NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - FAIRFIELD VS TEXAS

March 18, 2022

Vic Schaefer

Rori Harmon

Aaliyah Moore

Audrey Warren

Texas Longhorns

Media Conference

Texas 70, Fairfield 52

VIC SCHAEFER: First of all, I just want to really congratulate Fairfield. I thought they were spectacular today, especially in the second half. I thought those kids were really tough. And, I want to thank Coach (Frager) for his coaching and wish him the best in his retirement.

But man, I just thought those Fairfield kids were great today. Really played well, played hard. After the initial shock obviously in the first half, they came out and out-scored us eight in the third quarter, out-scored us in the second half.

You have to admire kids like that. That shows tremendous toughness, competitive spirit, and that's why they're champions. They won their league. They won their league tournament. Those kids are champions. There are kids on that team that are so competitive and so tough, they're going to be successful in life. I don't care what they're doing. I don't know what their degrees are, but man, they're going to be winners. I just have a real respect and admiration for them.

I'm happy about the win. I don't think we played particularly well. I'll wear that, and it's my responsibility to make sure our kids play well and do things the right way. I just thought we were really -- we just weren't real good today.

Again, my responsibility, right? It's my job to get them ready.

We kind of played in the second half kind of like we've practiced for three days. Y'all have heard me say this before. You're either coaching it or allowing it, and we haven't been very good, and I didn't think the second half we were very sharp at all.

Again, I'm happy for these kids to get that first NCAA Tournament win. But they know I'm a realist, and I think you have to be real in every situation.

I'm happy for them. I want them to be excited about it, but what's coming on Sunday, you're going to have to be a whole lot better and a whole lot different.

It was kind of my concern. We spent a lot of energy, a lot of emotional energy as well as physical energy over last weekend. When you beat No. 10 in the country, Iowa State, in front of their fans, probably 6,000, 7,000, 8,000 of them, and then you have to come back and play the No. 4 team in the country (Baylor) that we haven't had a lot of success around here with, and these kids did it, it taxes you.

I was concerned about today from that standpoint, and I think it showed.

My challenge now is I've got to get them ready. I've got to find a way to get these kids ready for a tremendous team in Utah on Sunday, a well-coached team, a team that has a great plan, and really to me was awfully focused.

They jumped out today 10-0, 12-0. They came ready to play. And so I've got to do a better job.

But I didn't even -- Rori just pointed out, A-Mo had a double-double down there with 18 and 10 and Rori did, too. She had 11 assists and 10 points. She knows I ain't happy about that 2 for 7 with her free throws, which is highly unusual with her.

But in any case, we'll take it, but we've got to fix some things, and we don't have a whole lot of time to do it.

A lot of it has to do with just the non-negotiables for us. Those are playing hard, playing smart, playing together, knowing the scout. Those are the things that we've really done a great job with all year.

Again, like I told Coach Frager, I think his kids had a lot to do with why we looked the way we did today. At the same time, what we didn't do well, I'll wear the brunt of that responsibility.

Q. Rori, Coach was telling us that he has you guys write down pros and cons for yourselves. What would you say your pros and cons were tonight?

RORI HARMON: Definitely my free throws. I was 2 for 7 and it's just a lack of focus. That'll definitely change for the next game.

I think I fouled a little bit too much, unnecessarily, and I can work on that, as well.

I did have two turnovers, but that can always be fixed, and I think one of them was unforced.

Q. Pros?

RORI HARMON: I did have 11 assists, which is good, and 10 points. I just got to the basket early, just needed to make my free throws after that. That was about it.

Q. Last couple minutes of the game you were on the bench and Aaliyah was shooting free throws and you called Jo over to the sideline. What were you saying to her?

RORI HARMON: I mean, running the point guard a lot with 30-plus minutes a game I can see a lot of things, and when I finally get on the bench, I can see from the bench point of view, so I just noticed something that she could maybe look for in the game.

Q. Rori and Aaliyah, last year when Texas was going on to the Elite 8, how did you two take in those games? Were you watching on TV? Did you sneak away to any of the games? What does it mean to be a part of that now a year later?

AALIYAH MOORE: I definitely watched when they played UCLA and Maryland. I was going crazy in my living room with my mom. But it was just another reason for me to want to come here, just to see them be able to win when a lot of people did not believe they could. And I believe we can do it again this year, so I'm excited.

