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Postgame Quotes - UConn 85, UCLA 51
POSTGAME QUOTES
NCAA Women’s Basketball, Final Four
Friday, April 4, 2025
UConn 85, UCLA 51
Tampa, Fla. (Amalie Arena)
Cori Close, The Michael Price Family UCLA Women’s Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
“This is just never easy. Hard balance, credit to UConn. They were the aggressors. They played more purposefully. They played more connected. They were tougher than us tonight. And they handed it to us. That being said, we've got to learn from this. We've obviously gone to new heights this year. But we've got to let the pain of this, hopefully, teach us to go to new heights next year and learn from this and be better the next time. Really unusual to be in this position at the Final Four and have zero seniors in your locker room and to have an opportunity to come back stronger, more connected, learning from this experience and be better the next time.
“At the same time wanting to honor our team for all the firsts that they had. How they represented UCLA on and off the court, how they took us on a ride that has never happened at UCLA in a long, long time. And just really proud of their effort, the way they grew, the new things they accomplished. So trying to balance that we weren't our best selves tonight. That being said, it's a three-loss season. I'm really proud of not only what they've accomplished but the way in which they've gone about their work. We'll be better next time we're here.”
on how good this UConn team has been
“Really good. And they've been playing really well the last six weeks of the year. You can tell there's a level of connectivity and purpose that they're playing with. They have so many players that are being stars in their roles. And obviously we talk about Paige and Azzi and Sarah, but the reality of how their whole team is contributing in different ways, it's a credit to them. Obviously, some of that has to do with match-ups. We match up a little bit better with some of the things that South Carolina does and allows us to keep our bigs and our length, which is our strength, home in the paint, where UConn really spread us out and those kinds of things. It's not apples to apples between those two teams, but credit to the way they played as a team with great toughness and purpose tonight and exposed where we didn't.”
on comparing and contrasting South Carolina and UConn
“I think it's such contrasting styles. So I think that the reality of who can play to that better. Most teams you really want to be able to either be able to shoot the three, which we did a better job, I thought, limiting that. I don't know how many threes, they shot 16 and made seven of them. That's less than their normal three-point attempt rate, is higher than that, but they're going to spread South Carolina out. Can they shoot threes and then get layups through that? The thing that makes UConn is how good they are at the mid-range. They truly are efficient at all three levels, which very few teams are at the rate that they do it. But I think what you saw tonight is credit them for their defense. We talk about their efficiency on their offense. But I think their defense is – they scramble. They were coming from double teams and running us off the line on inside/out passes. Nobody has closed like that with us this year. I think that's one of the things we're going to learn from. But I think it's just so dramatically two contrasting styles that whoever can get the game to be played the way they like it is probably going to win.”
on roster management looking into the offseason
“I tried to talk to people about what it's like for the first time trying to get wisdom from people who came before me. The reality is you have to go experience it. And I'll go back with my staff and say, OK, what did we learn, what did this teach us. I've heard it from so many people, that until you go through it, it's a different level of compartmentalization, all the things that are surrounding it, and trying to be ready to play your very best basketball in a way you haven't probably prepared like this all year long. Definitely I'll be a better leader next time I'm in this situation. It's my responsibility to learn from this and to help us win as much as anyone. But I do think, you know, experience is such a powerful teacher, if you allow it to. I use this quote I got from Tony Bennett a long time ago, I use it with our team all the time, ‘Adversity, if used correctly, can buy you a ticket to a place that maybe you wouldn't have gone otherwise.’ I think in other areas we have really done that. This is our next area. We got exposed. We got out-toughed. We got our butts beat today. And it stings right now. And may the pain of that regret and this loss buy us a ticket, if handled well, buy us a ticket to be better the next time hopefully we get this opportunity.”
on how the team will look back on this game, whether UConn played well or UCLA did not execute
“Both. I think there's, to not live in that tension of both of those things would be either not holding ourselves accountable or not giving the credit to UConn appropriately. They played really, really well. They're a really good team. They earned that win, and we could have given them a better game. We could have executed our game plan better. We could have played with better toughness and togetherness. We say it all the time – most of the time the tougher, more together team wins. That wasn't us. We have to learn from that. We've got to acknowledge that. And we've got to -- every person, that may look different for different people. I'll look at myself first, but every person, what was our body language like? How did we respond to adversity? How many mistakes did we make in the game plan in the first five minutes and why is that? Because we've not been that team. And we've been in a lot of big moments. So trying to figure all that. But I think it's both. It's appropriate to give credit to how well UConn is playing. And it's also appropriate that I hold us to the standards that I know we're capable of.”
