Duke pre-Sweet 16 press conference w/ Kara Lawson, Reigan Richardson, Toby Fournier & Ashlon Jackson

okay please uh make sure your cell phones are on silent and reminder there

is no recording of these press conferences and if you would raise your hand we'll get a mic to you please state

your name and affiliation we'll start right here on the aisle to the to the

right hi coach I'm Anna Snyder with USA Today Network obviously this is y'all's third meeting uh with UNC this season

but it's the first meeting in the NCAA tournament just talk about how big is it to see these two programs come together

here in the suet 16 for the first time we hadn't really talked about that with

our team in terms of a first meeting or anything I didn't know that till you said that so

um we're fighting for a spot in the elite eight and so whoever the opponent is is the opponent um you know it's at

this time of year and I think with conferences getting bigger I mean we have 18 teams in our conference I think

over time you're going to see meetings earlier and earlier in the in the tournament it's just going to be a fact

of kind of where we are um in college I think there's another one here um on

Saturday right Tennessee plays Texas and a conference in the sweet

16 um I think Tennessee men and Kentucky men play tonight in the sweet 16 so I'm

not really like moved either way by it um it's not just another game it's an

important game it's a it's a game to um get a Step Beyond where we were able to

reach a year ago and it's a game to put yourself in position to play for a spot in the final four so that's kind of how

we've approached it and trying to honor the the the value of the game with the

right amount of respect and the right amount of

preparation front row right here Ben Pigman with the athletic um

just two questions one just a status update on Toby um Toby will play

tomorrow um and second you know obviously the the transfer portal um opened up on Tuesday um how are you and

your staff kind of balancing you know portal recruiting with with game prep um

lead up to today tomorrow I haven't done anything in the portal I'm sure my assistants are doing

that but as far as uh me personally I haven't hasn't uh

done anything I've just been focused on the

game vpn.com um coach can you talk about the you know these the tario very very

well and vice versa uh can you talk about what it's going to be like to play them for the third time and and what do

you think may be different from the first two times you played them this

season I mean the main difference is um Kelly andby will play so um they didn't

play in the second meeting um so I think that's probably the biggest difference um you know we've

played them three times in a season before I think maybe two years ago it's not uncommon to have

that um for teams over the years so um I don't know it feels like it's a

really big deal for you guys that we're playing them three times it's not something that we we've really talked about or worried about um there's a

familiarity obviously from a scout standpoint um from a Personnel

standpoint you know the players and and I think the games

have well you know my first year we were terrible we got we got our butt kicked both times by everybody in the league by

our butt kicked by everybody in the league but since that first year I think the games have been really competitive

uh when you look at the margins of the games and you look at um you know how how good both teams have been so that

would be my expectation again tomorrow I hear to right hey coach Doug Farm

dap if you remember back to your playing days at Tennessee when you got to the sweet6 16 which was almost I think every

year what was things that coach would tell you as a team to get ready for a game like this to get to the elite a to

get to the final four if you

remember I don't I don't know that I remember about this round specifically

um yeah I mean so different now like

uh so much more depth in the game now I think

um back then there wasn't as much depth um throughout the

tournament so but I can't remember anything I'm not trying to avoid your question I I can't remember about uh what she said before the sweet 16

right here to your coach Cameron T from the athletic coach I'm curious just how much the growth of aluchi has helped you

guys from her year one to year two for her now and then your thoughts on just the way she's grown her brand and like

the fashion aspect uh of of her her her personal brand as

well I think uchi's grown a lot from uh freshman to her soft sore

year she has a a better understanding of what we're trying to do on the

court um understanding of the scheme and um also able to slow down a little bit

which I know it doesn't look like she ever slows down but she's able to make

more reads now um whereas I felt like her freshman year she was just playing

fast faster than everybody all the time and that works at a certain point but

then you have to slow down and see what the defense is trying to do and make

adjustments she um she's a very hard worker um every day she comes in with

the right level of focus in the right level effort and that might seem like a

oh yeah okay everybody does that everybody does not do that um if you can get yourself to be a player that does

