NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR - SACRED HEART VS SOUTHERN U

March 15, 2023

Carlos Funchess

Tyeniesha Metcalf

Genovea Johnson

Amani Mcwain

Maples Pavilion

Southern U Jaguars

Media Conference

Sacred Heart 57, Southern University 47

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Head Coach Carlos Funchess and student-athletes Genovea Johnson, Amani Mcwain, and Tyeniesha Metcalf.

Coach, would you like to make an opening statement?

CARLOS FUNCHESS: Yes, I thought we came out and played extremely hard. Got some good looks early, scored some buckets, made a run. They did a good job keeping their composure, moving the basketball, getting easy shots, and fighting back in the game.

You know, down late in the first quarter I thought we kind of got out of character a little bit and didn't move the ball like we needed to, and that gave them an opportunity to score some transition threes.

So, you know, I'm proud of the young ladies because they played extremely hard.

Q. Genovea and Amani, you guys obviously turned the ball over 20 times. It can be a hard thing to overcome. Do you feel like there was something they were doing defensively that caused those turnovers, or more of a self-inflicted issue on the turnovers?

GENOVEA JOHNSON: It was definitely a self-inflicted thing being, because like Coach Funchess just said, we got out of character late in the first quarter and that forced a of turnovers as a team.

We didn't move the ball as well as we usually do.

AMANI MCWAIN: I feel like we allowed the other team to speed us up, and we're usually the one that speeds up other teams.

So I feel like we should have settled down. We didn't get to really settle in and get comfortable, and that was kind of our downfall. We tried to pick it up, but it's hard to come back when you're playing a good team as well.

Yeah.

Q. You had that first quarter lead, but of course they came back in the second quarter and outscored you. Only scored those four points, and then you kind of came back late in the third. Did you feel like you could have controlled the pace a bit better and maybe kind of overcome some of the turnovers and self-inflicted mistakes that were going on? You guys were playing really hard, falling all over the floor.

CARLOS FUNCHESS: I can answer that question. I thought we did get -- they did a good job speeding us up. We broke the press and we took some quick shots. Some were questionable shots. You know, some of them we could have made but we didn't.

Once they got the ball, it's like a snowball going downhill. It just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger. We just couldn't stop it.

I thought we settled down in the third quarter some. But every loose ball, every 50/50 ball looked like they got, bounced off two, three people and they would pick it up.

That's just a break some nights. But we kept playing hard.

Q. It seemed like their size started to take a little bit out of you guys in the second quarter also. They had a couple big girls out there. Were they being physical or anything?

GENOVEA JOHNSON: The whole game was very physical, and the size didn't cause us to have a lot of problems. It was things that we did that we didn't capitalize on on turnovers that we did for them; didn't capitalize on all of them.

You know, things happen when you don't do that, the things that you should do, capitalizing-wise.

Q. For the players, obviously not the way you wanted this game to go, but still making the NCAA tournament is a big accomplishment. Talk about how proud you guys are to get to this stage and just what was the key to your overall season success to get to this point?

AMANI MCWAIN: I think we had a great season. The overall key to our success this season was defense. We're a defensive-minded team. We always of been. We never go off offense. If we're having a good offense I have night thus a plus but we're a defensive team.

The chips and the odds were against us this year. We stepped up and made a lot of plays. We beat teams people didn't think we could beat. I feel like we overcame a lot of adversity. I'm proud of us. I mean, I have no reason to hold my head down. I'm really proud.

Q. Two questions. Amani, I know I asked you this yesterday. Now after the game, not the result you wanted, but to finish your career here in the NCAA tournament, just on a personal level how does it feel to everybody it at this stage and at this point?

AMANI MCWAIN: It's all I can ask for. I couldn't imagine my season ending a different way. It could have ended a long time ago but it didn't. I'm very grateful for my teammates, Coach Funchess, and, like I said the COVID year because I wouldn't have been able to play this year.

It's been a great year for me. A lot of up and downs, but it was a really great year.

Q. And then Tyeniesha, I saw that you frequently were guarding Ny'Ceara Pryor. Can you talk about how difficult she was as a matchup for you guys?

TYENIESHA METCALF: She's pretty fast. She's quick. We just tried to maintain her the best we could. Yeah, she's pretty fast. I got to give her that. (Smiling.)

Q. Coach, you and the players, you're out here in California, home of the Stanford Cardinal. What would it have been like to coach against Tara and you guys play against Haley and all these All-Americans on Stanford? Did you anticipate that?

CARLOS FUNCHESS: We did. Every game we go -- that we play we go into it expecting to go win. We played last of Power 5 teams. Played probably I think five teams that's in the NCAA tournament prior to our conference season.

I mean, we would approach it just like another other game. Of course it would be another NCAA game for us, which we really, really wanted, but we would've gone into it and prepared like we're playing a conference game.

Q. Their girl, Pryor, you did a really good job shutting her down on her scoring, 3 for 13. I talked to Chloe for a seconds already, but can you talk about the defensive game plan and how you guys were going to try and keep her from being their leading scorer like she usually is?

TYENIESHA METCALF: We just tried to limit her touches, and we also tried to keep her from going to a strong hand, because we know she's at her best when she is going downhill with her strong hand.

So just tried to maintain her the best way we could.

Q. And help?

TYENIESHA METCALF: Yes, yes, help.

Q. Coach mentioned the Power 5 teams you played and then coming out here and playing in the NCAA tournament. What does that experience do not just for you all as seniors or older members of the team, but for the younger members of the team going forward to help the program continue on an upward trajectory? What do you feel that this experience has given your team?