on how she will look back on this game, and what kind of confidence these experiences can give this team
“Huge. It's interesting, when we have clearer heads, we'll be able to look back and think about all the moments, the growth, the remember-when. But we only have three rules in our program. And one of those is respect and represent. Respect the opportunities that we have and make sure that we represent our university, our team, our families with class and dignity. And that we have a growth mindset all the time. I was sitting here sort of like a proud parent in this way, that when you have these incredibly capable, talented, driven and disappointed women, for them to lead in the way they do, I feel very blessed to be their coach. We say all the time in our program – and some people will say this sounds like it's less competitive, but it's actually the opposite. There's only two things that are going to stay with these women for the rest of their lives from these four years. In the end, I'm going to have a relentless quest to raise a banner in Pauley Pavilion and an absolutely driven mindset to figure out how to learn from this and be better next time – and banners hang in gyms and rings collect dust. But who you become and who you impact you get to keep forever. I'm very proud of who Lauren and Kiki have chosen to be in this case and many others in that locker room, and who they've chosen to impact through their platform and what they've done. And their families and our university are very proud of that. And that they get to keep together.”
on what this basketball season has meant to her
“We built it together. It's a testimony by all those people that are, and Denise [Curry], they went to back-to-back Final Fours in the AIAW era and won the national championship in 1978. You could be jealous or you could be like, oh, those guys, they don't know how good they have it. But they haven't been. Half of that team that were there in the stands tonight. I was walking out of the hotel and the amount of alumni that made the trip there that were cheering us on and sent us a video today, I think we don't do that alone. But I think our culture is built on doing something bigger together than you could do on your own. Timea and Janiah are great examples of that. They've chosen to be a part of something that the whole is bigger than the individual parts. But in the end, everybody wins. Nobody's Final Four rings look any different, no matter what your role is. I think, actually, credit to UConn. I think that they have a great spirit in that that everybody's role is so important. I think Paige does a great job of honoring everybody's role in that. But the reality for us is that it is about teaching, mentoring and equipping young women for life after the ball goes flat. But the great thing about it is that, when you make those kind of choices in growth, it makes you a pretty good dang basketball team too.”
on recruiting, roster building as the team moves forward
“I've been really fortunate that both Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma that are in the finals have been good to me, been willing to share ideas, willing to grow the game and take off their institutional hat for the sake of growing and investing in others and helping our game grow together. I think that I want to be known as a consummate learner. That's my responsibility, is to get better every year. They're obviously at the top of their game. I will continue to do so. But I have already. I just want to learn from whoever I can all the time. So that's my responsibility as a leader. What was the first part of your question? NIL. We've been really able to leverage that, because not only do we have some great corporate sponsorship and team deals of true NIL that has been really helpful to us, but we're in the number one media market in the United States. We've been really the beneficiary of that. There's a lot of challenges, and we're in a very transitional time with rev share coming, and how that's all going to work and clearinghouse and so on and so forth. I won't bore you with the details. We're really committed to lead in that space and to try to stay mission-minded at the same time. That's really the challenge is that, you know, comparison is the thief of all joy and money can really hold people back from a growth mindset. So my job is to provide opportunity, because I love that women are finally walking in greater opportunity, both financially as well as exposure, and all the things that we're seeing in the growth of our game. But in the end, just making a lot of money and having a lot of comparisons, it's going to slow your growth and steal your joy. So my job is to try to leverage opportunity and maximize opportunities while still staying mission-minded and pouring into their hearts first.”
