SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2021

Kyra Elzy

Kentucky Wildcats

Postgame Press Conference

Georgia 78, Kentucky 66

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you for joining us this afternoon. We'll take questions.

Q. Obviously you guys got off to a really slow start in the first half on offense, just were kind of playing from behind after that. What do you think caused the problems on offense in the first half?

KYRA ELZY: I thought Georgia started off extremely aggressive with us, made us play faster than we wanted. We settled for some quick outside shots early instead of playing downhill. We were one shot and out.

Q. There have been other games where you got behind, especially during the second half. You've been able to make the comeback. What was the difference today? Seemed like you never could quite break the 10-point scoring margin.

KYRA ELZY: I thought we clawed our way back in the third quarter. But at the end of the day we just couldn't get some crucial stops to get over the hump. Either it was a jump ball that went their way or a foul, we put them on the free-throw line.

I think the last possession we had played great defense toward the end of the third, gave up an offensive rebound, which I thought was a big momentum break for us.

Q. The season's not over. You still have a couple weeks before the NCAA tournament starts. What are you going to tell your team when you get back to the locker room? What is the next couple of weeks going to look like for y'all?

KYRA ELZY: We'll go back and watch this game film, learn from it, see what adjustments we need to make. As a coaching staff, we still do have the NCAA tournament. Right now, just focus on Kentucky. Go back and fine-tune some things offensively, then clean up what we need to clean up defensively, as well.

Q. Knowing that the NCAA tournament is in your future, does a loss like this today in the quarterfinal round provide the team with more motivation? Do you as a coach find more motivation in going out in the quarterfinal round for the NCAA tournament?

KYRA ELZY: Yes, we'll definitely be motivated. Obviously we came here to win. It's not the outcome that we wanted. But credit to Georgia today, they played extremely well.

Like I said, we have to learn from this. We still have games left to play. We will be an NCAA tournament team. We just got to get better from here.

Q. It seemed like you could have used another big body down low. This was the second game in a row we didn't see Olivia Owens. Yesterday you said coaching decision. Any way you can elaborate on that a little bit more?

KYRA ELZY: No. Exactly what I said yesterday: it was a coaching decision. I'll leave it at that.

Q. The SEC portion of the schedule is a grind. Now you get into the tournament where you play back-to-back games. You have a little bit of a break. Is it good to have a little bit of a break before the NCAA tournament starts? How do you use that to your advantage?

KYRA ELZY: Absolutely. It's a mental reset. It's time that you can take off. We'll get some treatment, let our bodies heal from the grind of the SEC season and the tournament.

But a chance to refocus our minds and put our eyes back on the prize of the NCAA tournament. This is the time that you take to reflect and see what changes that you want to make heading into the NCAA tournament.

Q. Rhyne of course with 33 today, Chasity in double figures. You have a balanced team. When you don't get a lot of scoring production from other places, it seems to hurt the team. How important will that be going forward in the NCAA tournament when you know teams are going to focus on Rhyne primarily?

KYRA ELZY: It will be. But, you know, we've talked about it, a balanced scoring attack. That's where I'll do a better job of trying to get other people involved in the offense, out of timeouts, dead balls, make those people integral parts as well.

When we are playing our best, we're pushing the ball in transition, we're moving the ball, making the extra pass. Our assists are usually high when we're scoring at rapid pace. Today we just did not do that. But we'll go back to work on it and get better before our next showing.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.