Everything Naz Hillmon, Leigha Brown and Danielle Rauch said pre-American

U-M players Naz Hillmon, Leigha Brown and Danielle Rauch met with the media on Friday to preview the upcoming game. For everything the trio had to say, check out the full transcript below.

Q. We didn't get a chance to talk to you guys when you guys were the No. 3 seed. What does it mean to you as players to get to potentially your last two games at Crisler as seniors? What does that mean to you? I know Leigha, you're coming back next year. But Naz and Danielle, what does it mean to be hosting those last two games in front of all the fans?

NAZ HILLMON: I mean, it means a ton. I think we came into Michigan on a mission, wanted to complete a lot of our goals. This was one of our goals, and the fact that we're being able to do it during our senior year is super special. As a senior you're like, you get to play the last two games in front of your crowd and have so many of our supporters who's been with us since we've been freshmen to come in, not have to travel too far to see us play. It's a special moment just to be in Crisler one more time and being around those fans especially.

DANIELLE RAUCH: I think just to echo that, it's so exciting to be in Ann Arbor, to be in front of our home crowd, to play in Crisler again. Being here means the world to all of us. Having everyone be able to come support us and be here, it's really been fun.

Q. What do you think the biggest strength of this team is?

LEIGHA BROWN: I think just the way we play. I think that looking at kind of our roster from top to bottom, we might not necessarily be the most talented, but I think just the culture that we have and the way that we play together is really, really special. And I think you can see that from an outsider's point of view. Just continuing to play as hard as we can, be the hardest-working team in America, I think we'll definitely have an advantage.

Q. You've had some time to regroup since the Big Ten Tournament. What's been the team message heading into March Madness?

DANIELLE RAUCH: Yeah, I think just refocusing and switching our perspective a little bit. I think some of the losses that we had down at the end of our season really dimmed all of the great things that we did early on and the great season that we did have.

Just putting down that weight of those losses and having fun. Again, I think just refocusing on that, getting back to who we were. I think we had some really great practices this week. So just having fun together again, getting back in the groove, just getting back to who we are and what we do and having fun is at the core of that. Just enjoying this moment because not everybody gets a chance to be here.

NAZ HILLMON: Yeah, a big thing was to kind of treat those two weeks as a preseason again. This is a new season, 0-0, and just kind of taking that pressure off yourself if you did end up picking some of that up throughout the course of the season.

But getting back to our basics and playing our basketball. Throughout the course of the year you're always game planning for someone else and you only get a day or two to really work on yourselves. But having those two weeks that we had to really work on ourselves, focusing and really having fun with it has really been the message for the postseason.

Q. Last year there were some issues with the NCAA not giving you guys adequate facilities. Has this year been different? If so, how?

DANIELLE RAUCH: I think I can speak on just this little March Madness logo right here. Seeing this has been crazy, just to see that we have -- it's just March Madness now, it's not the women's tournament. I think that's definitely a start and definitely really great to see.

Just thinking about that and thinking about even that small step and the way that people are talking about our tournament. I was walking down the street the other day in Ann Arbor and a group of guys was talking, Guys, there are women's brackets out right now. And I'm like, yeah. Good. People know.

So just keeping that in mind that we're building a little bit more traction and a little bit more respect.

Q. Obviously you guys all went through this last year in terms of playing in the tournament. What kind of comfort does that give you going into this year, having experienced it last year, and have any of those maybe jitters that you might have first experienced in the tournament are not there?

LEIGHA BROWN: Yeah, I think obviously being able to have that experience like we did last year and having some of the success that we did definitely gives us confidence coming into this tournament. Maybe even if people on the outside don't believe what we can do, our belief on the inside is there. We think we can beat anyone in the country.

Yeah, just having that belief and having that experience and being able to play with Baylor last year and beating them this year so far. Yeah, just having the confidence that we can beat the top teams in the country, it's definitely huge to have that experience.

Q. With you guys' success against ranked opponents this year, what does that do for your confidence level and how can you use that heading into the NCAA Tournament?

NAZ HILLMON: Yeah, I think that's just a testament how well we can play. And kind of what D said, remembering some of the great games we had throughout the season, not forgetting about that. I think that's a confidence booster for ourselves to remember the outcomes of a lot of those games and how well we played as a complete team when we were at our best. Just a big thing of confidence at that point, remembering those games.

Q. What is the message you guys are giving to the underclassmen, Laila Phelia in particular, as she had a really good season for a freshman, and what are you telling her that can make her have a big impact in March Madness?

LEIGHA BROWN: I think something that I've tried to be able to preach to Laila throughout the whole second half of the season is just have fun with it. I think a lot of people have seen the success she's had, especially the Iowa game was kind of her coming out game. I think just her having that confidence in herself and just the belief that we all have in her and the coaching staff has in her. Yeah, trying to take her under our wing and instill confidence.

And I think she's played really well so far, and excited to see how well she plays in this tournament for sure.

NAZ HILLMON: I think another big thing is just remembering what got you here, staying in the gym, staying focused, being able to be coached and that's all the things that she's continued to do. But that's for everybody at this point. Like I said, it's a new season. Things are a little bit different. It's win or go home, so just remembering the things that you did to get to this point.

Q. I'm curious about you guys' experiences hosting the first round. I know games haven't started yet, but how that differs from traveling to San Antonio or traveling to Louisville or Baylor, comparing those so far.

DANIELLE RAUCH: Yeah, I think it's been really nice to be able to stay in Ann Arbor. Not adding that extra travel definitely is nice. Like we said about playing in Crisler again, we had a great crowd the entire year. I think that'll certainly play to our advantage. It's just comfortable. We know what's going on in Ann Arbor here, we know what Crisler is like. So just having that to our advantage, not having to go somewhere, have a time change and all that.

It's been nice to kind of stay home for a little while.

NAZ HILLMON: It's funny at the same time because there's a lot of changes kind of going around in Crisler, whether it's like posters and stuff going on. But I think it alleviates a little bit of the stress for people like Danielle because she doesn't like to fly, so if she can have a few more games with less stress, I'm sure that's beneficial for her.

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