NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - PRINCETON VS INDIANA

March 20, 2022

Ellie Mitchell

Grace Stone

Carla Berube

Princeton Tigers

Media Conference

Q. At the end of the game yesterday, after not having a season last year, what were the emotions and maybe that it's now gotten a chance to sleep on it wake up today, what are the emotions having all that time to prepare and finally it's the NCAA Tournament and get an upset like that?

GRACE STONE: I think it's absolutely incredible. It wasn't an easy year off. We were all apart. We had to connect with each other through Zoom. We had to figure out ways to get better on the offseason on our own. And we had a lot to work through this whole year a lot of adversity we faced. And I think winning this game was a testament to who we are as people and how much we love each other and how much we love the game and how much we were willing to fight for this opportunity to be here. Very exciting.

ELLIE MITCHELL: Yeah, great opportunity, obviously, like Grace said, it was a tough year off. We've been waiting for this moment. We're trying to take it game by game and we're ready for whatever comes our way.

Q. When you weren't able to play last year, was it tough to -- how tough was it to watch the tournament last year and know that you couldn't be there, you didn't have a chance to play and does that make you appreciate these moments even more?

ELLIE MITCHELL: Absolutely. Obviously we all wanted to be out on that court. A bunch of us decided to take a gap year because we didn't want to sacrifice a year playing. So definitely hurt a little bit having to be on the sidelines, just watching everyone else play. But it just made us more excited to be back here this year. And we're ready for everything.

GRACE STONE: It was tough. I was watching from my living room, and it didn't feel real almost watching all these teams play, but I think that again like Ellie said, it just made us so much more hungry to be here and grateful that we have the opportunity to do this and do it together.

Q. At what point did you guys kind of start to feel or know that you were going to win that game yesterday, if there was a specific moment?

GRACE STONE: I don't know if I ever felt like there really was one. I think that there was a moment where the Kentucky coach just said don't foul, and we kind of dribbled the ball out. That was the only time that I felt like the game was actually over at that point. But Kentucky has an ability to be in every game until the last whistle. I never felt our work was done until the time ran out.

ELLIE MITCHELL: After the first couple of minutes, we realized we're in this game; we're ready for this, we can handle this. Kentucky is a great program, but so are we. And this is going to be a good day.

Q. Playing in the second game, I know Indiana got to sit and watch the second game a bit. Obviously you guys don't get that opportunity in the second game. So how quickly are you able to turn the page from such an emotional high win like that to then prepping for another game within 48 hours?

ELLIE MITCHELL: I mean, it's going to be a challenge. Coach said in her interview yesterday we're going to celebrate for ten seconds and then it's back to business. So we've just got to be really focused, just make the most of the time that we do have.

GRACE STONE: I think it's interesting because I came in as a freshman, in the Ivy League we're still playing back to back. I think I'm actually kind of used to a quick turnaround and having to prepare for another team really quickly ). So I think we're really engaged, really focused really dialed in and we're just trying to learn as much as we can about them.

Q. In the short time that you have, I guess what have you learned about Indiana, what are some of the challenges you're going to face against them, and I guess what's the difference, how tough is it going to be playing more of a road game tomorrow compared to neutral floor yesterday?

GRACE STONE: I think they're actually pretty similar to us in the sense that they're very disciplined and they play very well together. I think they're very aggressive defensively. And they're able to speed teams up and get them out of their rhythm. But they obviously have really dominant post play. But all five of their starters are contributors. So I think that for us it really has to be a team effort. Everyone has to be locked in on what their assignment is and just offensively we just really have to execute and take really good shots and again not let them speed us up.

ELLIE MITCHELL: Yesterday was packed. It was a fun atmosphere to play in. I'm sure tomorrow it will be even more people there. I think yesterday was a good first stepping stone in getting us ready for tomorrow. So we'll see.

Q. I've talked with you both about your team's defense kind of at length and you guys as individual defenders. I wanted to ask you about Julia Cunningham and obviously yesterday the job that she did on Rhyne Howard but also over the whole season what you've seen her do defensively and how important that's been?

GRACE STONE: We call her our guard defensive stopper. She has to guard normally the best player for the other team. And she's grown so much as a defender since we both came in together our freshman year.

She's so long and she's worked so hard on her lateral quickness and she just plays really hard. So she's just so fun to play defense with because she's so intent on getting stops. So she's incredible.

Q. Abby Meyers, you get to see her every day, before everyone else does, what makes her such a special player that she's kind of developed into over these three, four years now?

ELLIE MITCHELL: Abby, like you said, she's an incredible player. She works so hard every day in practice pushing us all to be better. I think one of the noteworthy things is her confidence. She wants to make those big plays for us and we trust her. And at the same time she's rooting us on, like encouraging us and she's just a great team leader.

Q. Ellie, did you know Abby in high school at all, being in the same area?

ELLIE MITCHELL: We used to play against each other in high school. It was non-conference, but I've grown up kind of playing around Abby a little bit.

Q. Did she talk to you at all about Princeton kind of before you came, or was that at all any factor in you going to like to play at Princeton?

ELLIE MITCHELL: Yeah, definitely. I followed Princeton basketball throughout my recruiting process. It was great seeing another DMV player as well as Bella Alarie, and for me it was a confidence boosting, like these guys I used to play with, they're having a lot of success. Seems like a great place to be, great people. So I love to follow in her shoes.

Q. Curious, for either or both of you, how many text messages did you get after the game yesterday? What is the status of your phone, and who was the coolest person that reached out to you?

GRACE STONE: I got a lot of texts. A lot of stuff happening on Twitter. A lot of stuff happening on Instagram. But I feel like cool people don't really have my number. It was the people adjacent to me that cool stuff happened to me, which I will count as happening to me.