Questions for UCLA’s student-athletes, Kiki Rice and Lauren Betts
on UCLA committing 14 turnovers in the first half and just five in the second half, and how that’s when UConn grew its lead (second half)
K. Rice: “I think the turnovers is really what killed us in the first half just because it didn't have shot attempts at the basket. We've always talked about this year we need the ball to score. And when you have the ball and we take care of the ball we're a really good team. But I think it was difficult for us to get in rhythm both offensively and defensively when you're continuously turning the ball over. And they're a great defensive team. But we just had to be stronger and tougher in those moments and just smarter. We had uncharacteristic turnovers, I felt. But we'll learn from it and get better from it.”
on how rare it is for a team to get to its first Final Four and win on that first try, and if there’s anything that has surprised them in this process
L. Betts: “No. I just think we need to show up more prepared and ready to win. That has nothing to do with the coaches. That's everything to do with us. I feel, like Coach Cori said, we have the same team coming next year. I hope this fuels us, and I hope that we come out angry after this.”
on UCLA’s start in Friday’s matchup with UConn
K. Rice: “I think it was just difficult for us to find a rhythm at times because of the turnovers and because we just kind of weren't in our typical flow. And I think when you play against a really good team, which every team at this level is very good at this point of the year, you've got to do the little things right. And there's not a ton of margin for error. We had too many errors today.”
K. Rice: “It obviously sucks right now, but I'll do my best, and we'll do our best to not forget what a fantastic year this was – so many firsts in program history. To be in the Final Four and to be still playing at this time of the year is a blessing. I think we all put in so much work to get to this point – coaches, players, the entire support staff. We'll remember that. And our last year will fuel us because we have a lot going forward for us. But at the end of the day, we lost three games this entire year. And it sucks right now. But I think looking back, we'll be very grateful for the year we had.”
on a message that Kiki Rice delivered to teammates during a timeout late in the second quarter
K. Rice: “Can't remember exactly what I said at that timeout. But I think I was just trying to, the entire game, to preach to our team, to settle down, calm down and enjoy it and play free because we had prepared well. And we are prepared for the moment. But to play basketball. We know how to do this. We know how to take care of the ball. We know how to make the right reads. I think we still struggled to do that throughout the game. But I think it's hard when we haven't been in this moment, but I still think that we're obviously a much better team than what we showed today. I think we've showed that in 30-plus games throughout the entire year. But, yeah, I'm just trying to calm us down. And I feel that's my role in terms of vocal leadership, just to bring calmness and try to say it straight and just be clear.”
L. Betts: “Kiki's grown so much as a leader. I think this past season she's just really taken on that role. And that's something that she's really wanted to work on. I'm just really proud of her because I felt today we just needed that calming presence after they went on runs over and over and over again. I think Kiki just continued to communicate what we needed to do and just easy fixes, and I think that's what we really needed – not so much emotion but just what do we need to do to move on get the game going our way. I just appreciate how much she's grown. And I love playing with Kiki. I feel she helps me so much out there.”
on the Bruins committing uncharacteristic turnovers and if UConn did anything to force those
K. Rice: “I think a lot of it was self-inflicted because we have played against a ton of different defenses this year. They were getting around the post while they were pressuring. But we played against teams like that throughout the year, and we figured out ways to take care of the ball. I said this at a certain point, it's both on the passer and the receiver; we needed come to the ball. If you're receiving the pass, we needed to make strong, crisp passes if you're the one passing. I feel like there wasn't always connection between both the passer and the receiver all the time on the court because they were just able to get in front, get hands on the ball. And they were winning the 50-50s.”
on building as a scorer and rebounder, and helping this program build for the future
L. Betts: “The first question, I think me personally, I've always talked about how there's so much room to improve. Going into this postseason I'm sure Coach Shannon will look through the film and figure out how I could have done better today and the past games. But just creating easier shots for myself where I don't have to put the ball on the ground and bring double-teams, I think is going to be important for me. Just continuing to work on my reads, kicking out, making sure I'm finding my teammates when I need to.
“To answer the second part, I have so much respect for this men's program at UCLA. I think they've really built a great foundation as far as basketball. But I think we're trying to create our own legacy. And I think this team is one of the greatest teams to ever compete at this level. I think that we're trying to kind of just create our own path. So to be honest right now, I'm just worried about these girls that we have on this team and what we're going to do, because I know next year we're going to learn from this and come back even better.”
on programs such as Iowa and USC and UCLA helping to carry the Big Ten Conference forward
K. Rice: “Yeah, I think it's been great to be in the Big Ten Conference this year. I think it's prepared in a lot of ways for this stage and for the NCAA Tournament. I think the competition that we face on a weekly basis is really good for us because we're just pushing every single game. I think us and SC joining that conference, it's helped elevate the conference as well. We were the two teams that played in the Big Ten Conference championship. And we'll be great next year. SC will be great. And there will be a lot of great teams in the Big Ten.”
