SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 7, 2025

Kenny Brooks

Georgia Amoore

Bon Secours Wellness Arena

Kentucky Wildcats

Postgame Press Conference

Oklahoma 69, Kentucky 65

THE MODERATOR: We welcome Kentucky. We'll take questions for Georgia.

Q. Georgia, can you talk about what was disrupting that offensive flow in the fourth quarter?

GEORGIA AMOORE: I just don't think we were aggressive enough. I don't think we placed emphasis on the possessions we had. We knew they were creeping back and scoring. We were probably a step behind more often than not.

Down the stretch, I would have liked to have seen a bit more passion.

Q. Was there something specific they were doing, or more maybe y'all impacted the reason that the threes weren't falling today as a team?

GEORGIA AMOORE: Yeah, we just have to hit shots, plain and simple. I think we had open looks. Hit them. There were even some possessions where we caught the ball, looked like it surprised us, and we hesitated. So that's on us.

Q. So much has been made this year about fatigue, lack of depth. Do you think that played into any factor today?

GEORGIA AMOORE: No, because I think that we just have to bring energy and effort and attitude. That's everyone. Coach Brooks isn't going to play anyone that's showing that. Even in some cases we were in huddles and it was a bit flat from everyone.

We're not going to trust it if people aren't bringing the energy, effort and attitude that Coach Brooks always says.

Q. It seems like your expression never changes, doesn't matter what's going on in the game. You're playing with joy and passion. Is that intentional on your part or some sort of intimidation factor for the opponent?

GEORGIA AMOORE: It's very intentional. My freshman year Coach Brooks kind of made it known that I'm the point guard, so when the ball is in my hand, everyone is reading my body language, be it him or my team.

I have to exude confidence. No matter what's going on, they're going to take on the body language of me. I carry great responsibility with that.

THE MODERATOR: Georgia, thank you. We'll continue with questions for Coach Brooks.

Q. Earlier at South Carolina this week you said the team was feeling a bit beat up. Do you feel like that played a factor tonight?

KENNY BROOKS: No. I think everybody is tired, beat up at this point in the year. It's just a mindset that you have to get through it.

Just 'cause we got some bumps and bruises doesn't mean that Oklahoma doesn't have bumps and bruises or anybody else who is playing at this point, at this time of the year.

Q. Obviously you haven't watched the film yet, but what lessons can you take from this to roll into preparation for the NCAA tournament?

KENNY BROOKS: I mean, it's not like we got upset, we lost to a bad team. Oklahoma has won nine in a row, ranked 10th in the country. Jennie does a really good job. They're a championship culture. They won two Big 12 championships in a row pretty much with that core of kids. They know how to win basketball games.

We have to finish. We have to finish basketball games. I thought we had a good stretch. I know somebody's going to talk about fatigue, but with three minutes to go in the game, we're down by one and we have a double timeout. We did that intentionally so we could get some rest. When you get into those opportunities, you have to take advantage of them.

There's some plays we'll look at down the stretch that we didn't make, and they made. That was a big part of the game.

Q. Clara, she didn't have her best offensive game. But has been awesome all season for you. From your perspective, two years ago when she arrives to now, what kind of transformation have you seen? Are we even scratching the surface yet with her?

KENNY BROOKS: No. I'll correct you right there. I thought she played well offensively. She got double-teamed quite a bit, a very aggressive double-team. When you're being doubled and the person that's doubling you, your teammates have to dive and put theirselves in position to be available. We didn't do that several times.

But she played hard. She played hard. She endured a lot of physicality throughout the whole basketball game. She kept her composure. She stayed in the present. She battled. She battled as she's done all year long. Just a progression.

We had a feeling she could be this good. She just didn't get an opportunity last year because she had to play behind an All-American who never got in foul trouble. We had to find a way to get her on the court.

Everything we're seeing we're not surprised, we're extremely excited about what she's going to be able to do in the future.

Q. The physicality of the game, can you talk about the inside play?

KENNY BROOKS: I could talk about it, but I'm sure I'll get fined so I guess I won't talk about it.

Congratulations. I can't wait to see the energy tomorrow when they play against South Carolina. It's going to be fun.

Q. Whenever the flow changes, whenever things don't go your way, do you have to kind of change your game plan or do you stick to what you want to do?

KENNY BROOKS: Our game plan was good. Our defense was really good the first half. We made them take the shots. Albeit they shot 6 for 27. That's what we wanted them to do from the three-point line. We wanted to clog up the middle a little bit.

They got away from us a couple times. We had some miscommunication. We didn't execute some of those plays. But other than that, we did what we wanted to do.

There were some plays in there that happened. But you got to play through that. I thought we did for the most part. We really had a terrible stretch where we just lost our person a couple times and they capitalized on it.

Q. Earlier this week you said you felt that Strack was due recognition as one of the best players in the country. SEC Defense Player of the Year. Can you talk about how you felt she's developed?

KENNY BROOKS: Tremendous. Again, I can't be more proud of her. A lot of things go unnoticed with her. I'm so glad that everyone recognized all the little things that she does for us. She anchors our defense. She's a smart kid. She has versatility that we really weren't able to express as much as we would like this year.

But I think one of the things that goes unnoticed, age-wise, she's the same age as our freshmen. She came in last year. Our intentions were to redshirt her because she was so young. She didn't turn 18 last year until, I think, like, December. She just outplayed that.

I'm excited for her. Sky's the limit for her just because of her knowledge of the game and her versatility, what she's going to be able to do.

We're not done yet. We got a lot of basketball left to play. This league is going to produce teams that are going to contend for a national championship. Even though our run in the SEC is over with, I'm excited to get out there and play with a whole new cast of characters all throughout the floor. See what we'll be able to do.

Q. Clara Silva, you put her in, then took her out. She came back in. Gave you good minutes. What can she still continue to add for you?

KENNY BROOKS: Yeah, she had a shaky first couple of possessions. Obviously some of her teammates had some shaky possessions. So she got an opportunity to go back in. She made the most of it.

When she's in and playing strong, it allows us to get to Clara Strack's versatility. That's when we can really strive. I thought she gave us some really good minutes. She buckled in on our second and third opportunities. She needs to be a little bit better. She will be. I applaud her effort, especially in that second half.

Q. There was 20 turnovers and it felt uncharacteristic of the team. Could you break down if that was more of mental lapse or...

KENNY BROOKS: I know. Obviously in a game like this, Oklahoma, they're going to be aggressive on the defensive end. They're going to shoot gaps, gamble a lot. If you look at it, probably 10 or 11 of our turnovers were by our post players. Some of those are the tie-ups.

They weren't turnovers that really hurt us. You want to give yourself a chance to shoot the basketball every time you get it. They weren't live-ball turnovers. They didn't hurt us that bad.

Our post players getting double-teamed, we're not getting opportunities.

Q. What makes Raegan Beers a tough cover?

KENNY BROOKS: She's a really good player. I take nothing away from Raegan. She's big, she's strong. She's got some moves. They're very hard to guard.

She's a great kid. She's a wonderful kid. She competes. She's a competitor. She goes out there. You go through the handshake line, she's the nicest kid you ever want to meet.

She's an All-American.

Q. Teonni looked a little discouraged. What kind of conversation can you have with her going forward?

KENNY BROOKS: We need her. We need her. We need her contributions. She means a lot to the success of our team. When she's playing at a high level, we're a really good basketball team. If she's not, then we're not.

So we need her production, and we need her to be competent out there.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.