NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - IONA VS DUKE

March 17, 2023

Kara Lawson

Celeste Taylor

Vanessa de Jesus

Kennedy Brown

Cameron Indoor Stadium

Duke Blue Devils

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Welcome to Durham, North Carolina, at the campus of Duke University at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

We have with us today Junior Kennedy Brown, Junior Vanessa de Jesus, and Senior Celeste Taylor.

Q. Kennedy, what does it mean to not only get into the tournament but have a home game? Is that a certain sign of progress for the program as a whole?

KENNEDY BROWN: Yeah, definitely. This is my first time getting to play in the tournament, so I'm excited to get to play, but for us as a team where were projected to finish at the beginning of the season versus where we are now has shown a lot of progress and just goes to show all the work we've put in this season.

Q. Same question to Vanessa.

VANESSA de JESUS: For myself again, this is my first year, and it's always been a dream of mine to play in this tournament. So it finally being that time, it's just a surreal moment. I'm just so excited to finally play here at home.

Q. Do you guys have any thoughts on the 9:30 tip or are you just ready to play?

CELESTE TAYLOR: Obviously it's a later game than we've played before, but at the end of the day, we have to prepare ourselves to play at any time, especially in this March tournament. So we've been practicing a little bit, trying to stay up later and later as the day goes on. But we've got to do what we've got to do.

KENNEDY BROWN: Coach tried to get us prepared for that actually, so she moved practice back a little bit, let us sleep in a little more, stay up a little bit later, so we're ready for that 9:30 tip.

Again, like C said, got to be ready for anything. So we will be.

Q. For all three of you, that last game in the ACC Tournament, you've got North Carolina and then go up against a Virginia Tech's team who was just red hot, but the offense wasn't really there for you in that game. What's been the main focus since the Virginia Tech loss to kind of put that beside you and look forward to the tournament?

VANESSA de JESUS: For us, we went back to the film, and we just took it as a learning lesson and getting better every day. So just emphasizing the importance, like you said, offensively, executing on that, and again defensively, which is something that got us here so far.

So just focusing on those details, I think, will help us moving forward.

CELESTE TAYLOR: Basically what V said, but we tend to bounce back when we've had some tough losses. So I think it kind of put us in a pretty good position. I mean, it did suck to lose, for things to not go the way we wanted to, but I mean, we've done pretty good at bouncing back. Like V said, just going back to the drawing board and fixing things we need to work on.

Obviously, we had a tough offensive game, but at the end of the day, we know we have really good offensive players on our team, and we have faith and confidence in each and every one of us and each other. So we're just going to go out and play and do what we've seen each other do all season long.

Q. Without being in the tournament last year, what were you doing during this time? Does that seem awkward to you? I guess it's a sign of progress that you're back in this thing.

CELESTE TAYLOR: For sure. Last year we went right back to workouts. We didn't really know what was going to happen. We were waiting for that selection show to come out and to actually see, but we just went to work honestly. We worked on the things we individually needed to work on as individuals. A lot of it was just being more consistent.

We had a lot of new players, so just getting acclimated to the system still because the year that we had was pretty rough, especially losing people to COVID and injury. So we had a pretty rough year. But just going back and then bringing in some really, really great players and gelling with them and working with them and seeing what we could do with the next year.

I had been able to play in the tournament the year before that, so it was kind of -- I was kind of upset that we didn't get to be in it last year, but to come back from not being in the tournament, to be a 3 seed, I think that's a really great jump. It's a really great sign of progression in our program, in the coaching staff, and the players that we brought in. So I'm really excited to be able to play in March.

Q. Celeste, what does it mean for you to be one of the top four finalists for National Defensive Player of the Year? And if Vanessa or Kennedy could add, what do you think makes Celeste such a great defender?

CELESTE TAYLOR: Honestly, since I was young, I've always been on defense. I was always just really athletic. So it kind of helped me. As I got older, I was able to read more things differently, and figure out the players I'm playing against as far as going deep into scouting, and seeing how I have to scout certain players and what they do and their tendencies.

But it honestly means a lot to me. I mean, I couldn't have done it without them honestly because, when you have a back line like Ken and you have other guards around you that you know are going to have your back if something goes wrong, it makes it that much easier to be aggressive, and be in those passing lanes, and pressure the players that you're playing against.

So I'm really grateful for my teammates and the staff as well for putting me in that position.

THE MODERATOR: Kennedy, do you want to talk about what it's like playing against Celeste at practice?