L. Betts: “I don't have much to add to that. I just think like Kiki said, I think the Big Ten did a great job preparing us for games like this. And obviously there's just so much room for us to improve. But like Kiki said, I think it was just a really good growing process for all of us.”
on how to harness frustrations from a loss such as this one and moving ahead
L. Betts: “I was talking to Coach Shannon about it. Just taking this sadness and anger and making sure that next year, preparing for this next season, making sure we're holding the standard from the very beginning and not letting up. And just making sure that everyone's on the same page because obviously we know what it takes, obviously, at this point. We saw. I just think that us as leadership, we're obviously going to make sure that we bring that competitiveness every single day because that's what we need.”
on looking ahead to UCLA’s next season
K. Rice: “I think just continuing to build in our toughness, I think that's an area where we improved a lot in the past offseason. And we'll get better individually, skill-wise, and collectively, and the sets we run and all that kind of stuff. I think at this stage it really comes down to just executing small things and being a tougher, more together team. And having this experience will show us that we need to be ready when we come to play these games. I think that will help us all going forward.”
L. Betts: “To add to that, I would just say, I think that our urgency and our competitiveness, I think we kind of lacked that a little bit today, just recognizing that this is the Final Four and our season is on the line. We really need to recognize the moment that we're in and play like it. We need everybody to show up that way.”
on if the Bruins were out of sorts from the start of the game, compared to what has occurred in prior games
L. Betts: “I think they were just tougher in the beginning. I mean, I think that's the only way I can put it. I think they just played with, they just played more together. And we knew that UConn was going to run their sets really well. That's what they do. I think as a team we talked about it in the timeout, just defensively just coming out with a lot more aggression, and making it harder on them. I feel we just let them do whatever they wanted out there, from the very beginning.”
K. Rice: “I would agree with what Lauren said. I think in a way we were kind of looking for things to just settle in and for things to come to us. And I think we needed to go out and take the game and to go make plays, not have plays happen to us.”
NCAA Women’s Basketball, Final Four
Friday, April 4, 2025
UConn 85, UCLA 51
Tampa, Fla. (Amalie Arena)
Cori Close, The Michael Price Family UCLA Women’s Head Basketball Coach
opening remarks
“This is just never easy. Hard balance, credit to UConn. They were the aggressors. They played more purposefully. They played more connected. They were tougher than us tonight. And they handed it to us. That being said, we've got to learn from this. We've obviously gone to new heights this year. But we've got to let the pain of this, hopefully, teach us to go to new heights next year and learn from this and be better the next time. Really unusual to be in this position at the Final Four and have zero seniors in your locker room and to have an opportunity to come back stronger, more connected, learning from this experience and be better the next time.
“At the same time wanting to honor our team for all the firsts that they had. How they represented UCLA on and off the court, how they took us on a ride that has never happened at UCLA in a long, long time. And just really proud of their effort, the way they grew, the new things they accomplished. So trying to balance that we weren't our best selves tonight. That being said, it's a three-loss season. I'm really proud of not only what they've accomplished but the way in which they've gone about their work. We'll be better next time we're here.”
on how good this UConn team has been
“Really good. And they've been playing really well the last six weeks of the year. You can tell there's a level of connectivity and purpose that they're playing with. They have so many players that are being stars in their roles. And obviously we talk about Paige and Azzi and Sarah, but the reality of how their whole team is contributing in different ways, it's a credit to them. Obviously, some of that has to do with match-ups. We match up a little bit better with some of the things that South Carolina does and allows us to keep our bigs and our length, which is our strength, home in the paint, where UConn really spread us out and those kinds of things. It's not apples to apples between those two teams, but credit to the way they played as a team with great toughness and purpose tonight and exposed where we didn't.”