ELLIE MITCHELL: Same with me just a lot of friends and family. People I hadn't heard from in a while, third grade teacher texting me. My mom. Sue Bird did text coach, congrats on the win. That was cool. By association.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, an opening statement.

COACH BERUBE: It's great to be here, entering the second round tomorrow. It's going to be a great challenge taking on Indiana in this great facility of theirs, with I'm sure many, many fans. But it's going to be I'm sure a really great environment. We're looking forward to this challenge. We've turned the page from last night, really excited for that win last night.

But we're not satisfied. We're ready to take on Indiana tomorrow.

Q. So we heard you got a text from Sue Bird after the win yesterday.

COACH BERUBE: Who? Just kidding. (Laughter).

Q. So, one, what was that like? And two, did anyone else reach out at all beyond one of the greatest players of all time?

COACH BERUBE: I mean, she's part of the UConn family. So we're all pretty tight. Great ambassador for women's basketball. And she saw the game and was really impressed. And just let me know and said good luck on Monday.

And yeah, heard from a lot of people. It was on the Total Sports Network. So I think a lot of people were tuned in, and it was exciting to hear from a lot of people.

Q. As you dove into the Indiana matchup over the last day, I guess, how do you feel like your team stacks up and what are some of the keys to that matchup going to be?

COACH BERUBE: They're great. They're a very well-balanced team. They've got great inside play, coupled with some really great perimeter scorers. It's a really balanced attack. They're tough. They're aggressive. They're strong. They play very tough defense. And they're very disciplined on the offensive end as well. I think they run their offense very well. I think they're very well-coached. They can put up a lot of points but they can also -- I've seen them shut teams down, too, with their aggressive defense.

Yeah, it's going to be a great challenge. I think we're a little bit different because we don't have the size inside like they do. So we're going to have to work with what we have. And it's been fun watching them play. It was a late night last night getting ready for practice today. But our staff will get our players ready.

Q. Speaking of the Indiana film. So Nicole Cardaño-Hillary is often regarded as one of the more peskier defensive guards on Indiana. Probably assume the matchup on Abby a little bit or play a lot tomorrow. How do you prepare Abby for a matchup like that, and do you think she's faced anyone that's quite as pesky as that in the Ivy League?

COACH BERUBE: Yeah, I think there's some pesky defenders. I think we've seen some really great defenses along the road. I don't think anything really fazes Abby Meyers. She's going to have to be really strong with the basketball, whoever is guarding her as our whole team does.

I said this last night, I thought we had too many turnovers. I think Kentucky really took it to us on their defensive end. And we need to be a bit stronger with the basketball and make some better decisions.

And I'm sure Indiana will pressure us because that's what they do. And we've got to be disciplined and smart and strong and limit the turnovers.

The live-ball turnovers are tough. That's how Kentucky got a lot of points off of our turnovers. So if we can limit those and get good offensive possessions each and every offensive possession, we'll be better off.

Q. I know that it was a team effort defensively yesterday on Rhyne Howard having such a tough afternoon. But I also know Julia Cunningham was a huge part of that as she's been all year. I wanted to ask you about Julia's defense, what makes her stand out on that end and how have you seen her grow over the years there?

COACH BERUBE: She did a great job with Howard. We were switching a lot too. So Howard saw some different matchups. But for the most part that was Julia's matchup. She's got great length. She's got good lateral quickness, very high basketball IQ. So she reads the player that she's guarding well. She studies up and watches tendencies, and I think it's always a team effort, right, when you're seeing what's happening on the floor.

Our defense is sort of built on communication. So she's listening to what her teammates are telling her, and she's communicating well when she needs help or needs to switch. So I think it just took Julia a little bit of time from our first year together that the commitment to the defensive end and I think the commitment during the two years off, she's grown so much as a defender. She's gotten quicker. She's worked on that lateral speed.

And I mean, she just puts in the work. And it's -- definitely we've seen it this year and really, really proud of her.

Q. Looking at Indiana, one of their top players is Grace Berger. Can you talk a little bit about her and what you will try to do to kind of take her out of the game, if anything?

COACH BERUBE: I think with these great scorers, you have to try to limit their touches and limit their opportunities where they score the ball well. She is a tremendous mid-range shooter off the dribble, off the catch. She's got great handles. She's able to just create shots for herself, but also creating shots for others.

She has a ton of assists on the year. She's incredibly strong. You can see how fit she is. She's able to absorb contact well. She gets to the rim really well. Great body control. She's a tough matchup. And I think she's also very, just level headed too. Looks like nothing really fazes her. Just a great all-around player. Great rebounder. And like I said just a really great playmaker. So it's a tough matchup.

Q. You talked about how quickly you had to start turning around and preparing to play Indiana. But I guess has now that you've slept on it, woken up today has the setup set in and all the texts and messages coming in, now being almost 24 hours after the fact, what is the feeling of getting such a monumental win like that?

COACH BERUBE: I think it's great for the university. It's great for the Ivy League. Really happy for my players and really proud of them. And of course our alumni. They're so stoked about that win. And we play for them and what they built.

And yeah, but like I said, we've really had to turn the page pretty quickly here. I try to get back to my text messages earlier this morning. I got that done. Loved hearing from everybody. But it was really important for us to just turn the page to Indiana.

One of my assistants, she's been working on Indiana all week. She knows them really well. And I was able to sit in on the UNC/Charlotte game. I got to watch them live which helps you get to know a team.

We'll be ready. We'll know them. And we'll just have to execute the game plan and clearly at this time of the year it's just about making plays. You can say we're doing X, Y, Z, but once you're out there, clearly, some of last night did not go according to plan.

But we made more plays than I think than Kentucky did. And so that's how you win the game.