Opening Statement

Just another great opportunity for us to have a home contest before heading into this tournament against some really great competition. Was really happy with the way that we shared the basketball. We seem to be doing a really good job of that. Thought we got great minutes from Yulia Grabovskaia, from Brooke Daniels, and it was nice to see Te'yala Delfosse out there for the first time. So excited about the direction of the program and just excited to see where this tournament is going to go.

On ball movement execution during the game

Yeah, I thought the first two possessions of the game, Liv got two assists off the back, back to back, and it was off of people cutting. And we talked about, you know, when we stand, we were easy to defend, but the more that we move, the more difficult we would be to defend. And I thought, you know, she got in a little bit of foul trouble, but when she came out in the second half, she really was cutting in the middle of the paint and was able to pick it apart and had a lot of mid-range shots with the ball movement and with her cutting. So that was something that we were emphasizing and I thought we really did a great job of that.

On who stood out to her today with ball movement

I think Jordan did a really good job. I think she had five assists as well as Syla. I think both of them were reading the defense. That was something that we were trying to work on. Both Syla and Jordan and Liv particularly really moved well without the ball. And like I said, I thought Yulia came in and did a great job of moving without the ball. Brooke really runs hard in transition. She was cutting, rim running, and moving without the ball. But it's a whole team. I mean, if you go down on the assist category, there's a lot of people that had some, a bunch of assists. So we had 25 as a team. That's pretty good.

On Syla Swords' performance

Yeah, I mean, she had 16 at half. And in the second half, she really didn't need to play or score anymore. But she always affects the game. And I've said this to you guys before. I feel like she's on triple, double watch every single game. And I mean, if you look at her box score, she has 18 points. But she has eight rebounds, she has five assists, and she has four steals. That's a pretty effective day. She just is all over the place. She affects the game in so many ways. And she knocked down three threes tonight, which was, that really got us going on the three-point end as well.

On Te'Yala Delfosse's impact

It was awesome. I mean, you could see her smiling all the way out here. And you could see our whole team getting super excited for her. We've talked a lot this last month or so about our three freshmen and how much of an impact the three of those guys are making. But she's got a chance to be really special as well. And I think everyone had an opportunity to see that tonight. I mean, she's long. She can affect the game on the defensive end and the offensive end. I mean, she made an immediate impact from scoring. But she also had five rebounds and two assists in nine minutes. It's a pretty ridiculous stat line. So I was pretty fired up for her. I think everyone was. And I could see her mom and dad. I don't see or hear anyone, but I could see her mom and dad like video in and going crazy across the way. So that was really cool.

On the reaction to Yulia Grabovskaia taking a charge

Well, you know, it's funny. We talk about, you know, being the hardest-working team in America. We talk about winning the points every day in practice and winning the practice points for the week. And, you know, loose balls and charges give you five points. And, you know, during the week, Yulia goes, I'm six-five. I don't take charges. I don't even know how to do it. So we're like, well, this is, you know, we talked to her about it during the week and then for her to get in there and do it at six five. It's a long way down for me. It's an easy fall, but for her, it's a long way down. So we were all fired up about that. I just think that shows how receptive everyone is to buy into the program. And when you have like your biggest kid be willing to do that, it's pretty awesome.

On the sticker competition this year and taking charges

So Emily Kaiser crushed it. So Jordan was off to a crushing start. And as of two games ago, she was the only person that had taken charges. So she had six stickers, and I think they were all charges. Other people had stickers, but none of them were charges. Now, the last couple games, Macy Brown kind of was catching up to her because she started taking some. So as of today, Jordan had nine, which was our team leader before today. And Macy and Brooke, I think, were next with six. So Brooke was on the ground a bunch today. I know Jordan took a bunch today, too. So we'll see. It's nice that every single person that has been in games prior to today had a sticker on their blockout. So that was pretty cool.

On her favorite moment from the win

Yeah. I mean, I think Yulia's taking charges was a big one. I think Yulia's execution too. We put her on the left block. For us, we've gone with this five-guard lineup, but we know when we face the bigs that we will face in the league that we're in, we need a post player that's going to be able to really contribute and make a difference, not only from an offensive perspective, because we think we could take advantage of other people's matchups on the offensive end, but really from a defensive perspective. And I was really happy with her progress and how she's doing. And then Liv getting going, I thought was really awesome. Syla starting the way she did was awesome. I mean, Jordan, I could smile at all the time, but I think I'd have to go with Te'Yala's debut. I mean, that was pretty cool. Pretty cool. Awesome.

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