on comparing and contrasting South Carolina and UConn
“I think it's such contrasting styles. So I think that the reality of who can play to that better. Most teams you really want to be able to either be able to shoot the three, which we did a better job, I thought, limiting that. I don't know how many threes, they shot 16 and made seven of them. That's less than their normal three-point attempt rate, is higher than that, but they're going to spread South Carolina out. Can they shoot threes and then get layups through that? The thing that makes UConn is how good they are at the mid-range. They truly are efficient at all three levels, which very few teams are at the rate that they do it. But I think what you saw tonight is credit them for their defense. We talk about their efficiency on their offense. But I think their defense is – they scramble. They were coming from double teams and running us off the line on inside/out passes. Nobody has closed like that with us this year. I think that's one of the things we're going to learn from. But I think it's just so dramatically two contrasting styles that whoever can get the game to be played the way they like it is probably going to win.”
on roster management looking into the offseason
“I tried to talk to people about what it's like for the first time trying to get wisdom from people who came before me. The reality is you have to go experience it. And I'll go back with my staff and say, OK, what did we learn, what did this teach us. I've heard it from so many people, that until you go through it, it's a different level of compartmentalization, all the things that are surrounding it, and trying to be ready to play your very best basketball in a way you haven't probably prepared like this all year long. Definitely I'll be a better leader next time I'm in this situation. It's my responsibility to learn from this and to help us win as much as anyone. But I do think, you know, experience is such a powerful teacher, if you allow it to. I use this quote I got from Tony Bennett a long time ago, I use it with our team all the time, ‘Adversity, if used correctly, can buy you a ticket to a place that maybe you wouldn't have gone otherwise.’ I think in other areas we have really done that. This is our next area. We got exposed. We got out-toughed. We got our butts beat today. And it stings right now. And may the pain of that regret and this loss buy us a ticket, if handled well, buy us a ticket to be better the next time hopefully we get this opportunity.”
on how the team will look back on this game, whether UConn played well or UCLA did not execute
“Both. I think there's, to not live in that tension of both of those things would be either not holding ourselves accountable or not giving the credit to UConn appropriately. They played really, really well. They're a really good team. They earned that win, and we could have given them a better game. We could have executed our game plan better. We could have played with better toughness and togetherness. We say it all the time – most of the time the tougher, more together team wins. That wasn't us. We have to learn from that. We've got to acknowledge that. And we've got to -- every person, that may look different for different people. I'll look at myself first, but every person, what was our body language like? How did we respond to adversity? How many mistakes did we make in the game plan in the first five minutes and why is that? Because we've not been that team. And we've been in a lot of big moments. So trying to figure all that. But I think it's both. It's appropriate to give credit to how well UConn is playing. And it's also appropriate that I hold us to the standards that I know we're capable of.”
on how she will look back on this game, and what kind of confidence these experiences can give this team
“Huge. It's interesting, when we have clearer heads, we'll be able to look back and think about all the moments, the growth, the remember-when. But we only have three rules in our program. And one of those is respect and represent. Respect the opportunities that we have and make sure that we represent our university, our team, our families with class and dignity. And that we have a growth mindset all the time. I was sitting here sort of like a proud parent in this way, that when you have these incredibly capable, talented, driven and disappointed women, for them to lead in the way they do, I feel very blessed to be their coach. We say all the time in our program – and some people will say this sounds like it's less competitive, but it's actually the opposite. There's only two things that are going to stay with these women for the rest of their lives from these four years. In the end, I'm going to have a relentless quest to raise a banner in Pauley Pavilion and an absolutely driven mindset to figure out how to learn from this and be better next time – and banners hang in gyms and rings collect dust. But who you become and who you impact you get to keep forever. I'm very proud of who Lauren and Kiki have chosen to be in this case and many others in that locker room, and who they've chosen to impact through their platform and what they've done. And their families and our university are very proud of that. And that they get to keep together.”
on what this basketball season has meant to her
“We built it together. It's a testimony by all those people that are, and Denise [Curry], they went to back-to-back Final Fours in the AIAW era and won the national championship in 1978. You could be jealous or you could be like, oh, those guys, they don't know how good they have it. But they haven't been. Half of that team that were there in the stands tonight. I was walking out of the hotel and the amount of alumni that made the trip there that were cheering us on and sent us a video today, I think we don't do that alone. But I think our culture is built on doing something bigger together than you could do on your own. Timea and Janiah are great examples of that. They've chosen to be a part of something that the whole is bigger than the individual parts. But in the end, everybody wins. Nobody's Final Four rings look any different, no matter what your role is. I think, actually, credit to UConn. I think that they have a great spirit in that that everybody's role is so important. I think Paige does a great job of honoring everybody's role in that. But the reality for us is that it is about teaching, mentoring and equipping young women for life after the ball goes flat. But the great thing about it is that, when you make those kind of choices in growth, it makes you a pretty good dang basketball team too.”
