NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - MISSOURI STATE VS OHIO STATE

March 18, 2022

Amaka Agugua-Hamilton

Mariah White

Sydney Wilson

Missouri State Bears

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Missouri State. Coach will be joining us shortly. Joined by two senior guards, Sydney Wilson and Mariah White.

Congratulations on the win. We'll open up the floor with questions.

Q. Mariah, you are a graduate senior that picked this place for this reason. Sydney, you chose to come back next year. Talk to us about those decisions, why you chose to be a Lady Bear.

SYDNEY WILSON: I chose to become a Lady Bear basically because of the culture that was set here. The experience that they've had inside the NCAA, the championship culture, the girls, the coaches, just the example that they set for any team.

MARIAH WHITE: I decided I wanted to come back. I wasn't finished. I love these girls, playing with them, I love the coaching staff. The whole university, it's family, so I'm not ready to leave it yet.

Q. Your home state university in Ohio. Do you know some of these players? How much do you know about the Buckeyes?

MARIAH WHITE: Honestly I know as much of the scout that we went over. I just follow the team I'm on. I do know one girl on the team. Other than that...

Q. Buckeye fan growing up?

MARIAH WHITE: Yeah. I mean, when it comes to like football, Buckeyes against Michigan, yeah, I'll always go for Ohio State, of course. So yes (smiling).

Q. Sydney, you've been here a lot of times now. What made last night a little different?

SYDNEY WILSON: Well, this is the first year they had the first four games. That was kind of special we get to be written in the books for that, be accomplished for that.

We fought through so much adversity this season, losing really two important people in our program. But we're still continuing to fight and come together.

Last night's win was just amazing. So many fans and family come and support us. Everyone played so well. It was really fun.

Q. What about battling through all the foul troubles there, in the second quarter especially, the aggressiveness that Florida State showed?

SYDNEY WILSON: Yeah, the refs really weren't on our side. We're kind of used to that, so it's okay.

We stuck together and fought. Mariah gave us a big spark to lead us into the half. We rallied together. Even if it's still not going our way, we still have to play our game. Control what we can control is what Mox always says. We just came out.

Q. You've been on this team for a bit. There hasn't been too much roster turnover until this year. What has Mariah brought to you guys?

SYDNEY WILSON: I love her. She's a great player. I'm so glad she came. She's a dog. As you saw last night, five steals, she can defend the best player. Her pole jumper is crazy. When she's sitting out taking a break, you can still hear her on the bench. She's screaming for everyone, everyone's biggest cheerleader.

Q. Jen and Mya last night. A lot of big plays. What has it been like to watch them grow?

SYDNEY WILSON: Yeah, obviously great to see them compete against each other and play. They did amazing last night, as you probably saw from the bench's reaction after every point they scored.

I love seeing Jen grow. She's been through so much with her knees and stuff. She definitely has stepped up after losing Jazz and Abby. Mya came in, got some big boards, big points, too. She's also stepped up a lot and helped us out.

Q. Mariah, playing with Sydney, having to play every position on the floor...

MARIAH WHITE: Honestly it's commendable. To see any role, anytime she's told, You're going to be playing this person, you're going to be on the block. Okay, we're good. It's nothing to her. It's amazing to see. To be able to be behind her while she leads us through any position.

Q. Sydney, what has it been like for you? You had to step up in so many different positions this year. What are those conversations like with coach?

SYDNEY WILSON: Definitely after losing those two that we lost, I had to step up a lot and play the 4, sometimes even the 5. Coach Mox is really hard. You got to guard the post. Okay. I step up to the challenge, accept it.

It honestly makes me feel really special that she can trust me to play basically any position, essentially play 40 minutes. I really like it. It's fun.

Q. Mariah, how did you feel last night? That was your first post-season game. Were you nervous going in?

MARIAH WHITE: I think I was a little nervous. I think it might have showed the first half. But once we settled in, I think us as a whole, as a team, we had to settle in.

I kind of talked about it yesterday, like having a win like that, whether it's the first four, the first round game, it solidifies we're here for a reason, we're going to get this done, we're not just here to be in the tournament. No, we're here to win.

Me individually, you're on this team that has been to the NCAA for all these years, but you're here to contribute to this team, too.

Q. Sydney, how much adversity you have dealt with over the season, especially last night with the foul trouble. You keep overcoming that. How does that help you now that you're in the tournament?

SYDNEY WILSON: Yeah, it definitely helps us. No matter what we face, we realize if we just stick together, we can overcome anything, whether it's refs, injuries, anything. We have such a deep bench, very versatile team, no matter who is in foul trouble, the next person is ready to step up, for sure.

Q. Being in the first four, getting a game under your belt this year already, does that help you moving into tomorrow where Ohio State hasn't played yet?

SYDNEY WILSON: Yeah, I honestly feel like it kind of gets the jitters out for our first-timers, especially me, too. You get to be underneath the lights, fans, arena, nets. It definitely give us (indiscernible) to build.

THE MODERATOR: Sydney, Mariah, thank you so much for your time.

MARIAH WHITE: Thank you.

SYDNEY WILSON: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Coach Mox.

We were just together 12 hours ago postgame. Instead of asking you for an opening comment, let me ask you this. Now that you slept on it, had a chance to watch some film, anything that stood out now that you've seen it?

AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON: Not much. Obviously I did watch the game before I dove into Ohio State.

I liked how we played. I thought we had great intensity about it, toughness, we played together. I thought in that second quarter we got away from the game plan a little bit defensively. They were getting downhill on us more than we wanted. We talked about that at halftime, adjusted.

Offensively we did a good job of attacking certain parts of the offense that we wanted to early. I think that's why we he went up pretty big, too. We kind of lost that a little bit in the second quarter, then came back strong at the end.

