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#UNC center Blanca Thomas at women's basketball media day
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So, I was just wondering u what have the
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coaches told you in kind of in the
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offseason of what you can do to help
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make kind of the sophomore leap that
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people talk about a lot because you
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certainly have be in a bigger role this
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year having lost people like Alyssa and
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Maria Gang. So, what did they tell you
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to kind of focus on going into the off
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season?
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I think definitely the leadership part
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of it is going to be really important
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and being that voice. Even though I am a
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sophomore, I can still have that voice
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and help our freshman and even the
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people who are older and the same age as
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me. And then also just being that
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presence on the inside, you know, losing
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Maria, we lose a lot of inside presence.
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So trying to be that for them is going
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to be really important for me this year.
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Absolutely. Um and also for the
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what would you say? Was there a certain
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skill that you've worked on in the off
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season that maybe limited your playing
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time last year that you feel you
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improved on to help like like you said
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take that big step into this season? I
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think for me honestly consistency was
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the biggest thing. You know, being
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efficient every practice so it can
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translate into every game and then also
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being more confident in my three. You
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know, I've I shot a lot of threes in
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high school. So, showing the college
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world that I can do that too and then
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also be that presence inside.
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Can you talk a little about the like the
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UNCC camaraderie and the UNCC family of
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how how big an aspect that that is for
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you all? cuz I can see on like social
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media and in public anywhere how how
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tight of a group you all are. And
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so I mean how's that help your enc court
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success and the chemistry you guys have?
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Oh my god, our family is amazing. Our
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culture is great. I mean these girls are
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basically my sisters. I wouldn't trade
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them for anything. You know, I'm so
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happy I came here. It was one of the
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best decisions I've ever made. And I
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feel like our fans are so wonderful and
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I feel like our fans see that connection
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that we have on the court. So it's not
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just like a oh off the court thing like
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it translates and it shows.
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And I know that you all have your uh the
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blue ballers account that you have with
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like you Leila Jordan. I know you
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included Alina on this year's team.
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Yeah.
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That I think that's
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how how has that also helped you as a
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team cuz it seems that it definitely
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showcased to the public how how tight of
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a group you are. I think that was the
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important thing for us. Like it's kind
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of something that we use to show
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everyone our personalities more. I feel
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like it does a great job of like making
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our fans feel more connected to us and
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that's what's really important. And then
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like I said, it translate onto the
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court. So being able to make all those
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videos, it's super fun for us, but then
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it's super fun for everyone else who
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comes up to us and like we love your
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videos. So you know, just having that
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like community kind of vibe just from
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our TikTok is great. And I know last
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year in the NCA tournament, you had a a
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moment where your teammates had to bring
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you back to life after a play where uh
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Lexi was just playing out of her mind,
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so to speak. Do you think you'll see
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more moments like that if the season is
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going as well as you expect it, Kim?
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Oh my gosh. Yeah, we love to have fun.
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You know, I'm I'm going to be pulling
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out all the celebrations on court, on
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the bench, whatever it is. You know,
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we're ready to have fun and just hype
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each other up cuz that's what makes
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winning even better.
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We have some tough tests coming up early
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on. How important is that as you look to
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the rest of the season to be tested
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early on?
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I think it'll set the tone for us and
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it'll be really nice to play those hard
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opponents. You know, they're all I mean,
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we play three top five ranks and you
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know, obviously the ranking means a lot,
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but we can show what we can bring too.
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Like we're up in the top 20 for a reason
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as well. So,
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how much stock do you guys put in that
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ranking? No one's played any basketball
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yet. just based on looking at rosters
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and experience. So, how much thought do
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you put in something like having 11 next
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to your name at this point?
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Honestly, not too much. It's nice to see
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that number and to see that we're
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getting the props that we should be.
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But, like you said, like you don't know
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until we really get out there on the
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court and like see what everyone looks
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like. So, I say we try to not think too
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much about the numbers and we try to
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just beat us and play like we always do.
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And what does that look like? What can
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Tarheel fans expect when they come and
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see you guys play this season? I think
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for sure a lot of fun. This team loves
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to have fun, which is one of my favorite
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things. We compete. We're gritty. It's
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just it's really fun to be a part of a
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team that just wants to win, but also
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wants to have fun at the same time.
