Post Game Press Conference vs Virginia Tech
Opening Statement:
“I appreciate you guys’ patience. I’m really disappointed with our effort tonight. As hard as we work every day, there is no excuse for not competing consistently. I take full responsibility for that. I’m responsible for how we show up as a team and how we compete from the start to the finish of the game. I’ve made excuses just a little bit for why we show up the way that we show up. But we’re not doing that anymore. We have all been given a great opportunity and it is our responsibility to show up and show gratitude for the opportunity that we have been given. So you guys have been waiting for a really long time because we’ve had conversations about that. At the end of the day, we’re representing a fine university and that exudes excellence and the expectation is that, so we have to show up differently.”
On the emotions surrounding the locker room conversations:
“They weren’t heated. I’m not a yeller and a screamer. I don’t I don’t disrespect our kids. I don’t treat them poorly. It was an honest conversation. When you have an outing like that, there are some things that you have to be honest about and you have to confront. So it was an honest conversation.”
On how the team looks forward especially with the addition of Mir McLane:
“We have to play for each other. We have to play in the spirit of Mir, [her] first game, just a few practices in, she left it all out there. That’s the attitude that you have to be competitive in this conference. So if I were her teammates, I would use that as an example.”
On getting Mir McLane able to play:
“Our compliance is amazing. They work really hard, and they’re very smart. I think it’s the fact that they have an understanding of their job, the rules and regulations, and the guidelines. It’s also the fact that although Mir [McLean] played at another university, her minutes were limited and did not have an impact. I think that the NCAA made a fair decision. Her former university was very helpful in that. I think that that’s what this game should be about. It should be about our student athletes and giving them an opportunity. I believe that because of the type of student athlete that Mir is and how she goes about her business of showing up as her best self as a student and also a player that whether you stay or whether you leave is respected and appreciated by people. The University of Connecticut moved with class to give the okay if she had the opportunity to play. I know that it was very helpful in the process. But the reason why we do the jobs that we do, the reason why we show up every day is to give our young people opportunities, and I believe that Mir deserves the opportunity. It’s great that we have her and we’re thankful that we were on the right side of the rules this time.”
On Mir McLane’s reaction on being able to play:
“She was really excited. She is a competitive player. She plays with a lot of energy and excitement and she showed a lot of that today. Eric Baumgartner, our director of compliance, did a lot of work and was happy to give her the news. She was really happy and so were her teammates, and I think that she showed her gratitude tonight.”
On not being able to carry momentum:
“Absolutely but I that’s kind of been our achilles heel all season that we have like these kind of short stints or these droughts where we’re kind of given up plays and we don’t kind of stop the the outpour of shots or execute our schemes and the games kind of get away from the game gets away from us. When you dig yourself a hole like that, it’s just really, really tough to climb out of it. Especially in this conference that’s so competitive. To have that experience with each outing. It takes a lot out of you. I definitely will not take anything away from [Virginia] Tech today. Their kids shot the heck out of the ball and they made some really really really tough shots. So some of it was us not executing our schemes, but also them just having good defense that our offense.”