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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS: IOWA CITY


March 25, 2013


Natalie Achonwa

Jewell Lloyd

Muffet McGraw


IOWA CITY, IOWA

THE MODERATOR:   Coach McGraw does not have an opening statement so at this time we will take statements for the student athletes.

Q.  July, maybe talk a little bit, as a 1‑seed, how do you maintain a focus no matter who you play, and not so much overconfidence, but maintaining a level, how do you guys do that?
JEWELL LLOYD:  I think we just had to focus on our goals and what we want to accomplish.  It's just another game for us.  We focus like any other game and we should be fine.

Q.  Natalie, could you talk a little bit about what it takes to be able to handle the challenges of the road and the challenges of a quick turnaround?
NATALIE ACHONWA:  I think it's all about your mental approach and how you take your day‑to‑day basis.  We have a day in between to kind of refocus and look forward to the next team in Iowa, and I think it's about how we take this day and how we utilize this day.  Coach does a great job of setting us up for it and we'll look over it today and just kind of prepare for tomorrow.

Q.  And the challenges of the road?
NATALIE ACHONWA:  Iowa has a home‑court advantage here, everyone knows that.  We've played a lot of great away games this year and I think it's just about focusing on what we are going to do and how we are going to play, and just try to take the crowd out of it.

Q.  In general, what challenges does Iowa provide?
JEWELL LLOYD:  Iowa has some post shooters and a big presence overall.  They are a smart team and run a motion offense.  It's just about playing team defense and it's like a shell drill (ph) for us, so making sure that we are sticking true to our principles and playing great defense.

Q.  For either one of you, do you watch the other women's games, or when you watch the men's, do you ever root for the underdog?  You're a 1‑seed yourself but do you get caught up and root for the underdog like anybody else?
JEWELL LLOYD:  You always want to watch a good game, really, and it's like watching basketball and to see the outcome, that's basically all I've got for that.

Q.  Natalie, I don't know if you've had a chance to look at Iowa, or if you watched much of the game last night, what do you think of Morgan Johnson?
NATALIE ACHONWA:  They are very tall and lean.  One plays back to the basket but they work well together and work with their team and their motion.  I think it's just going to be about being physical.  Iowa is physical and we are going to play physical and it's just about who out‑thinks their opponent, basically.  Both are very smart teams and it's just who is a step ahead.

Q.  Jewell, you had Butler and Newsome yesterday and now a tandem of Printy, Logic, Dixon; what do they challenge defensively compared to Tennessee Martin?
JEWELL LLOYD:  They are all good guys and they can shoot the ball really well.  Logic is a good passer, so just containing the ball with her.  So sticking to our principles on our defense and we'll see where that takes us.

Q.  Tomorrow is an 8:30 game, it would be 9:30 your time.  What do you do during the day and how do you stay sharp for such a late game?
NATALIE ACHONWA:  I think we played some big Monday games this year, and we had some late games already.
It is a long day.  Game days are always long days when you have a night game.  It's just about getting your feet up, resting, watching some film and just spending some time relaxing and mentally preparing for the game.  You don't want to get too relaxed where you're sitting around all day; but just the same approach we've had for other night games.

Q.  Jewell, on Sunday what did Coach talk to you about during the game about identifying shooters and can that carry over to playing Iowa?
JEWELL LLOYD:  Talk and communication, making sure we find them in transition, always have a hand up and like I say, stay with our principles on defense, and it really comes down to our D that we always work on in practice and that will transfer over in games.

Q.  Natalie, you had a nice milestone yesterday, 1,000 points in your career, now that's kind of out of the way and keep your focus on each opponent?
NATALIE ACHONWA:  Yeah, definitely.  I didn't know I was that close though.  It's a great milestone to achieve and I'm blessed to be a part of that 1,000 Club at Notre Dame.  Now looking forward to the next game and kind of putting that behind me.

Q.  Can you talk about the offensive balance of this team and do you just react to the way the game is going, or do you have some thoughts going into a game on who is going to have some advantages when it comes to scoring?
JEWELL LLOYD:  I think if we just move the ball unselfish, we've got to be smart with the ball and I mean, that's basically‑‑ stay true to our game plan really.