GENOVEA JOHNSON: This experience has gave the younger girls of our team I feel like a very good experience, a very healthy, and in the long run they're going to know what it takes to be a champion and what it takes to win an NCAA game and what it takes to win as a whole.

And leadership. A lot of leadership and sitting down and be their best self and being better for their team.

THE MODERATOR: Any more questions for the student-athlete? Thank you Genovea, Amani, and Tyeniesha.

TYENIESHA METCALF: Thank you.

GENOVEA JOHNSON: Thank you.

AMANI MCWAIN: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Funchess?

Q. Defensively you guys hold them 57. You guys are a very good defensive team as it is, and you were better than the average tonight. What I guess did you find to be the most important part of the offense as to why you guys struggled so much?

CARLOS FUNCHESS: I didn't think we made good decisions a lot of times, especially in that -- when they made that run in the second quarter. We didn't share the basketball. We played out of character. We were missing open players for easy shots. We didn't do a good job passing the ball to the post.

You have games like this. Now, I have to give them a lot of credit. They had a really good game plan. They sagged on most of our shooters. They made it really tough to get into the paint. We are a mid-range jump shooting team or a penetrating team trying to drive and then kick, but they did a really good job of negating that.

Q. You kind of touched on it, but what went wrong for you guys in that second quarter? Outside of that, you guys I think outscored them the rest of the game. What really kind of accounted for that, the second quarter being as lopsided as it was?

CARLOS FUNCHESS: I thought it was twofold. In the game of basketball, most of the time one mistake leads to another one, and we turned the basketball over. We took quick shots, and that led to I think three transition threes. In the half court we did a really good job guarding them, but when they get transit turnovers, live ball turnovers, there is really no defense for that.

They got the kid, I can't think of her name, Wood, Amelia Wood. She hit back-to-back threes, and that kind of got their confidence going.

Again, like I said earlier, it was like a snowball going downhill. We just got a little rattled, and I hadn't seen that from our team in a while.

Q. Coach, I'm a proud HBCU alum. Tennessee State University.

CARLOS FUNCHESS: All right.

Q. What does it mean for you to bring your team out here and play at this level on national TV and to be in the NCAA tournament representing an HBCU?

CARLOS FUNCHESS: I mean, it's always great, especially to make the NCAA tournament. It was a lot of hard work. We had some up and downs. We lost three games in a row. We followed that up with winning the next nine out of the next ten. That's hard to do.

But we stuck to our game plan. They kept believing. They kept playing the game the right way on both ends of the court.

But we're really very happy to be here. No doubt about that.

Q. I know against Jackson State you guys came back like a fury at the very end. And when you get at the single digits late and you guys are pressing, was there a thought in your head like, can we do that again in this one?

CARLOS FUNCHESS: I knew it was going to be tough. We just didn't shoot the basketball well tonight. I don't know what we -- we ended up shooting 1 for 9 from three and we're a pretty good three-point shooting team.

So we struggled from that aspect. I knew it was going to be tough. I just wanted the young ladies to keep competing, making the right plays down the stretch, just to give yourself an opportunity to win.

Q. You started out 5 for 8 from the floor by my count and were leading the rebounds 10 to4. That second one I think when they start rebounding on you was part of the flood. Obviously your team was playing well there in the first five minutes. Did it just fall apart just because of their defense or what do you think?

CARLOS FUNCHESS: They did a really good job. I want to make sure I give them credit. But I didn't think we did -- I thought we did a poor job of moving the basketball.

Again, like I said, we played out of character, and live ball turnovers, it's going to be tough to defend that. That's what really got them going. Once they got that lead, I mean, you can't trade buckets. They did a good job on the boards. Got some O-boards, some put-backs and things like that. Got some easy buckets. When they needed a bucket, they made timely buckets.

When we were trying to make a run they made timely buckets. So I tip my hat to them. Coach did a great job getting her team prepared.

Q. Two parter. One, the question that I asked the students about what this means for the younger players on your team as far as the experience and coming back in the future. And the second part is I know you talked about this a little bit before, I think in the pre-game presser and some other coaches have too as far as the tide is turning for recruits coming from Power 5s to HBCUs or going straight to HBCUs. How do you think this trajectory is going to play out in the next few years and have you seen this personally?

CARLOS FUNCHESS: Yes, I have. I mean, to make the NCAA tournament is always a plus when it comes to recruiting. I had recruits calling me and texting me, congratulations. You know, a lot of times you can't get them on the phone if you don't make a run in the tournament.

The caliber of players we recruit -- again, NCAA is great to be able to use as a recruiting tool once you make that tournament. For the younger ladies on the team, I mean, they see what it takes, the hard work and the ups and downs that we are going to have when you're trying to be a champion.

It's not easy. These young ladies started in June lifting weights. First week of June conditioning, working out every week. It's extremely tough.

A lot of people see them jog out during game time and think it's easy. Right now we'll probably take off a couple weeks and be right back in the weight room. I mean, it never ends.

It takes a lot of the dedication and sacrifice.

THE MODERATOR: Any more questions for Coach Funchess?

Q. Did you get chance at all to speak to Tara VanDerveer? I know when teams come out here they talk about how welcoming and gracious she is as far as advice and just all kinds of tips and wisdom on what it's like to be an elite.

CARLOS FUNCHESS: She came down before the game and spoke to our entire staff and congratulated us on being an NCAA tournament team.

You know, that was special. That was very special to have a Hall of Famer come and congratulate you. But everything has been great here. The staff has done a wonderful job. Couldn't have been a better experience for our team.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you coach.

CARLOS FUNCHESS: Thank you.