on recruiting, roster building as the team moves forward
“I've been really fortunate that both Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma that are in the finals have been good to me, been willing to share ideas, willing to grow the game and take off their institutional hat for the sake of growing and investing in others and helping our game grow together. I think that I want to be known as a consummate learner. That's my responsibility, is to get better every year. They're obviously at the top of their game. I will continue to do so. But I have already. I just want to learn from whoever I can all the time. So that's my responsibility as a leader. What was the first part of your question? NIL. We've been really able to leverage that, because not only do we have some great corporate sponsorship and team deals of true NIL that has been really helpful to us, but we're in the number one media market in the United States. We've been really the beneficiary of that. There's a lot of challenges, and we're in a very transitional time with rev share coming, and how that's all going to work and clearinghouse and so on and so forth. I won't bore you with the details. We're really committed to lead in that space and to try to stay mission-minded at the same time. That's really the challenge is that, you know, comparison is the thief of all joy and money can really hold people back from a growth mindset. So my job is to provide opportunity, because I love that women are finally walking in greater opportunity, both financially as well as exposure, and all the things that we're seeing in the growth of our game. But in the end, just making a lot of money and having a lot of comparisons, it's going to slow your growth and steal your joy. So my job is to try to leverage opportunity and maximize opportunities while still staying mission-minded and pouring into their hearts first.”
Questions for UCLA’s student-athletes, Kiki Rice and Lauren Betts
on UCLA committing 14 turnovers in the first half and just five in the second half, and how that’s when UConn grew its lead (second half)
K. Rice: “I think the turnovers is really what killed us in the first half just because it didn't have shot attempts at the basket. We've always talked about this year we need the ball to score. And when you have the ball and we take care of the ball we're a really good team. But I think it was difficult for us to get in rhythm both offensively and defensively when you're continuously turning the ball over. And they're a great defensive team. But we just had to be stronger and tougher in those moments and just smarter. We had uncharacteristic turnovers, I felt. But we'll learn from it and get better from it.”
on how rare it is for a team to get to its first Final Four and win on that first try, and if there’s anything that has surprised them in this process
L. Betts: “No. I just think we need to show up more prepared and ready to win. That has nothing to do with the coaches. That's everything to do with us. I feel, like Coach Cori said, we have the same team coming next year. I hope this fuels us, and I hope that we come out angry after this.”
on UCLA’s start in Friday’s matchup with UConn
K. Rice: “I think it was just difficult for us to find a rhythm at times because of the turnovers and because we just kind of weren't in our typical flow. And I think when you play against a really good team, which every team at this level is very good at this point of the year, you've got to do the little things right. And there's not a ton of margin for error. We had too many errors today.”
K. Rice: “It obviously sucks right now, but I'll do my best, and we'll do our best to not forget what a fantastic year this was – so many firsts in program history. To be in the Final Four and to be still playing at this time of the year is a blessing. I think we all put in so much work to get to this point – coaches, players, the entire support staff. We'll remember that. And our last year will fuel us because we have a lot going forward for us. But at the end of the day, we lost three games this entire year. And it sucks right now. But I think looking back, we'll be very grateful for the year we had.”
on a message that Kiki Rice delivered to teammates during a timeout late in the second quarter
K. Rice: “Can't remember exactly what I said at that timeout. But I think I was just trying to, the entire game, to preach to our team, to settle down, calm down and enjoy it and play free because we had prepared well. And we are prepared for the moment. But to play basketball. We know how to do this. We know how to take care of the ball. We know how to make the right reads. I think we still struggled to do that throughout the game. But I think it's hard when we haven't been in this moment, but I still think that we're obviously a much better team than what we showed today. I think we've showed that in 30-plus games throughout the entire year. But, yeah, I'm just trying to calm us down. And I feel that's my role in terms of vocal leadership, just to bring calmness and try to say it straight and just be clear.”
