well out there.
Yeah. So I thought mama you know she her her vibe, the waist that her leadership is so impactful for team. And I think the way teams choose to defend her at times can be really frustrating. And I think there's been stretches in the past where you know, you could just see in her body language that she was frustrated, missed a couple of shots, had a couple of threes missed a couple at the rim. But I just felt like she was able to recalibrate so quickly, and just have that next next play mentality and really, I thought created some havoc on the defensive end for us. Huge game for Mama thought she really stepped up as a leader in this game hit some big big shots for us.
You know now a couple of times this season coming off of a loss you guys get back in the win column the next game you know what is the bet about this team's mentality coming in after a loss and kind of resetting after that?
Yeah, you know, I just think again, you know, we've we're still finding our way through the season and you know, they just so resilient you know, they come to practice the next day and embrace film. They don't get too high, they don't get too low and just keep going to work. You know, that's their mindset. And I think you know, that's that's the biggest goal for us is just growing and learning whether we win whether we lose let's get better, let's make sure we're trending in the right direction. And certainly this was a game that's you know, means a lot to a lot of people without being a border war. But honestly, this game was about proving something to ourselves. And that was the mindset when we took that cord and I thought they maintained great connectivity. Great resiliency for 40 minutes.
Good you guys have had a quite a few close games like this early on in the season. What were some of the lessons and improvements you think your team made compared to some of those earlier in the season now?
Yeah, you know, I think every game is a little bit unique and different. I mean that you know, some of them early on, it was our, our transition defense that would come back to bite us. I felt like you know, our big emphasis this week was our off ball defense, believe it believe it or not, you know, we felt like our off ball defense. We were just, you know, we were catching our breath. And then we became reactive and in how we would rotate and put out fires instead of proactive and so really trying to maintain that defensive stance off the ball which would allow us to be more aggressive and put up fires when those opportunities came, but I think the biggest thing for me to be honest with you is just the resiliency in those moments when you know, it's it's a you're not going to play a perfect game. There's going to be breakdowns on the defensive end and we're going to miss good looks on the offensive end, but their ability to just stay in the moment and take it one possession at a time.
How important are those leader players in these games where it's you know, kind of just back and forth punch for punch?
You know, I think it's, it's honestly it's Yeah, I think sometimes as upperclassmen You can want it so bad. Sometimes I think just the freshness of you know, young players that are just going out there to play and not overthinking can be really good too. But you know, I think a lot of players stepped up in a lot of different ways. Jud maybe didn't shoot the ball extremely well, but she rebounded really, really really well. I thought she played with great physicality. I thought her voice and it huddles was absolutely on point. And so it takes you know, it's it's it's a team game and that connectivity and the energy that that you show in your body language, those huddle those Hotstar huddles, it all matters and I just think we you know, took a step in the right direction tonight. Anyone questions? All right. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
Thank you. Thanks, folks.
This was to win the pain points is a huge emphasis on that. We got him dealing you have a few questions. I got a couple. Okay, that's wrong. And
I know you've been through a lot. We'll get these out of the way. So I know you talked a lot about the paint and so inside out game you guys in the fourth quarter didn't miss a two point shot until you're really able to get into that paint. Mama was a big part of that. And I mean, you look at them, they spent most of their time in the fourth quarter working behind the three point line. Just how crucial was it to win that paint battle especially in the fourth? Well,
you know, one of the things that he said was we didn't get any second shot opportunities and we didn't we didn't get to the free throw line. And so our mindset was really we want to win those pain points by not defensively for sure not allowing those, the guards to really you know, get get an advantage off their ball screens but but offensively, making sure that we were in attack aggressive mentality. And I thought Molly had some big time finishes in two, three point plays that were just critical for us down the stretch, so really, really happy for her and that our team was, you know, really state aggressive and didn't settle for perimeter shots in that fourth quarter.
So you talked about Mama's big game, it didn't start out very well. I mean, what if six in the first half not a lot of points, but then she kind of like flips that switch. Was there any one thing in particular you saw from her especially at halftime
um, I just felt like, you know, Bob had a really good week of practice. And you know, I think being an upperclassman knew the importance of getting our team back on track. You watch film you're you know, it's film is so hard as a player because, you know, you feel like you're doing one thing and then you watch film, and it's another and we just felt like she could have been a lot more, you know, active with her all off ball defense and put out some fires for us. But offensively you know, just her ability not to get deflated. And I think that's the separator for me when I think of mom in some games past when things weren't going well for her. But I felt like she did a great job probing not picking up the dribble and that second half, and whether it's opportunities to get to the rim she she did exactly that. One
player who we don't talk about a lot so far, Abby fight she had a couple of big shots including like one o'clock wide and down the bank. And that second quarter just what do you see from her coming off the bench this game to kind of keep you guys in and eventually helped take that leap?
Yeah, she is she's got ice in her veins she does get realized and you know, real low and she's a veteran player. That was, you know, Adamsville go to player. So I think she's used to, you know, the pressure that some players might feel. But, you know, I thought she had really big minutes for us say she had some uncharacteristic turnovers. But you know, she'll recalibrate and be better be better because or not because of him, but she'll be better. You know, that's, that's not typical of her. She's got a really high basketball, IQ and, you know, just a couple added up there real quickly for
and then you look at that third quarter. I mean, it's been a problem to Kansas State game, the Virginia game this time, you kind of flipped the script on and you come to doubt down five, and then you just explode in the third quarter. Just what was it like talking to them at halftime and how were they able to translate that out on the court?
Yeah, that was player led, give them all the credit. We've talked about it a lot. Leading up to this game about, you know, the third quarters and when they're not in front of our bench, and, you know, I think as a player, you probably take that a little personal and say, Hey, wait, we don't need you screaming the scouting report at at us like we got it. And so I think they just really challenged each other and upped the ante and I think that was a point of emphasis for them. Player led going out in that second half.
A big part of the game was obviously the road environment. It got pretty loud here from time to time have struggled on the road this year. Not a lot of big statement road wins. This one's definitely going to be one of them. Just how crucial was it to get a big road win, especially in an environment like his border war?
Yeah, I thought it was a great environment. I really did. And it did get really loud. And I just I never felt like our focus wavered. I think more than anything and in the border wars. is obviously really important. But, you know, we had something to prove to ourselves. And that was the biggest, you know, point of emphasis going into this game. And again, the border war is a real thing. I get it. We get it, but bigger than that was something we had something to prove to ourselves that we can stay resilient that we could stick together that we can be tough mentally, physically, emotionally, stay in those moments, and that's probably why I'm most happy for them.
Anything else any other big takeaways when you're looking at the sheet anything?
I mean, our two big keys for this game was when the pain points and you know, we knew that we had to really really battle on the boards. 10 offensive rebounds is more than what we would have liked. We kept talking about the rebounding in every huddle, and just the importance of begun and getting a body we played quite a bit of zone so sometimes that can be a little bit trickier. But I think for the most part, we did a really really good job on the boards when you
look at those second chance points. I mean, they only had five What do you think even though they got those offensive rebounds? How were you able to prevent them from turning that into more points?
Yeah, I think it was just next play mentality. That resiliency, which is huge. We didn't, we didn't get deflated. We didn't exhale, we just kept battling and really proud of our girls for that. Awesome. Thanks. All right. Thanks. I am confused.