that you can set yourself apart um um I mean I I don't know how in depth

you want me I I can get into the fashion uh it's not really my forte um believe it or not but um you

know Luchi has a has a great Passion about it and um

you know as a coach you just try to encourage your players to to follow that um follow their passions and um the the

thing that they spend a lot of time on basketball doesn't have to take up their whole life um I think it's healthy and I

think there's room for other things to pursue and uh we're fortunate you know our creative team um was able to kind of

build that um series with her and um to be able to

Showcase uh the the passion and and so they work with all of our players in that way to uh just amplify the things

that they're they're interested in and then she's you know she's got of Charisma you know so she's very well

spoken and it's got a great personality and um I think all of that combines um

to to something that um she's be able to carve out a little bit of a niche for

herself far right M nor from MP Nation um Cara you know Alyssa atsby didn't

play in the last game uh for Carolina the last time yall face them but she's somebody who you've sort of had to

prepare for every time you faced Carolina and your five years um what kind of challenges does she present for

for yall on both ends of the floor yeah a good player U very productive over her

time um scores it well rebounds it well um makes makes really good hustle

plays um and then uh you know obviously being a fifth year senior The

Experience um you know that that she has and um that goang has um you know in the

front Court you know that's you know if you're looking at the roster that's probably the The Experience differential

um they're very experienced in the front court and we're all freshmen and sophomore in the front court and so

um that's a challenge um physically um that we'll have to we'll have to meet

and we're capable of meeting it obviously we've been freshman sophomores all year we didn't just become that right now so um we'll have to definitely

meet that challenge um so yeah uh for productive for a long time in this

league and um she'll she'll definitely uh make an impact on the game you know it's not the way she

plays you you you can't take her out of the game if that makes sense because she

she impacts the game in a lot of areas question to your

right coach I think earlier you mentioned obviously that that second game against UNC Kelly and nutby didn't

play I I'm curious how differently you watch that film than the first game when those obviously they're a different team

when those two don't play is there a difference in how you watch that film and preparation of this this

game I mean sure like certain Personnel have certain Tendencies so they might be running the

same actions but a tendency with a player with one guard might be different and how they run the action and and the

other so the good thing thing is is um you obviously have film on them since that game since they since

they've been back um and certainly obviously with first and second round games um this past

week so yeah I think um I don't know that you watch it differently but you you have an

awareness that that they're not there and um there's probably more minutes of

players that maybe won't play as many minutes this game so understanding the rotation and and and all of that

so we'll go to zoom if you have a question on Zoom please uh hit the raise

your hand button and we'll get your

questions anyone else in here okay thank you coach thank you

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go okay we are ready to get started with the Duke ladies please raise your hand we'll get you a m

we'll start right here on the aisle on the right uh Anna this is for all you guys

Anna Snider USA Today Network coach said she didn't know but this is actually y'all's first meeting with UNCC you know

in the NCAA tournament I know it's y'all's third looks like you don't know either I just want to say hearing that

you know this matchup what does it you know mean to you guys to be facing them third time this season in the sweet 16

on such a big stage Reagan if you will start and we'll just go straight down theine yeah I feel like just seeing

the the work that both of us have put in just to just to be here on the stage in the sweet 16 just it's just amazing you

know um I feel like yes it's our it's our third year it's our third time just competing against each other but you

know the Rivalry is just super competitive and we're just really excited to play against one

another Toby um I think I speak for all of us when I say this but we're all super excited to play them again you

know they're a great team super competitive offensively defensively I feel like it's a great matchup for us so

we're really excited I think we're both super prepared and it's going to be a great game Ashley um they pretty much already

said everything but I'm super excited um you know also just having you know two ACC teams hash it out um being able to

play for the elite eight and yeah like it's no better feeling in the world um of course like playing our rival so say

um but yeah we're super excited just to see you know what type of game it will be be super competitive I know for sure

