NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - GARDNER-WEBB VS UTAH

March 16, 2023

Alex Simmons

Lauren Bevis

Jhessyka Williams

Ki'ari Cain

Jon M. Huntsman Center

Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: I would like to welcome this group to Salt Lake City. To my right here is Gardner-Webb. Welcome guys. We're happy to have you here with us.

We're going to get started with student-athletes first. So I have Jhessyka Williams, Ki'ari Cain, and Lauren Bevis with us.

Q. What has this journey been like for you guys from the start of the season to getting here today?

LAUREN BEVIS: For me personally, it's just been fun, the whole season. Had fun every single practice, every single game. Trying not to take advantage of the moment but just to enjoy every moment.

JHESSYKA WILLIAMS: For me, fun, hard work, dedication. We all worked hard for this, and now we're here.

KI'ARI CAIN: To piggy-back off what my teammates said, it was very exciting. We already knew what to expect over the summer. We knew what kind of team that we were bringing back. So it was just very fun, like they said.

Q. This is obviously a unique experience for you guys, a chance to play in March Madness. So far on this trip almost all the way across the country, what's the coolest thing that has happened so far for you guys?

JHESSYKA WILLIAMS: For me, I would say riding on the New England -- oh, my gosh. The plane. For me it would be the plane. It's kind of exciting riding on that plane. I would have loved if it was the Dallas Cowboys, but I'll take what we had.

LAUREN BEVIS: I'll go with that too. Flying on the Patriots plane is pretty cool. A lot of people don't get to do that.

KI'ARI CAIN: For me it was getting in the hot tub. We were looking for a hot tub all year in the hotels, and we finally got one. So that was a good vibe.

Q. You guys are on a 21-game win streak. What has really clicked the past couple months to get this going right before March?

JHESSYKA WILLIAMS: Focusing. Locking in on what we know we need to do and just playing our game.

KI'ARI CAIN: For me I would say the bond we have, the chemistry, just from playing with each other for a couple of years. All of that finally clicked, and we're just having fun.

We know what we have to do each and every night. So we just zone into that, and we just play for each other.

LAUREN BEVIS: I feel like this team is super close. Teams always say that they're pretty close, but this team, we're all like sisters. I think that really helps us on the court too.

Q. Your opponent tomorrow, Utah, Pac-12 co-champions regular season, kind of like a David versus Goliath. What's your mindset as you take on the Pac-12 champions?

LAUREN BEVIS: For us, any team can be beaten. We have a lot of confidence going into this game. The season that we've had, we put a lot of work into practices and to workouts, watch film all the time. No team is unbeatable.

JHESSYKA WILLIAMS: Really just focusing in on the small details. Our coach tells us every day defense wins games and championships. That's what we need to focus on, and the offense will come as we go.

KI'ARI CAIN: Like Lauren said, any team is beatable. We put on our shorts the same way. So we put on our shorts the same way, we put on everything the same way. I feel like, at the end of the day, it just comes down to playing basketball, which we all know how to do, and we're just going to play the basketball we know how to do.

THE MODERATOR: Next up we have Gardner-Webb head coach Alex Simmons. Would you like to start with an opening statement.

ALEX SIMMONS: Our team has been talking about just being grateful to be here. We started this journey back in May to be honest with you and the work that we've put in. Today in our team meeting and our team bonding, we talked about sacrifice. Again, just doing this for our families, doing this for everybody back in Boiling Springs, on campus, all of our supporters.

I think this team has a goal, and I won't let on to what that goal is, but we've seen their focus from day to day, from game to game, and I think that's why we've had so much success.

Our focus doesn't change going into this NCAA Tournament. I think our togetherness that we've had leading up to this point will get us the result that we want.

Q. Five years ago you came to Gardner Webb to build a program. It's been a process for you. How satisfying has it been to see this group of girls get to this level?

ALEX SIMMONS: It's not satisfying just yet, but it's very -- I'm proud of them to see them come together, to see them grow together, to see them go through hard things together. I'm just proud of the way that they've been able to come together.

And then the product that we've been able to put on the basketball court.

Q. You obviously have a lot of NCAA Tournament experience as a player. This is a unique opportunity for all of your players. They've never been here before. How have you been able to manage this as a coach? Also what from your experiences can you share with them about handling the NCAA Tournament?

ALEX SIMMONS: Short term memory has been very important for us. Not celebrating our wins for too long, but at the same time, not forgetting about the things that we need to work on and the things where we need to get better and the journey that we have and the season that we have.

I think your biggest fear and the thing that keeps me up at night is us thinking that we've arrived. So just keeping very, very, very short term memory.

I've talked to the team just about my experience. I've talked to the teammates about some of the things that we talked about. Sally Jenkins, who writes for The Washington Post, she somehow found out and went on Twitter, and she said that she remembered something that I said, and it was earning something is fun. And that word fun, you'll hear a lot in our program.

Coming here and being able to earn something, being able to take something, at the end of the day, something that nobody else thinks we can get, that to me is extremely fun.

Q. You're a 15 seed in this tournament. I think a lot of people around your program maybe thought you'd be a little bit higher having won 21 consecutive games. What is it that the rest of the country doesn't know about your program and Gardner-Webb that you would like them to know?

ALEX SIMMONS: I don't think they know our style. I don't think they know our mindset. It's clear that our mindset isn't known very well. I think, for lack of a better term, when everybody thinks of Gardner-Webb, they think of Gardner-Webb of old and not Gardner-Webb of new.

I came here wanting our players to experience everything that I've experienced as a student-athlete, and that was my number one goal. Especially this year, we're doing that.

So if I've experienced the things -- I think we still have a long way to go, but I think they're grateful for what they're able to do. They see what we can do, and you heard Bev say they're confident in doing it.

Q. Your opponent tomorrow, Utah, Pac-12 regular season co-champs. What can you tell us about them, like what you see on tape, some of the things that concern you and what you have to do to beat them tomorrow?

ALEX SIMMONS: Very efficient three-point shooting team. We know that we cannot let them get in a rhythm when it comes to shooting threes. We know that our defensive principles have to be on point when it comes to going into our game tomorrow.

Alissa Pili on the inside, she's a force. We know that she loves counter moves. Not putting them on the free-throw line. I believe they shoot 78 percent from the free-throw line. So I think what we've been talking about this week is sticking to our defensive principles and not giving them what they want.

Q. For you as head coach, what's the coolest part of this week?

ALEX SIMMONS: The coolest part of our week was when we pulled up to our plane to get here and you see six-time Super Bowl winner. I think that was cool. I think that set the tone for the trip for us in a positive way.

But knowing there were Super Bowl champions on that plane, knowing that probably getting on that plane they were going to win a championship or going to win a football game, I think that really set the tone for the trip.

Q. Coach, like you said, you travel from Boiling Springs where the elevation is just below a thousand feet, and now you're almost at 5,000 feet. How do you prepare your team for that type of change?

ALEX SIMMONS: We have the same practice that we always have. If I'm being frank, which is hard for me not to be frank, in my eyes, that would be an excuse. That would not be a concern. That would be a complaint. And we don't complain. We just get through what we need to get through, and it is what it is.

We can't control it, so we might as well not worry about it.