BIG 12 CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 11, 2022

Brandon Schneider

Aniya Thomas

Zakiyah Franklin

Kansas Jayhawks

Postgame Press Conference

Oklahoma - 80, Kansas - 68

MODERATOR: We're ready to start our conference with the Kansas Jayhawks. We've got one participant up here, Aniya Thomas, and Zakiyah is here, Zakiyah Franklin. We didn't get the name until later. It's my fault. I apologize. And Brandon Schneider, you are the coach, so we'll let you start with an opening statement.

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: It's Zakiyah Franklin. I thought we competed a lot harder in the second half. I thought OU played with a lot more juice than us in the first half. You just can't give a team 35 extra possessions, get outrebounded 14 just in the first half, give up 18 offensive rebounds for the game. That's not a formula for winning.

MODERATOR: We'll take questions for our student-athletes or for the coach.

Q. Aniya, in the fourth quarter you had 13 points, all 13 of your points in the fourth quarter. You guys closed within six. What's the mentality at that point as you feel it getting closer and closer?

ANIYA THOMAS: The mentality was just to attack, and we needed a spark to start scoring, because we had a hard time trying to get us back into it, get everybody involved. We just needed a spark, and that was the spark. But I wish it was more.

Q. Coach, this is one of the first tournaments that's in-person after having a great regular season, and really the postseason is just beginning. How does it feel to be in Kansas City and seeing everybody come out and support?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: It was a great atmosphere. We loved having the tournament in Kansas City. We're disappointed we're not going to be here longer.

Q. What do the next couple days look like for you guys as you wait for Selection Sunday?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: That's a good question. We were not planning on going home, but that's the case now. So I think when we get back to the hotel here as a staff, we'll meet and discuss it.

It does give the players a little bit of time to rest, as we know that Monday, Tuesday, depending on where we go in the bracket, will be extremely hectic days.

Q. Zakiyah, what do you think was the difference for you guys in the second quarter after that 13-3 start?

ZAKIYAH FRANKLIN: Honestly, what Coach said. We wanted to come out with more juice. Felt like they came out with more juice in the first half, and just wanted to stay aggressive and get off to a good start.

Q. Either Aniya or Zakiyah, what changed in that -- you mentioned a little bit just about second quarter, just making two of your guys's final 14 attempts of the first half. What changed with what you guys were seeing defensively from them?

ZAKIYAH FRANKLIN: Defensively, it was pretty much the same thing. They played the same way. Like we said before, we just wanted to come out and be aggressive and get the ball in the paint, get paint touches, and hopefully that does something good for us.

ANIYA THOMAS: We had a greater sense of urgency in second half. Basically we knew we were supposed to come out and play hard -- they came out and played hard in the first, we didn't, but we picked it up. That's how we should have played the whole game, but stuff happens.

But we just had a greater sense of urgency and came out harder. I wish it was more we could have done. But the first half, we just lost in the first half, and then we just had to go hard in second half.

Q. Coach, how proud are you of this team for what they've accomplished in the regular season?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: I'm extremely proud of them. I think of our eight losses -- of our nine loss, eight are to teams who are projected 4 seed or better. So that's top 16.

Prior to today we hadn't lost a game in six weeks to anybody who wasn't in the top 10. Only other loss was at K-State when they were in the top 25.

So I'm proud of what these guys have achieved. Taiyanna Jackson broke a 30-year-old record today with 90 blocks. She had, prior to today, 304 deflections on the season.

So there's a lot of things that can be celebrated with this group, whether it be the team or in particular individuals. But I know that it stings today, and hopefully that will be fuel for not wanting to feel this very quickly in the NCAA Tournament.

Q. Coach, what is that mindset heading into the NCAA Tournament? You're going to use this loss to kind of fuel the push here?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: I think we have to look to the film and we have to understand that there was some self-inflicted wounds in particular in the first half in regards to rebounding. Rebounding has been a real predictor for our success this season, and when we've not been competitive on the glass, most generally we've come up short.

Q. Brandon, what's the challenge they present? In the second half when you're able to finally shut them down in the perimeter, and then they're using that motion and getting those back cuts and getting those layups?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: Well, I thought we -- credit them for, again, just the energy and juice that they played with. I thought everything they did today they did really hard. They cut hard, they drove it hard, they sprinted hard in transition. They went after offensive rebounds and loose balls hard.

But I'd have to look at the film, but I feel like we made some errors and did not rotate defensively as we would have liked on some of the layups that you're referencing.

Q. Coach, you talked about the difference in terms of rebounding and the offensive rebounds. You turned a 12-1 offensive rebound deficit at the half to pretty much even before the very last few possessions. What was the difference in the second half able to get on the offensive rebounding a lot better?

BRANDON SCHNEIDER: Play harder and decide that you want to be a competitor.

MODERATOR: Okay, guys, good luck in the NCAA.