BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 8, 2026

Denise Dillon

Kennedy Henry

Brynn McCurry

Mohegan Sun Arena

Villanova Wildcats

Postgame Media Conference

Villanova - 62, Seton Hall - 48

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with an opening statement from Coach and then take questions for the student-athletes.

DENISE DILLON: Yeah, well, happy to be up here with an opportunity to play in a championship game tomorrow. So proud of our group for doing what they're capable of and getting us to this point. We want to continue playing basketball.

THE MODERATOR: We'll start here with questions.

Q. How important was it to get that 12-0 start and how much of a jolt did it give the players?

BRYNN McCURRY: Yeah, I think that's a really big energy boost and kind of gets everyone's confidence going. It's obviously a little bit nerve-wracking stepping out on the court in this environment in such an important game, and we do have a young team, so trying to give the young ones, like, the confidence they need to start off strong, and that just kind of led throughout the game.

Q. Congrats on Most Improved Player. Obviously, we saw that you were improved. You got the votes. But what, from your perspective, is most improved about your game this year?

BRYNN McCURRY: Yeah, my freshman year I was coming off a different ACL injury, so just trying to gain that confidence coming back so late in the season. But I think this past year I've had such a supportive environment my first year. I rehabbed, like, back at home in high school, but having my teammates around me and such great care to be taken care of at Villanova really helped.

But again, just being out on the court, being confident in myself, and I had a little bit more time this time before the season started to get back into things and I'm glad it worked out.

Q. Coach, beginning of the year you played some tough games, lost to Fairfield, playing Princeton. At what point did you believe that you guys could be where you're at today playing for a championship?

DENISE DILLON: Yeah, we certainly put together a challenging schedule for non-conference, just to prepare us for the Big East, to put ourselves in the conversation for March Madness and national contention. That's what the standard is, that's what we want, and have the players here who can do it.

I think the awareness that they felt the confidence was that West Virginia game, the win at West Virginia. That just showed what they were capable of, what our team was capable of, and they felt it and wanted to continue to build on that, and that really did set us off at that point.

We went December without losing a game, just ready and prepared us for all that we were to face moving forward, so certainly put that one into play.

Q. Both Dani and Brooke played 21 minutes tonight. Is that just trying to keep everybody fresh with three games in three days or was that a matchup thing?

DENISE DILLON: No, I mean, they have been playing a lot of minutes. Dani is usually sixth, seventh person off the bench -- you like that? (Laughing.) -- each and every game. So defensively, we always rely on her to go.

Brooke Bender, they were throwing a lot of zone out there, so you want your shooter in there at all cost. But I just think it was a matter of our rotation. They're playing significant minutes for us. And, yeah, we need each and every player to be ready to go any night we're out there.

Q. You gave UConn as best a run you could playing a couple weeks ago. How much do you use that -- you know, is that in your minds now?

KENNEDY HENRY: I would say it just shows that we can compete. Every time we play together as a team we can get out there and compete with anyone. And UConn's the No. 1 team in the nation, and for us to be able to go out there and be up at the half, it's the first time they have ever been down at the half this entire year, I think that just shows we're competitive and we're going to be out there and we're going to show up tomorrow.

Q. Flan was saying earlier today one of the differences in this UConn team and others he's seen the last few years is just their depth they have as opposed to having six players some years. You've been around the program for a while -- or you've seen that program for a while. Do you agree that their depth this year is something that is maybe different than the last few years they have had?

DENISE DILLON: Yeah, absolutely. Unfortunately, in past years, they have been hit with the injury bug, and they were still able to do some great things out there, of course, especially last year, win that National Championship coming off it. But they do, they have a number of players who are just rotating through. So you mix things up, you might change it up defensively what your scheme is, and having a player or two that they can throw into that.

So it does, it comes down to not so much, like, the personnel, because you know UConn's going to continue to do what they do, so us just being locked in, like, defensively where we stand, and knowing how important it is the details of all of it. But they are, yeah, at a place where they have more than they have had, I think, since probably they're 2014 group.

Q. When you play a team like UConn, No. 1 team in the country, whether it's tomorrow's game or the two earlier games, what's the impact of playing a team like that? And what does that do for you guys, not just later in the regular season, but later in the post-season as well?

KENNEDY HENRY: UConn's a very disciplined team and I think that challenges us to be just as disciplined as them, because they have great players. They're going to run their actions, they're going to do it over and over again, so that challenges us to stop them over and over and over again. And even if they make a shot, I think for us, especially being young, like, it's, like, okay, it's fine, go down, next play, and then come back and stop that same play that they just ran. I just think it all comes back to, like, having confidence and being a more disciplined team.

Q. The UConn question, not that I want you to give away your whole team talk right now, but how much are you going to use it to say you ran with them --

DENISE DILLON: How much am I going to?

Q. Use that game to say, again, to them that you guys ran with 'em?

DENISE DILLON: I mean, of course. You want to continue to get better, and that's been the mentality of this group all year. First getting to know each other and getting better together each and every practice, each and every time you step on the floor. And we weren't very good at their place. We were better at our place.

But you got to be the absolute best to be in a position to compete against them to beat them. So there's a lot of work, but they had a taste of it. We got to do it for four quarters. Can't do it for a half.

Q. This game tomorrow isn't about UConn. It's about what your team can do. What do you say on short notice to your team to prepare for a championship game?

DENISE DILLON: Yeah, I'll repeat it. We got to be better. We got to be better than we were the day before. And just the want. The want has to be there, but the effort has to increase.