I liked what I saw. We just have to carry that momentum on.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How did you stay away from fouls after that second quarter? That was brutal. What was the difference for your team defensively?

AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON: I mean, we just in to focus on us. Again, control what we can control. We can't control that. At the end of the day we can control if we're walling up, having two hands on somebody, hand checking. We have had a little bit more attention to detail what we were doing defensively, but still maintained our aggression, how aggressive we were playing.

I told the players don't worry about foul calls, refs, anything like that, because that's not something we can control. We stayed in tune with each other, stayed together and pressed on forward.

Q. Were you worried at all about some of the newbies that played their first NCAA game last night?

AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON: I wouldn't say 'worried'. I think everybody has to kind of get settled in. Once you get under the lights in any tournament, whether it be our conference tournament or the NCAA tournament, you got to get settled in in that first game.

We started out great. I loved how we started. Yeah, Mariah was a little bit nervous, I thought Mya was a little bit nervous when she came in. Jen is a newbie. She wasn't nervous. She started out great. I thought her intensity wasn't something we saw all year.

I thought Brice was a little bit nervous. Brice is a six-year senior. She settled in. I think everyone has that I guess anxious or nervous energy. At the end of the day once you settle in, you're fine. I wasn't worried about anyone. I knew Mariah would step up. Same with the rest of our seniors that led, Mya, Wilson, Brice. Paige came in, gave great minutes. I think all the way down the line, once they settled in, we were good.

Q. Ohio State tomorrow. You know a little bit about the program. You have coaches on your staff that know about the program as well. How does that help you with preparation?

AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON: It helps. They're a little bit different now. The last time I played Ohio State, they had Kelsey Mitchell and some of those people that are now in the WNBA. They're a little bit different, but same kind of philosophy I guess you could say. Same coach.

It definitely helps because we're familiar with his style. Very, very offensive minded team. Even though they are going to press, try slow us down that way, but they are going to try to speed us up on offense.

They play fast, early offense, transition, all that. He's always been that way. He does a great job coaching them up. We understand the pace of the game is going to be very fast.

I guess that's a little bit of an upper hand because we do know him well. But at the same time it's different kids, different year. It's not exactly the same team.

Q. What are those conversations like with Sydney throughout the year when you're having to move her around different positions?

AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON: Yeah, Wilson, I mean, I said it a million times, she's the glue of this team, X factor. I feel like she doesn't get as much respect as she deserves. Double figures all year. She was around 10-7, 10-6, something like that. Multiple games she was our leading scorer. It's not all about scoring. She defends at a high level. She can defend one through four, one through five. She's selfless.

That's what makes her great. She wants to do whatever she can to make the team be successful. If she has to play the four, the five a couple times she had to play this year, guard a guard, whatever it is, she's willing to do it because that's who she is by nature. She's a giver. She just wants to at this point to give to this team.

It's never really like I have to force her into a role. Hey, this is what we need, this is where you're going to be successful, this is how you're going to do it. Okay. She goes and does it every time.

Q. What did Brice do defensively? She's holding two-time first-team all-ACC player to four points. That doesn't show up on the stat sheet for her.

AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON: It's really unreal. I've said it time and time again. Brice is the best defensive guard I've ever coached. Multiple times this year she's held kids that were averaging 18 or 19 to zero points in a game, literally zero in a game. Obviously it's a team defense. We have gaps around people, we help her out. She just is great one on one. She understands angles. She is physical. She contests every single time. She doesn't take breaks. That's the sign of just a determined, great player.

She plays at a high level on both sides of the ball for basically a whole game. That takes a lot. She takes pride in defense. Now, her offensive game has grown tremendously over the last couple years. One thing that she actually takes pride in, kind of leads the charge for our team, is defense.

It's not like you got to convince the kid, Okay, I need you to lock in for this game because this kid is a good scorer. No. This is who she is. She looks on the stat sheet, how many shots do they take, how many do they make, she wants to make sure she's hold people their average, way under their average.

Q. How does getting a game under your belt in March Madness where Ohio State hasn't played yet?

AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON: It's huge. We feel like we're in rhythm now. Now going into this game, the jitters are out. There's not going to be any nervous or anxious energy. It's going to be, what's the game plan, let's go in there, have some fun, implement it, play together.

I think maybe some of the kids that subbed in or started with a little bit of those jitters, you're not going to see that as much because now we already got that out. We were under the lights. We had some success, too. We played pretty well. I think that's just a confidence booster moving into the next game.

Q. I wanted to ask you about defending Jacy Sheldon and Taylor Mikesell. What kind of challenge does that present to your team?

AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON: Those two kids are phenomenal. Taylor Mikesell, she's leading the country in three-point percentage, three-point made baskets. She can really, really shoot it. Quick release, deep. Behind screens, off the bounce, catch and shoot. Phenomenal shooter.

Jacy, she's an all-around player. She's so athletic, gets downhill, really makes them go in transition. Both of those kids play both sides of the ball, too. They defend at a high level, at the top of the press. They play 40 minutes both of them basically.

I think they account for 45 points combined. That's obviously a big task. Again, we've played against high-level players, especially in non-conference, but throughout our conference, too. Our kids are used to defending kids that can score. We're used to defending the three-point line. We really do a good job of doing that. Yesterday Sammy, she got off I think two shots in the whole game because we really keyed in on how good of a shooter she is, how deep she shoots it. Paid attention to detail with that.

This is not going to be any different. It's not going to be easy. Wasn't easy yesterday or all year. It's going to be a focus. You have to. Those kids are really, really great players. They're two that we have to key in on.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. Appreciate your time.

AMAKA AGUGUA-HAMILTON: Thank you.