KENNEDY BROWN: Thankfully for me, she doesn't really guard me. If I had to choose one word to describe C.T., it would be relentless on the defensive end, I think. She's always pressuring the ball. You may think she's out of a play, she'll come from behind and block it, and it's like where did she come from? You never know.

So I think you always have to be ready, and when she is guarding you -- again, I do not have to do that -- but she's also just a great communicator, a great leader on that end, both ends of the floor.

She makes it easy when there are mistakes. She's flying around helping everyone out. So I think just, yeah, relentless.

THE MODERATOR: Vanessa, as a guard, can you talk about Celeste?

VANESSA de JESUS: It's always a challenge against Celeste, not going to lie. She's always, like Kennedy said, relentless, and I think her understanding of the game overall is what separates her as a defender. Again, knowing tendencies, knowing the game. Again, I'm just -- I'm going to miss her next year, but I'm not going to miss having her guard me for sure.

Q. This is for all of you. How has Coach Lawson changed this week coming into the preparation for this tournament?

VANESSA de JESUS: Again, we didn't finish the ACC Tournament as we wanted to. So just going back to the drawing boards and fixing what needed to be fixed. I think, at the end of the day, this whole year, we wanted to get here for this moment and just really want to show what we've got.

So it's been a long time coming, but I think having the moment now and it being finally this time, it's something we're just really excited for, and something we've been waiting for since the beginning of the year.

KENNEDY BROWN: I wouldn't really say she's changed at all. I think we've prepared for each game the same way. We don't take any matchup lightly, so I think the coaches, the preparation they do, it's always the same. It's always, they have a standard for how they prepare for each game. So I don't think that's changed at all.

After the ACC we kind of went back and focused more on ourselves which was good to kind of have that time like they mentioned earlier. But we've prepared for every game the same, I think, this year.

CELESTE TAYLOR: Similar to Kennedy, nothing really has changed. I think the only thing would be the urgency because now you're one and you're done. You know, you lose and you go home.

So everything -- not that we didn't give everything we had in prior games, but I think on every team and on every staff and every program when March comes around, your urgency just goes up because you know, once you lose, you're out. So we've been trying to just work on that.

Like Ken said, staying focused on our opponent that's right in front of us and doing what we need to do to win and to continue to play in March.

Q. Just as a follow to that, if each one of you could tell me what has been -- whether it was a pregame speech or an individual meeting with her -- what has been kind of the most inspirational message that Coach Lawson has passed on to you?

CELESTE TAYLOR: There have been a few, but I think her overall confidence in each and every one of her players -- and I guess I'll speak for me individually, just the confidence that she has in me to go out there and perform.

She sees the work that we put in before practice, after practice, the extra work when we come into the gym, she sees all that. She knows that she's putting out a good team in general to go out there and perform.

So for me, it would be the confidence that she has in all of us.

VANESSA de JESUS: For me I'd probably say her speech about handling hard better. Since last year, it was definitely a hard year just not having the outcome we wanted, but instead of getting into ourself and getting into our heads, we instead turned it around and used it as a way to get better and to learn from that.

So just understanding that although things may not have turned out the way we wanted to, but understanding how to learn from that and handle it better and come out stronger from that is something that's really important and something I'll really learn from.

KENNEDY BROWN: I don't know if there's one specific like moment, but this is obviously my first year in this program, so getting to learn from her this year. I think her position as being someone who played in this tournament four times, it's a really unique perspective, I think.

So being able to just learn from her almost as like a player coach perspective. She sees things differently, I think. So that's been really just, I think, fun for me to get to learn from her that way. I just look forward to learning from her more.

Q. Any one of you can answer this, but what have you guys learned as far as the scout video, anything you guys noticed from Iona? Anything you're going to be keying in on or focusing in on for this game?

CELESTE TAYLOR: I think obviously they're a basketball team, a really great basketball team that has won their conference. We know that they're really good on three-point line.

So at the end of the day, we've just got to play our defense. It's kind of hard for teams to match up against us the first time because they don't know the pressure of defense that we play. But we're going out there like every other game and just applying pressure in every way we can.

Obviously they're really great at shooting from the three, but there's a whole bunch of other ways to get around that, so we just need to be prepared for everything. But I think right now it's just the three-point line with them because we know how well they can shoot the ball.

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Joining us is Duke head coach in her third season at Duke, Kara Lawson. We will open it to questions.

Q. Getting to the tournament and actually being a host as well, what is the importance of that, not only for this year but maybe for the big picture?

