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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 7, 2020

Greensboro, North Carolina

NC State - 82, Boston College - 75

THE MODERATOR: I would like to welcome to the stage NC State head coach, Wes Moore, as well as student-athletes Aislinn Konig and Jada Boyd. Coach?

WES MOORE: First of all, what a job Boston College staff and players have done, you know. Believable what they have been able to accomplish this year. I think they definitely deserve to be in the NCAA tournament and play some more games.

First congrats to them. Proud of our kids, the way they responded. We got off to a slow start again and first quarter we gave up a whole lot of points and then in the second quarter we seemed to be able to get some stuff going in transition and get Elissa some touches inside and Ais knocked down some threes. So that gave us momentum going into the locker room at halftime. It was good. We were able to get some people some rest in the second half and not play them quite as many minutes, so I thought that was good as well. Again, we're excited about the opportunity tomorrow.

Q. Ais, what changed in the second quarter? Was it just a matter they hit every shot in the first quarter and they were bound to start missing or did you do something defensively?
AISLINN KONIG: I think they were doing a good job of getting the ball into the post and that is a talented senior there for Boston College who scores really well so switching up the defense and we ended up putting Jada Boyd on her for a little bit and that changed the way she was being guarded and that was able to disrupt their offense.

Q. Jada, obviously yesterday was your first time playing in this event. Was it a matter of getting comfortable and adjusting to the big stage?
JADA BOYD: Not a matter of adjusting. Well, yeah, adjusting, getting my feet wet and trying to get in the improve of things. I'm still growing and still learning so just coming back today and doing it!

WES MOORE: It gave us a big lift on both ends of the court. She did a great job on Guy there in the second quarter and got in front of her some and made it tougher for her to get the ball and offensively she knocked down 7 out of 10 shots. So that gave us a lift there as well.

You know, if we're playing well, I don't touch it a whole lot so yesterday I thought Kayla Jones played really well. The team was playing well, so we kinda let it roll. But, again, Jada Boyd, when she gets an opportunity they makes a difference for us and she did that both ends of the court today.

Q. Ais, guys were down 7 with about 15 seconds left in that first quarter. Then Kai and Kaila hit big threes and obviously in the second quarter you guys exploded and went on that run. How important were those shots in the end of the first quarter to get you guys momentum?
AISLINN KONIG: When anybody hits big shots like that it really excites the team and allows us to get more excited on the floor. We play a little harder we are able to celebrate and. So I think that was the big momentum changer and really got us into the flow.

Q. Coach, in that first quarter when Boston College was playing really fast and it seems like the team was struggling defensively, are you expecting them to kinda just -- eventually the defense is going to tighten up or are you actively thinking this is something that might go on for 40 quarters. So what are we going to have to do in quarters two, three and four?
WES MOORE: Again, Elissa was having a hard time getting around Guy, so we thought Jada Boyd with more athleticism and length could be effective so we did that.

I've got confidence we're going to eventually start hitting some shots and gettin' some stops. Boston College had a great fourth quarter as well, shot the ball really well. They're capable of doing that. They got a lot of weapons, both their posts can score. They got two, three guards shooting 35% or so from the three and they make it tough. Again they've got a lot of balance. Again, you know me, I never panic, I'm patient, cool. Again, got a lot of confidence in them that they can come back and turn things around.

Q. Wes, you mentioned earlier in your opening statement but how big is it to have them fresh for that third game in three days?
WES MOORE: By having such a strong second quarter we talked at halftime let's win the third quarter. If we win the third quarter we are in a position to do those things some so we were able to do a good job in the third quarter and, again, Boston College, they have no quit. They kept coming at us which made me a little nervous over there. But definitely wanted to try to get some people off court and, again, some people that went in, Jada Boyd played extremely well when she went in. So that allowed us to get both of them some rest because we played Jada at both positions today. That's big. You've got to go out and play. Both teams will be excited tomorrow and have a lot of adrenaline. So how much of a difference it makes I don't know. But, hey, did everything we could to make sure we're set up and ready to go.