Q.  This week everyone is talking parity and such with the men.  Is the women's game missing that a little bit do you think?
COACH McGRAW:  You know, I thought you saw some minor upsets yesterday.  But overall, I think when you're playing on a neutral court, anything can happen.
So I think in the men's game, there is a lot more parity than there is in the women's game, but you saw that all year long, with who is No.1, the rotating thing.  Where in the women's game, the top five didn't really change much all year long.  But I do want to go on record saying that I did not hope (ph) for any 16 seeds in the first two rounds. 

Q.  You built this program, and there were times when the program was not the kind of program that was sort of automatically put into the Sweet16 and the Elite 8.  What's the difference now between teams that almost always are making the Sweet16 and the rest of the field?
COACH McGRAW:  You know, I think success of the program is judged on how you do in the NCAA Tournament.  We have been to ten Sweet16s and I think we were a good program, but I don't think we got the notoriety that we would expect until we got to the Final Four back‑to‑back.
So four Final Fours and I think finally, our program is on an elite level.  I think it takes that really to get the respect from the people in the country.

Q.  (No mic).
COACH McGRAW:  They have to be better.  I think our recruiting has definitely changed and we are getting more McDonald's All‑Americans on our team.  You have some special players like you have with Skylar, but you have to have good players around them like Kayla McBride and Jewell Lloyd and Natalie Achonwa, you have to continue the recruiting, that's the rough part of the program, you have to continue.  It's a job that's 24/7, 12 months a year, never ends, you go from one class to the next, and you have to continue to bring in elite level players in order to sustain that.
But for us, it's always been about chemistry more than talent, and there are some top players in the country that we don't really want on the our team.
We want them to fit in and play well together and be unselfish and team‑oriented.  So for us, it's a lot more about the fit of the player than where they are ranked.

Q.  Now that you've had a little time to digest yesterday's game, what was your evaluation of that, and I guess overall, where your team is now in reference to trying to make a run here?
COACH McGRAW:  Yeah, offensively, we were on.  We shot the ball extremely well.  Eight turnovers in the game, and you know, I thought it was a very good game considering we had not played since, I think 11 days since our last game.  I thought we would be a little rusty but we really came out and looked sharp and I was really pleased with that.
Defensively our team defense has done a lot better.  I think Butler had just an outstanding day but still managed to hold them to 60 points and beat them by 30.  Overall I was pleased with the rebound and the defense with the exception of some individual parts on Butler.

Q.  You have a young lady who grew up nearby in Des Moines, can you talk about Markisha, and what do you see for her in the future and her role with your team and maybe her development, how it's gone?
COACH McGRAW:  She plays a really big role for us.  She comes in behind Natalie, she's playing some quality minutes.  She played quite a bit in the BIG EAST Championship game against Connecticut when Natalie got in foul trouble.  She's a steady presence in the lane, works extremely hard, wants to be very good and she's very, very coachable and I think she's improving dramatically.
She has been a defensive physical player for us.  She's the best screener on our team.  The guards love playing with her because she sets a great screen.  She's the one that is not afraid to bang inside and I think she's got a really bright future with us.

Q.  Just going off your question, is it more difficult to sustain being an elite program rather than getting there?  And do you see any up‑and‑coming programs, do you see challenging Connecticut yourselves, Stanford, Baylor, etc.?
COACH McGRAW:  I think it is difficult to sustain.  I think you get there‑‑ we got there in 2001, and it took us a little while to get back.  And you know, we went to a few Sweet16s in there, but it wasn't quite the level we wanted it to be at.  So I think we are back there now because of our recruiting.
And I think you are seeing a little bit of a changing of the guard.  You know, I think when teams are able to win at Connecticut and win at Tennessee, I think you can see that the two marquis programs in women's basketball are being challenged a lot more frequently now.  And I think around the country, with the leagues changing, I think that's going to change things.  I think with us going to the ACC, it will be interesting to see how the new conference, how Connecticut fairs.
I think the ACC will be a really strong league for us and hopefully that will become the best league in women's basketball.