KARA LAWSON: I've never been to the tournament before, as a coach, so I can't say whether it's better or worse. I would assume it's better to host than not host as a coach. I would assume our players are more comfortable being here, but you'd have to ask them.

For us, to play in front of our fans is definitely a benefit. Like I said, I don't know, I have not been here before.

Q. Maybe more so than hosting, but to be considered one of the Top 16 teams this year, that at least gives you maybe some status. I know it doesn't mean anything when the ball is thrown up tomorrow night, but just what does that mean in general?

KARA LAWSON: There's no doubt I'm proud of the team and the strides we've made this year. We finished tenth in our league last year, and this year we finished second. That's hard to do in any league, let alone the ACC.

So we've improved a lot, and we've grown. I thought the committee recognized that, the strength of our consistency, I think more than anything this year. We were consistent with our performances throughout and won some tough games, we've also lost some tough games.

This group was really focused and in it till the end, and I'm proud of their endurance and their ability to take each game with the amount of respect that it demands.

Q. We were talking with players about that Virginia Tech loss and finishing the ACC Tournament that way, and they kept saying we've been focusing on ourselves this week. If you could kind of elaborate that for me, what have you guys been focusing on this week heading into the tournament?

KARA LAWSON: I think just cleaning some things up. I think it's pretty natural that there's slippage through the course of the season. We went eight straight weeks playing two games a week. We didn't have a bye the last 16 games of the season. That means there's very little time to focus on yourself. Most of the time you're focusing on the next opponent. I thought our team did a good job of that, focusing on the next opponent every week.

So it's been good to have a couple weeks to work on just cleaning some things up just foundationally, different -- they're small things. They'd probably be pretty boring to most people, whether it's like angles or timing, things like that.

We're not going to put in a new offense and a new defense in two weeks. We're going to be who we are in the tournament, but there's definitely some things that you can try and make more efficient, and that's what we did.

Q. You've had some speeches, kind of motivational messages to your team before that that have gone viral and such.

KARA LAWSON: You're not going to ask me to give one right now, are you?

Q. No, but what I was curious is kind of where it comes from. Is it a lot just based on your personal experiences as a player and just drawing from everything, or is it something you see in advance what you need from a practice the night before and you kind of prepare almost -- not like a preacher, but you almost prepare for, okay, we need this at this moment.

KARA LAWSON: I don't think it's that dramatic. I mean, I just talk to them. Sometimes it's something I'm thinking about, and sometimes it's something that I think they need to hear. I talk to them every day.

I mean, the most important thing you can do as a coach is tell your players the truth. If you want to be in any type of relationship, the most important thing is to tell people the truth. If you're not authentic with what you're doing, people spot a fake from a mile away. Basketball players are particularly astute at spotting fakes. They know when you're being real with them and when you're not.

I just try to be as real as I can with them about things that are going on or things they may face or concepts that I've struggled with.

I tell my players all the time, when I talk about a concept, it doesn't mean that I'm awesome at it. A lot of times it's stuff that I struggle with too. If I've struggled with it, chances are they have struggled with it or they will struggle with it because their path is my old path, right?

I was in their shoes as a player and as a college player entering their conference season or their postseason or the NCAA Tournament. I've been where they've been, and the best thing you can do as a leader is, if you've been where they've been, help show them the way so maybe they don't make the same mistakes as you do.

So it comes from that, and then -- you know, I can't explain why so many people watch them. I don't know. That's been surprising to me too, but I do get a lot of great messages from people that's really inspiring and motivating about how the messages have helped them, from all over the country, from all walks of life.

I had a 75-year-old lady from Montana that's retired tell me that it helps her because she rides -- she has a horse. I think she has a lot of horses. I don't know, I couldn't tell from her letter. She's 75. She lives in Montana. I don't remember her name, but I wrote her back. I answer every letter with a handwritten note.

She gets on her horse every day. That's her workout. She goes out, and she says that she does that, when she saw one of my speeches.

I was eighth grade science homework in Fresno, California. They had to watch the speech and write a report on it. I don't know how I felt about that, being homework. I think being homework is probably not the greatest thing. I don't know if the kids were excited about it because it was homework.

I get messages from people all over the country. It's cool. It inspires me too, I think, just keep putting stuff out there that resonates with people. A lot of coaches, a lot of youth leagues, a lot of high school coaches, a lot of football coaches. So it's been cool to make those connections.