Q. Wes, knowing the reputation Boston College has for three-point shooting, especially after what they did to Duke last night. They were eight for 15 but four of those threes came in the last two minutes of the game. What were you able to accomplish squaring the three-point shooters that other teams weren't able to do?
WES MOORE: I don't know. We were trying to get our post up there to make the guard with the ball swing out a little bit wider and give our guard time to get through it. They hurt us on the roll some when we did that and obviously Guy being so effective on the block makes you have to play it a little bit more honest, but, again, our kids did a pretty good job, really, most of the game of defending the pick on the ball. That's going to be really important tomorrow, too, because I know Florida State does that quite a bit as well. We've got to mix it up, try to keep 'em off balance some and hopefully we can continue to do a pretty good job against that.

Like I said, Boston College they get hot, sometimes it's tough.

Q. Ais, how are you balancing the sense of urgency as a senior and enjoying the moment?
AISLINN KONIG: Winning is a lot of fun so I guess it's trying to make sure the urgency doesn't turn into getting out of control and really staying patient and running the offense and finding good shots. Then celebrating the big moments when my teammates get to hit big shots or Jada has a big game. Those are the way I enjoy it as a senior.

Q. Jada, would you say that this is the longest basketball season -- you're a freshman, so how do you feel about the length of the season?
JADA BOYD: I feel great.

Q. Not tired?
JADA BOYD: No.

Q. For all of you, first, ACC title game in ten years. Just comment on that.
WES MOORE: Yeah, you know, really not that excited about that. What I would like to do is obviously try to finish it off. It's going to be really tough. Florida State has had a great year and they're playing well down the stretch.

You know, this isn't the time to sit back and evaluate your accomplishments. Gotta keep preparing, keep going, obviously after this game tomorrow the players are going to get a break for a few days and that will be good for them.

Right now is not really the time. I told the team in the locker room afterwards, let's don't spend a lot of time thinking about all the outside stuff, let's focus on the scout, the film, the preparation, like we've done all year long and get ready to play one more game. That's the important thing right now, the preparation, focusing on that and not wearing about the implications of the game. There will be plenty of time to do that later.

That being said, I would love nothing better than for these players but also our fans to be able to enjoy a championship. Like I said, we got work to do and we've got to focus on the game itself but, yeah, we understand.

AISLINN KONIG: I think he summed it up pretty well. As a player in the last four years we've kind of came up short the last two at least, and it's exciting to be able to be in this position to really capitalize off of our capabilities as a team and the potential that we have for the rest of the postseason.

JADA BOYD: I'm just excited to get there and get it done.

Q. Coach, what would it mean for this program if you can finish this off and get over that hump? I think it's since 1991 so what would it mean to get a title?
WES MOORE: I think maybe 1990 even, but who's counting? You saw the fans, the crowd out there. There was a lot of red! They've been awesome. We sold out several games this year down the stretch and our season ticket sales are, like, seven times what they were a few years ago. So we got a lot of momentum and excitement and our fans are awesome so we would love to do that. Also for the players. It's not easy doing what they do. Obviously they're students and there is a lot that goes into that, but also just the demands we put on 'em, the film, the scout, the practice, whatever, walkthroughs.

It's a lot of work. So you would love for them to be rewarded like that. It would mean everything, as far as, you know, our program and our fans. But like I said, now's not the time really to sit back and evaluate that. We still have some work to do.

Q. Coach, you mentioned the scout and the film. You guys played Florida State so long ago. Do you watch that film or more recent games or a little bit of both?
WES MOORE: Tonight we will watch recent games and tomorrow morning we will watch our game clips, and, again, we try to cut those down to where we can show them in 10 or 15 minutes. It is tough, you know, so some teams don't shootaround maybe or whatever, but we usually do a walkthrough so we're going to have to get up pretty early in the morning so hopefully we will get in bed at some point after film and then we will walk through what Florida State runs and what we want to do against them. Again, they're going to get three days off after tomorrow and they can rest then. But we got one more to go.

Q. Quickly, Coach, big picture with the parity we have seen across the board, Duke the ACC has been underrated this year?
WES MOORE: We went to an 18-game schedule because of the ACC Network, yeah! Consequently, we knocked each other off, you know? So it makes it a little bit tougher when you're playing such good teams not night in, night out and you knock each other off a little bit. I think it's a great league, you see this tournament, look at the upsets. You can't sleep on anybody, and I know we're not supposed to be in the big three, thanks for the motivation there, we survived it!

Again, though, yeah, I think this league is brutal when you start preparing night in and night out. It's a bear.

THE MODERATOR: We will see you tomorrow in the championship game. Thank you.

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