RORI HARMON: I just loved how they played. They played so hard. When you have people talking about Maryland is going to hang 100 on them, and what happened. That's just unbelievable to me.

Q. Aaliyah, you've had a year from the injury to coming back, working your way back. Can you speak to what these past couple months have been like since you came back in the Tech game to tonight?

AALIYAH MOORE: It's definitely been a lot of learning, lots of ups and downs my freshman year, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else. I've definitely learned that you can learn a lot from the sideline even while you're not out there playing, to pay attention to scout and just to be the biggest cheerleader for my teammates because at the end of the day all I want is to win, whether I'm out there or not.

Definitely just thanking God that I was able to come back from the injury and just taking it day by day and being ready whenever my name is called.

Q. Rori, did y'all seem a little bit off to you tonight? Do you feel like maybe the team relaxed when you got up by like 22 points?

RORI HARMON: I would definitely say like within the team, like I can see everybody's eyes in the huddle. Like, they really were trying to focus.

But we just, like Coach Schaefer had said, I don't think we were completely 100 percent into it in practice, so when the game comes, it's going to be a little more difficult.

But yeah, we weren't ourselves today, but it's going to change.

Q. What's the deal with two turnovers? Are you just trying to show you're human?

RORI HARMON: I just didn't like the two turnovers. They were turnovers that I shouldn't have made. I know I can't be perfect, but I'm really trying to get better at my position.

Q. Aaliyah, you were watching with your mom in your living room last year. This year, career high 18 points tonight, 10 rebounds, so that transformation from last year to this year, excitement level, just having that much of an impact in your first tournament game.

AALIYAH MOORE: I mean, very excited. Just to see that this is the first round and just to see how far I can go and my team can go.

But I'm just really excited. Like Coach said, this wasn't the greatest game tonight. We didn't play very well, but at the end of the day, my other coach said it's survive and advance, so we move on to the next one and we just get ready and be prepared for the next opponent.

Q. Audrey, maybe not the most consistent 40 minutes, but from your vantage point, maybe what can you and your teammates learn from a game like this early on in this tournament?

AUDREY WARREN: I think we can learn that it starts in practice, and we didn't practice well. We basically practiced like the way we played today for the last three days, and I think we can just focus more on the little things, not even think about taking teams for granted because everybody is in this tournament for a reason right now.

So just focusing on the little things really is what we need to work on.

Q. Rori and Audrey, this is the second game in a row where Aaliyah has come in and been really efficient and the inside game took over for y'all. Can you just talk about what you're seeing from A-Mo right now?

RORI HARMON: Yeah, like she already said, she's just ready when her name was called. I mean, I don't even know. She's doing so good. I told her right after the game, I was like, you're really killing the game. They almost had to put three on her. Couldn't even box her out, couldn't stop her from putting the ball back up.

I hope she continues, which she definitely will, and I have a whole bunch of confidence in her.

AUDREY WARREN: Yeah, I would piggy-back off that. Again, it started in practice. She's working her tail off in practice. She's willing to learn from the coaches and the upperclassmen, and I think she just brings everything she has to every game.

Q. Audrey, if your team didn't play at the level they normally play and you scored 70 points and held them to 52, what does it look like for you guys to be on your game and what would the team need to change to improve?

AUDREY WARREN: Yeah, I think we need to change turnovers and lackadaisical plays. We're taking too many plays off. I don't think our defense was at our standard today, so just getting back to that because, honestly, that's what's gotten us here is the way we play defense for 40 minutes.

Yeah, that's what I would say.

Q. Rori, what was it like to guard 22? She was pretty dominant.

RORI HARMON: I mean, I just have to put pressure on the ball. It's going to help everybody behind me, to help Jo with guarding 11, Audrey guarding 11, as well, A-Mo and Tash maybe guarding 30. We tried to limit to her, and we did a little bit, forced nine turnovers, so that was pretty good.

So I think it was just -- you know, it's hard to have on-ball steals when you turn your back and stuff. So just making sure I stay right there with her is just all I could do.

Q. Audrey, do you feel like the zone bothered y'all as much as they played it? I don't know how much zone y'all saw this year. Do you feel like that was part of the problem?

AUDREY WARREN: I wouldn't necessarily say that. I think they played a really well zone and their pressure was a little something different than we've seen from a zone.