L. Betts: “Kiki's grown so much as a leader. I think this past season she's just really taken on that role. And that's something that she's really wanted to work on. I'm just really proud of her because I felt today we just needed that calming presence after they went on runs over and over and over again. I think Kiki just continued to communicate what we needed to do and just easy fixes, and I think that's what we really needed – not so much emotion but just what do we need to do to move on get the game going our way. I just appreciate how much she's grown. And I love playing with Kiki. I feel she helps me so much out there.”
on the Bruins committing uncharacteristic turnovers and if UConn did anything to force those
K. Rice: “I think a lot of it was self-inflicted because we have played against a ton of different defenses this year. They were getting around the post while they were pressuring. But we played against teams like that throughout the year, and we figured out ways to take care of the ball. I said this at a certain point, it's both on the passer and the receiver; we needed come to the ball. If you're receiving the pass, we needed to make strong, crisp passes if you're the one passing. I feel like there wasn't always connection between both the passer and the receiver all the time on the court because they were just able to get in front, get hands on the ball. And they were winning the 50-50s.”
on building as a scorer and rebounder, and helping this program build for the future
L. Betts: “The first question, I think me personally, I've always talked about how there's so much room to improve. Going into this postseason I'm sure Coach Shannon will look through the film and figure out how I could have done better today and the past games. But just creating easier shots for myself where I don't have to put the ball on the ground and bring double-teams, I think is going to be important for me. Just continuing to work on my reads, kicking out, making sure I'm finding my teammates when I need to.
“To answer the second part, I have so much respect for this men's program at UCLA. I think they've really built a great foundation as far as basketball. But I think we're trying to create our own legacy. And I think this team is one of the greatest teams to ever compete at this level. I think that we're trying to kind of just create our own path. So to be honest right now, I'm just worried about these girls that we have on this team and what we're going to do, because I know next year we're going to learn from this and come back even better.”
on programs such as Iowa and USC and UCLA helping to carry the Big Ten Conference forward
K. Rice: “Yeah, I think it's been great to be in the Big Ten Conference this year. I think it's prepared in a lot of ways for this stage and for the NCAA Tournament. I think the competition that we face on a weekly basis is really good for us because we're just pushing every single game. I think us and SC joining that conference, it's helped elevate the conference as well. We were the two teams that played in the Big Ten Conference championship. And we'll be great next year. SC will be great. And there will be a lot of great teams in the Big Ten.”
L. Betts: “I don't have much to add to that. I just think like Kiki said, I think the Big Ten did a great job preparing us for games like this. And obviously there's just so much room for us to improve. But like Kiki said, I think it was just a really good growing process for all of us.”
on how to harness frustrations from a loss such as this one and moving ahead
L. Betts: “I was talking to Coach Shannon about it. Just taking this sadness and anger and making sure that next year, preparing for this next season, making sure we're holding the standard from the very beginning and not letting up. And just making sure that everyone's on the same page because obviously we know what it takes, obviously, at this point. We saw. I just think that us as leadership, we're obviously going to make sure that we bring that competitiveness every single day because that's what we need.”
on looking ahead to UCLA’s next season
K. Rice: “I think just continuing to build in our toughness, I think that's an area where we improved a lot in the past offseason. And we'll get better individually, skill-wise, and collectively, and the sets we run and all that kind of stuff. I think at this stage it really comes down to just executing small things and being a tougher, more together team. And having this experience will show us that we need to be ready when we come to play these games. I think that will help us all going forward.”
L. Betts: “To add to that, I would just say, I think that our urgency and our competitiveness, I think we kind of lacked that a little bit today, just recognizing that this is the Final Four and our season is on the line. We really need to recognize the moment that we're in and play like it. We need everybody to show up that way.”
on if the Bruins were out of sorts from the start of the game, compared to what has occurred in prior games
L. Betts: “I think they were just tougher in the beginning. I mean, I think that's the only way I can put it. I think they just played with, they just played more together. And we knew that UConn was going to run their sets really well. That's what they do. I think as a team we talked about it in the timeout, just defensively just coming out with a lot more aggression, and making it harder on them. I feel we just let them do whatever they wanted out there, from the very beginning.”
K. Rice: “I would agree with what Lauren said. I think in a way we were kind of looking for things to just settle in and for things to come to us. And I think we needed to go out and take the game and to go make plays, not have plays happen to us.”