Q.  Could you talk about the evolution of this year's team?  You had to replace three starters from a year ago and you had three freshmen coming in and another that had not played the year before, and a phenomenal growth from the early part of the season, can you talk about the depth, the strength and the quality of the team from top to bottom in the course of the season?
COACH McGRAW:  We have a lot of questions coming into the season, losing three really good players, three starters, four seniors and two WNBA first rounds, so we had a lot to replace.  We started talking about that in April and what we needed to do to replace them.  Natalie has made great strides and we knew Kayla McBride was going to be a great player but having an All‑American year has really solidified her spot nationally.
But you have freshmen coming in that are untested, they are great players in high school but you don't know how they will react at the college level, this level especially.  Lloyd had a phenomenal season, Rookie of the Year, one of the best in the country.  Michaela Mabrey, surprise player, injury last year that did not allow her to play as a freshman, gave us great minutes and continues to give us great minutes.  Michaela gave us great minutes off the bench.
So our freshmen continued quite a bit along with Ariel Braker, an unsung hero to us.  I think our players have really developed throughout the year, they have gotten better and more confident and I think we are growing as a team.

Q.  Will it take another generation of kids for the women's game to be where the men's game is?
COACH McGRAW:  I don't think you see many game‑changing players.  I think in the women's game, there's a few at the top that can come in, but you know, you look at Connecticut, the No.1 recruiting class in the country, Jefferson, No.2 player in the country, Top‑10 player‑‑ it takes a while to adjust to the college game.
You have to be a really special player to come in and make a significant contribution as a freshman, and I think the number of players that can do that nationally is pretty small.  So, yes, I think it will take another generation.

Q.  Can you talk about, this is kind of the scenario you didn't want was playing a home team in the second round.  What are the pitfalls of that for you guys?
COACH McGRAW:  Well, I think we've been road‑tested and we're battle‑tested.  We are undefeated on the road, so that's kind of the message we are sending our team in going to Connecticut.
We have gone to a lot of tough places on the road.  So we know what that's going to be like.  The crowd is going to be against us and there are going to be a lot of people cheering against us.  You would hope that we get some Notre Dame fans out there to balance that out, but we're ready to go.

Q.  What can you say about the balance of Iowa?  You had Samantha Logic yesterday had a double‑double, Melissa Dixon had a couple of three‑pointers to get them back in the game; what can you say about the balance of Iowa and is that going to be a challenge for you guys?
COACH McGRAW:  Yeah, Samantha Logic had maybe the best game of her season so far, double‑double.  That's a fantastic accomplishment for a guard to have, and she played extremely well.  She's the key to their team.  Her assist to turnover ratio is impressive.
She runs the team, she's a part player and makes them better.  I think she is definitely somebody that's a challenge for us.  You know, Printy and Dixon, great three‑point shooting ability and so you have to go out and guard on the perimeter.  And then you have the inside presence.
So they have got a really good balanced team.  I don't think you can leave anyone to go double anyone else.  I think you have to really play them straight up.  So I think it's a challenge for us defensively.

Q.  Skylar was just warming up stretching yesterday and fans from Iowa and Miami took pictures of her stretching.  She has 300,000 Twitter followers.  What has she meant overall to the game in general?
COACH McGRAW:  I think she's the face of women's college basketball and it's been great for women's basketball, because we are attracting a fan base that we've had ever had before:  People in the entertainment industry are watching our games.  The casual fan is now tuning in to see what Skylar is going to do.  She's got the headband nation following her.
I think she's done great things for the game and I think the WNBA team that drafts her is going to hit the jackpot because they will see a rise in ticket sales, communities, wherever they go.  Every game we went to this year, we probably set an attendance record for most of the players we went because people just want to see Skylar, and she gets a bigger cheer from the opponents than anybody.  Usually you would expect some boos in that but she really is very well respected nationally and it's been a great thing for women's basketball.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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