I don't think we were really finding the open people early, and it took us a while to get in the groove of things for their zone.

Q. Vic, when you look at what A-Mo is doing and again you guys pounded it inside to pull away, can you just talk about that ability, kind of the same thing you did against Iowa State?

VIC SCHAEFER: I thought her and Latasha (Lattimore) were really special today. I've said this all year. Tasha is really going to be special. I thought those two in the first half really provided a big spark for us.

I wasn't thrilled with how we started out with our other two post players and I thought our freshmen came in and played really hard and really well.

Tasha went 2 for 7. Boy, she got some good looks, and she just played really hard, made some mistakes. But again, I thought those two were the difference when we kind of extended our lead in the first half.

But you know, A-Mo plays hard. There's a reason why she was the 6th-ranked kid in the country. I love her motor. I love her intensity. I love her no fear. She's coming off of going up against one of the best players in the country in Alissa Smith. She held her own. She had 12 points in that game and six rebounds, I think, five or six rebounds. The kid just plays her guts out. You have to appreciate that.

We needed her tonight, obviously. She had a double-double, goes 4 for 7, 10 for 10 from the line. We didn't shoot free throws tonight, which has kind of been uncharacteristic. We've been shooting them pretty well.

But 'Liya is playing better, and you hate that she went through the injury because it set her back.

Q. Utah hit 15 of 31 threes. What do you know about them?

VIC SCHAEFER: Yeah, they like to shoot the three. Man, they're well-coached. Kids play really hard. I think they're tough from what I saw tonight and what I've seen on film.

They come from a Power Five conference in the Pac-12, and I just think we're going to have to play better, y'all. That's all there is to it.

I've done this long enough. You can't -- you're not doing anybody any justice to sugarcoat things. If we want to win on Sunday, we're going to have to be different.

I thought Utah looked really good. I thought they came ready to play. They got Arkansas early and that's kind of where the game stayed for the longest time. You've got to be ready with them, and you cannot make a mistake defensively. You have to really be locked in with them because they can all shoot it.

Q. For a lot of the game you had Matharu on Hakes and it seemed like she was bothering her a lot, especially at the end of the game, just really getting up on her. What did you think of that matchup?

VIC SCHAEFER: Yeah, I thought she did a nice job on her late. Again, you wear on somebody throughout the course of the game, and I thought Aaliyah was pretty effective on her late in the ball game. That kid is tough. She might have had nine turnovers, but that kid is really competitive, and it ain't easy living out there with Rori and Aaliyah on you for 40 minutes. That ain't much fun, I'm sure.

Teams don't see our pressure a lot, and I didn't think our pressure was that good, but even then, our mediocre pressure is a lot better than a lot of other people's pressure.

You've got to give that kid a lot of credit. I thought she competed all night long, ran her team, and that's what you want a point guard to do.

I thought Aaliyah did a nice job down the stretch there, got an offensive foul on her, had three steals,

Q. With Rori, this is the second game this season that she had double-figure assists. What allowed her to do that tonight?

VIC SCHAEFER: Well, some people finished some shots. You don't get an assist unless somebody can make a shot for you. Her two turnovers to me were unforced and kind of lackadaisical. It's just the way it is.

Again, I think all our kids learned tonight a little bit. And we're so young. We're still the same young, inexperienced, immature team, y'all. I don't know how many games we've played in, but it doesn't change our -- that's kind of still who we are and it can raise its ugly head a little bit.

Again, what we just went through, we had three knockdown drag-outs in our conference. Our conference is so good, night in and night out. You've got 18 rival games, and we went back to back to back within 40 hours with three knockdown drag-outs and played an All-American every night. Every night there was an All-American on the floor that we had to deal with.

So I think -- I saw it coming. I'm glad we got through it. I'm hoping like heck we can wake up tomorrow morning and come in and have a good workout and get ready for a heck of a Utah team.

Q. You say that your pressure was not that good tonight and yet you forced 22 turnovers --

VIC SCHAEFER: Yeah, we fouled. They went to the line 23 times. We're whacking them and fouling them, fouling them a long way from the rim. We got backdoored a bunch. We gave up a back screen for a dunk. Just really uncharacteristic.

But again, you get out there and you're kind of -- we had a nice crowd. I know the kids were excited about that. You kind of got to stay in the moment. You've got to have tunnel vision.