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How do you guys balance the fun and and
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the seriousness um of you know, you're
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playing like we just said, right, a lot
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of tough competition early, but you also
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still want to have fun. How do you
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balance that stuff?
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I would say our coaches do a nice job of
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leveling us out. you know, we don't get
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too crazy, but we also need to like stay
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locked in just to like keep growing
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because that's one of that's been one of
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our biggest thing is trying to stay
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consistent and keep that growth as we
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can keep progressing in the season. You
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know, Coach Bangar, all of our
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assistants, they love to have fun with
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us, which I think makes it more of a
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kind of environment where we're like,
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okay, like we can have fun and play
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hard, which has been really nice.
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And I lost it. Um, what are some things
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that you guys want to improve on to keep
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that steady growth throughout the
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season?
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I would say the biggest thing is
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probably being vocal. I think sometimes
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we have moments where if it's maybe one
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of our like more down days, being vocal
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is the thing that gets us out of it and
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sometimes we kind of forget that. So
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staying consistent and being that vocal
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leadership is going to be really
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important.
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Thank you.
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Thank you. And I was wondering, so over
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the off season, it's been said that
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there have been there have been a lot of
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tickets sold for season tickets and just
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a lot more even more buzz around the
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program after their run at Sweet 16 last
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year. What does that mean to y'all when
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you see so many people getting invested
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in like enjoying the sport and seeing
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what you all have to offer?
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It means so much. Honestly, our fan
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base, like I said, is incredible. And
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the fact that we get to know everybody
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is also one of my favorite parts of it.
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I've been able to meet so many amazing
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fans, donors, whatever it is. And just
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seeing how much people love women's
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sports and how big women's sports is
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becoming, especially women's basketball,
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is such a beautiful thing to see.
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Absolutely. Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Hi.
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Hi. Nice to meet you. I was just going
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to ask you. I thought we got asked
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already about stepping up and um what
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does this last
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but
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I'm curious about your relationship this
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year too and how you all had similar
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roles on the bench together last year.
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Probably similar roles on the court.
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What has that kind of been like what is
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working with her playing against her
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like?
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Oh yeah. I mean playing with her is so
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fun. and we're very similar, but we also
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can work really well together at the
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four and the in the five spot. But, you
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know, we've been able to push each other
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every day. She brings a force of
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physicality and height, which is nice to
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play against cuz, you know, like being
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6'5, I'm like, I need to play against
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that height. So, she brings that and
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we're able to be competitive but also
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have fun together.
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And you're going to play some a bunch of
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different teams and some of them are
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going to throw a lot of sides at you.
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What are those masters going to be like?
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What are you thinking about throughout
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that those games?
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Yeah, I think
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defensively is going to be the biggest
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thing. When I play other opponents with
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size, the physicality is going to be
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really important. So, rooting them off
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the block and just like staying strong
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is something that I'm going to need to
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do. And I think Maria and Alyssa
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prepared me really well for that. I was
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saying that Maria was such a physical
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force down there. So, guarding her every
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day in practice was exhausting, but it
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helped me. It's been very beneficial for
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me to translate this year. Is there
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anything you can point to specifically
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that you learned from them?
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I learned a lot honestly. They helped
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me. Specifically, I would say with the
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mental side of it, that switch and
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knowing like, okay, I can't dwell on
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mistakes. I need to keep going like for
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my team, for my seniors, you know. So,
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mentally they taught me a lot. And then,
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of course, on the court, I would say
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Maria just taught me the physicality
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part of it and just battling every day.
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And then Liz, her hustle, amazing. Like,
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I want to embody those things.
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Thank you.
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I have one more question actually. The
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um after seeing like how successful some
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UNCC players have been like Alyssa going
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pro, Maria and Grace, all these players
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getting a chance to go play pro overseas
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like um what does that how does that
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help you that you're able to learn from
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all these players who were are going pro
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and that I'm sure a lot of you have the
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same similar aspirations that they do
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for that? Yeah, I mean they're such
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amazing players, so trying to embody all
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the things that they brought to our team
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last year will definitely help. And it's
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been really fun to see them excel
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wherever in whichever country they're
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in. So it's been nice and to have that
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kind of mentorship of like, okay, if I
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want to go play overseas or in the
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league, like I have them to lean on for
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that.
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Thank you.
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Appreciate it.
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Yeah,
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sure. Okay. Um, what is kind of like
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