I think everybody that coaches, whatever level you coach, you coach youth league, you coach 5-year-olds, you coach college players, you coach professional athletes, we're all trying to do the best job we can to help our players reach their potential. So there's a lot of shared common goals and things that you look for.

So I'm just a part of that group of people. Not better or worse or different than anybody else, but just trying to find ways to motivate my players.

Q. Coach, just speaking about Celeste Taylor, can you just talk about her performance from the beginning of the year to where she is now in her stage?

KARA LAWSON: I think Celeste, I've said this multiple times this year about her, she's a non-traditional star on a non-traditional team. I think people just have a hard time evaluating us as a group. They don't know what to think of us, and a lot of times they don't know what to think of her because we don't follow the traditional metrics for evaluation of how you want to talk about how good someone is or how good a team is.

So I think most people, when they watch us play, they don't really know how to compliment us or evaluate us because they like to talk about all the things that we don't do well, and there are a lot of those, but there's a lot of things we do do well. I mean, you don't win 25 games without doing a lot well.

She's somebody that just -- I say this a lot about her, she impacts winning. Celeste is most concerned about winning the game, and she's most concerned with doing whatever she can to win the game.

A lot of times that's deflections, that's a block in transition, that's seeing that one of her teammates maybe has made the wrong -- has started -- has played the wrong coverage in an action and covering it up for them, which most people watching will never know that that happened. They'll just see that we've got the stop, but she's covered something up for someone else.

She's doing that stuff all the time, and it has been one of the biggest reasons we've had a lot of success is she just is really high IQ and places great value on every possession, especially on the defensive end.

And then on the offensive end, she's been consistent for us, probably our most consistent player on that end that we know we can get scoring from her. She's had some games where she's been a great scorer. She's had some games where she's struggled, but she always gives great effort, and you never question that she wants to win.

I think she's one of the best players in the country, and like I said, I just think -- I'm not blaming anybody. I'm not one of those soapbox coaches that's going to rail about what people did get or didn't get. It's a waste of time. What I will tell you is she wins and she contributes to winning as much as any player in the country. I'm glad she's on my team.

Q. Just to follow up on that, what challenges does Iona present, and what are keys that you are asking for from your team in order to be successful?

KARA LAWSON: They're a very good offensive team, so it's going to be a real challenge for us defensively to be able to slow them down. They're very efficient with how they play. Obviously shoot a great percentage from three, and they're very consistent with what they're looking for and making you pay when you make a mistake. They do a great job if you make a mistake, whether it's poor body position, poor angles, they'll cut you and score.

So we have a big challenge on our hands. They've got good experience as well. So I think for us trying to make things as difficult as we can for them defensively, and then that's a variety of ways obviously with our pressure hopefully. You don't know until you get in the game whether pressure is going to bother somebody or not. We hope our pressure can bother them, and we hope our depth can give us an advantage.

I tell my team this all the time about depth, like it's really cool to have depth on paper. The only way depth works is if everybody plays well. Like think about it, if you have ten really good players and five of them stink that game, you've really only got five players. You don't have depth anymore. You've just got five good players and five that stink that day.

So to really leverage your depth, your ten players have to play well. Obviously they know that. Our players got to play well. If they play well, we'd like to think our depth could be an advantage for us in any matchup, not just this matchup.

Those are things that we've been consistent, I think, all year with doing, and hopefully we can do that again.

Q. Obviously only one team gets to cut down the nets at the end of the tournament. What does success look like for Duke in this tournament?

KARA LAWSON: I don't do big picture questions. We're just trying to win tomorrow, and I think -- I don't get caught up in that stuff, to be honest with you. I'm not avoiding your question. I think one of our strengths all year is we've just focused on the next game, and we let everybody else talk about the big picture stuff and who can win and who can't win and who can do all that. We don't worry about it.

We talk about trying to stay focused, but success for us tomorrow is to win. If we can do that, we get a chance to play another day.

You know, at the start of the year, I don't think anybody thought the last game of the season we'd be playing for the ACC title. We didn't go around all year talking about the ACC title. We just went around all year worried about the next game. Then all of a sudden we woke up on the last Sunday of the season, and we were playing for it.

I'd take that in this tournament. You just got to really focus on your game. If we don't focus on it, we'll get beat. That's the way March works. We have to just stay locked in to Iona and give our best effort, and hopefully at the end of that game, we'll win it.

So I can't tell you what success in March looks like for us, but I can tell you what success looks like tomorrow. That buzzer goes off, we win it. I don't care if the score is 27-26 or 87-86, if we win it, it's a success for us.