It's hard -- we've been much better on the road. I've told y'all that. We've got a lot better focus on the road. People screaming at us instead of for us.

It ain't going to change Sunday. There's going to be a lot of people screaming for us, so we've got to figure out a way. I've got to do better. I'll take the blame. We're a young team, and I've got to continue to get them ready.

Q. Vic, when you signed this class, did you figure these freshmen would be contributing this quickly, not just Rori and A-Mo, but Latasha, Kyndall (Hunter)? It may be one of the first times you were able to play the four freshmen and Aaliyah lineup. Did you think they'd be contributing this quickly?

VIC SCHAEFER: I did. I thought they would all be able to help us. It was certainly my hope. Tasha came with a knee that hadn't been rehabbed properly, and so we had to kind of give her a crash course with her surgically repaired knee. She didn't even have a knee brace when she got here, and she had the surgery back in December a year ago. So she gets here in August and doesn't have a brace.

It took a while to get her going, and she's had some really big games for us, but I think we all feel great about her potential and where she's at.

I did. I felt like all these kids -- Kyndall has had some injuries, some ankle injuries and issues that set her back earlier in the year. But I really was hopeful. It was a highly ranked class, right? I was certainly hopeful because that's our future.

A-Mo's injury, I told y'all the other day, it was much more significant than just a rolled-up ankle, and it just took a long time to heal, and there were since some other things that happened when you've got an injury like that that you have to try to overcome, too.

I think you're seeing from her what the kid is capable of, and we could have got all year had it not been for the injury.

Q. Vic, you said the practices leading up after a very tumultuous Big 12 tournament weren't the greatest. Do you think this game was a wake-up call for a better Utah team or do you think there's something specific in practice ahead of that Utah game that needs to change?

VIC SCHAEFER: No, I think it's been said. I just think kids are kids. We've watched film on Fairfield until we're blue in the face. I told them today, I'm sick of watching film. I know them like the back of my hand, and I know our kids did, too.

Let's face it, their best player sat out a lot in the first half, and when she came back in the second half, she was a big difference for them.

I just think it's kids. I'm ready. My staff is ready. But we're not playing right. I just think it's kids, and again, my job is to get them ready.

We played in spurts. The first half we played pretty well. But the way we came out in the third quarter after we've been the ones in the third quarter and really answering, it was just disappointing, and I had my best defensive team on the floor really. Pretty close.

We gave up some easy buckets, some backdoors, some back screen stuff, wide open jump shots to the best player in the gym.

Again, I think you've got to give Fairfield credit, though. Those kids, at halftime they regrouped, came out, had an edge to them, and they're competitors. They're champions. They won their league. They've had a heck of a year. That's just the second game they've lost since December 9th.

I've got a feeling my kids will be razor sharp tomorrow. I do. I think they'll have an edge. I'm anxious to see them.

Q. You mentioned practice. I wonder how much of that's mental focus when you're playing a 15 seed at home. You're not playing Baylor for the Big 12 tournament, which you know gets everybody charged up. Was that part of the reason maybe it wasn't you're A game?

VIC SCHAEFER: I don't know. It's kids. They're smart, right? It isn't Baylor. You said it. No disrespect to Fairfield because I have a ton of respect for them. I know how good they are. I know that doggone kid can flat out fill it up if you lose her, and we lost her and she filled it up.

I just think they have a team full of competitive kids. I knew they'd come in here with their hair on fire and their ears pinned back and ready to go and play fearless.

We got them a little bit early. First quarter wasn't great, 14-9, but 25-9 in the second quarter, had a little separation there, and so I was really pleased with that second quarter.

You know, it's just the third quarter that's got a little sting to it, 23-15, and you kind of let them back in. I think they cut it to 10 in the second half.

I'm proud of the way we answered and got away from them in the fourth quarter.

But the answer to your question is that they're kids, and sometimes, like you said, you have a better chance of getting their attention when it's No. 4 or No. 10.

But to me, that's me. I've got to make sure I get their attention. Maybe I showed too much film. Maybe they kept looking at it and going, hey, okay, we've got that, we can guard that, we can do this, we can do that. Maybe I showed them way too much film.

I showed them enough. I promise you. We looked at it every day. In any case, we'll be fine.

I'm excited about the opportunity for these kids on Sunday, and again, I really want to thank our fans. I thought we had a nice crowd today. They were loud, and they did a good job, and I need them back on Sunday.