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Junior guard Monica Wright and the Virginia women’s basketball team heads to Los Angeles to compete in its second consecutive NCAA Tournament this weekend. The Cavaliers have a first-round matchup with Marist at approximately 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time (10:30 p.m. Eastern) Saturday that will be broadcast by ESPN2. Wright recently sat down with VirginiaSports.com to chat about Virginia’s No. 5 seeding, what the team needs to do to get prepared for the Tournament and what recently being named to the Wooden Award ballot means to her.
Question: What was your reaction when you found out you were a No. 5 seed headed to Los Angeles?
Wright: We are very excited about the opportunity to play in L.A. We aren’t going to be hitting the beach or anything – we are definitely going to have to be smart and responsible, work hard and stay focused.
Question: Would you have preferred to be on the east coast where more fans can see you or do you like that you are playing out west?
Wright: I don’t really think it makes a difference to us. We are the type of team that understands the responsibilities with playing out west. We are going to play our game and take advantage of every opportunity that we have.
Question: Have you been to Los Angeles before?
Wright: I haven’t been to L.A. but I have been to San Diego. It’s a very lovely place to be – and a lovely place to play! I feel like we all are excited about that. It’s also exciting to have a new atmosphere and a new environment to play in. We are just excited to be playing in the Tournament.
Question: Do you know anything about Marist?
Wright: We got started right away at practice on Tuesday scouting Marist and preparing for them. They are a good team. We also have to be ready for any team on any given night. We can’t take any team too lightly.
Question: You have a potential Sweet 16 match-up with undefeated and top-seeded UConn. Is that something that enters your mind yet?
Wright: We definitely can’t look to far ahead. We have to stay grounded and just focus on playing on game at a time. If you look too far ahead it’s easy to get too anxious. We are all focused on Marist right now.
Question: What do you feel like you need to work on in the next few days?
Wright: We need to focus on defense. The first two practices back have pretty much been defensive-oriented. Pressure is something we have been working on all year long and we need to do some polishing up. We need to play our game. If we do that we will be fine.
Question: Does playing in the NCAA Tournament get any easier the second time around?
Wright: The fact that we have experience under our belts definitely helps. We were there last year so we have an idea about the kind of environment that comes along with playing in the NCAA Tournament. Now it’s our job to let the young ones know what we are getting into. But the majority of the team being experienced is definitely a positive thing.
Question: How does it feel to be one of 19 players named to the Wooden Award ballot?
Wright: It’s an honor and I am excited about being able to sit in a boat with some of the greatest players in the country. It’s more motivation for me to do well in the Tournament and help lead my team to victory.