AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 6, 2023

Keitha Adams

D.J. McCarty

Trajata Colbert

Dickies Arena

Wichita State Shockers

Postgame Press Conference

Wichita State 71, Temple 61

KEITHA ADAMS: Well, we like to make it exciting. That was a great effort by our team and a hard-fought game. Temple really made a run in the third quarter and got it tied, and so found ourselves in the fourth quarter starting where we were at in the very beginning of the game.

Really proud of our team. I thought we showed maturity today in the first three to four minutes of the fourth quarter when we made our run and really just kept our composure, which helped us get the win.

I thought D.J. was tremendous today. She played really, really well, and that set the tone for our team. Weathered a storm with Jane getting in foul trouble.

Our team is different when Jane is on the floor and then when she's not on the floor, so that affected us a little bit. But hey, some other players stepped up off the bench, and I thought Trajata really battled and had a really good second half and helped us close it out. It was a really good win for us today.

Q. (No microphone.)

KEITHA ADAMS: It feels great. We've been on the other end of that where other teams have scored off of ours. And one of the things I've told our team is when we take good care of the basketball, which we only had 12 turnovers today, when we take care of the ball, and then when we really rebound the ball well, we've played really well and had really good results when we've done those two things.

Probably the thing in the second half that -- what really, how we allowed them to get back in it is we didn't rebound well in the second half and gave up too many offensive boards and let them have second efforts.

I just think that when we rebound it and we take care of the ball, I like our team's chances.

Q. D.J., take me through the adversity of that fourth quarter early on. They tie it up, the lead is gone. What's going through you guys' minds and how did you guys respond to that?

D.J. MCCARTY: You know, Temple is a good team. We knew they were going to go on a run. We knew it wasn't going to be an easy game or a blowout. I was telling my team in the huddle to take away their momentum, stay together, and we got the W.

Q. Going into tomorrow, No. 1 seed, what's the mindset with that to kind of keep this dream alive, and how much confidence does holding out for a win today give you going into that?

KEITHA ADAMS: I think the awesome thing about this time of year, anything can happen. It's March Madness for a reason.

Obviously we know that South Florida has a really, really, really good team, and we're going to have to put 40 minutes together, and we'll get in the film room tonight and get with our team and prepare and be ready to go tomorrow.

This time of year, everybody is 0-0 and it's a 40-minute window. You've got to win and advance. We're just going to focus on being ready to play tomorrow.

Respect everyone, fear no one is always something that I've always said. You've got to respect everyone and go out and compete.

Q. You started the game with an 8-0 run, started the second half with an 11-3 run, started the fourth quarter hitting five out of your first seven shots. Is there anything you can attribute that to aside from terrific coaching?

KEITHA ADAMS: I wish I could tell you because I'd bottle that up. I put something in their food at breakfast this morning that made that happen. I wished I could.

Honestly, I really think that D.J. was locked in today, and it starts at your point guard. She played very, very well.

I think she set the tone for our team, and I think our players fed off of her.