front right for actually for any of you Cameron te with the athletic I'm curious

you has thoughts on uchi's fashion and being able to kind of set her own kind of brand within kind of her creativity

with herself just kind of I'm curious you guys thoughts on that and what that's been like to be around rean will start with you

again I mean I mean one thing about luch she's always going to put on the fit to

go anywhere anywhere we go she's always wanted to just really dress up and do do whatever uh with the team but you know

just being able to have that platform for her is really amazing you know she's really in the fashion and I know I speak

for all of us we've all been on her on her little uh her little Channel get ready with luch for whatever and you know it's been awesome just to see how

her platform is expanding in that kind of aspect cuz it's something that she's really passionate about and I'm just happy to see that she she's doing what

she loves I would say the same thing you know love Luchi I I love when she loves

something so it was really fun um to do that with her I was just in her latest episode I don't know if you guys saw it

the marsh oh my god um but it was really fun to be a part of you know we went

shopping I was trying to pick stuff up she would slap my hand down you know she definitely has a

passion for it so it's it's great to watch it's really fun to be a part of and and I'll always support her in everything she does so like they said

you know I love luch um just her being able to like put her set her mind into

something and still go through with it like I love it and I love it for her um

that's really right up my alley as far as like fashion stuff because you know I love putting on a fit too everywhere um

no but like having luch cuz like I was on one of her episodes as well but like having luch you know style us it was

just amazing and like I said and like they said you know like whatever she puts her mind to um it's gold for her

and I I will always supporter and whatever she does like I love

luch front row thanks Michael v. espn.com uh Toby

this is for you it looks you're feeling better I just wonder if you could sort of give us an update on how you're feeling and just how eager you are to

get back out on the court after uh not playing the second round um you know I'm I'm feeling great

I'm here I'm well rested well hydrated so I'm I'm ready to go

to the right Ben Pikman from the athletic and just for Reagan uh you know is there

something you remember about your guys that sweet 16 loss two years ago um that just has stuck with you the mindset

approach um a me a memory from the locker room afterwards that you know is informing this experience that you're

currently going through at all yeah you know um you know it's two different

years being six the sweet 16 last year and the sweet 16 this year but one thing I don't remember about last year is just

how much like we the memories that we shared all started floating back in that

locker room like just from the the season that we've been through and everything that we've been through it

kind of came again at that moment and yeah there were tears but it was also it wasn't just tears of sadness it was

tears of joy just being just knowing like we've been through that journey together and so going into going into

the sweet6 this year you know we're just focusing on the team that we have at hand and um just looking for it to

compete uh Doug fber the Associated Press for any of you what does it like playing for Coach standpoint of like

what she like in practice out of practice for you guys Ashton we'll let you start with this one okay um you know

I've said it multiple times playing for her it's everything for me um I pretty

much can speak for everyone that wears a jersey that says Duke um

I would say for me um she really brought out a side of me and a side of my game

that I never knew that I truly had um she you know she instilled this confidence within me um on and off the

court I would say um and just playing for her you know like to share her same

passion and to share her same like grit um there's no other team that I would

rather play for no other coach I would rather play for um and like I said you know her the way

she coaches you know like it's like you'll do anything for her you know like you run through a burning house just for

her you know um but no like and I love it because it's really genuine um and

like I said I can speak for most of us here you know um but just having that

and like having that um type of Coach like it's the best feeling in the

world to um I would say the the same thing as Ash kind of just to reiterate

um I feel like one thing about Coach care is she's going to prepare you for the next level so being a Freshman this year I think that really helped me um

I'm so glad I chose here just because she really knows how to prepare you for games she knows how to prepare you for

the level of competitive competitiveness that you're going to see when you face certain teams so I feel like she she

always you know she's never going to tell you a lie she's going to tell you exactly what you need to know and she's going to tell you the truth so I I have

a lot of trust in her I know I know that she has a lot of trust in me and that's kind of what our relationship is like so

I'm really lucky to have her as a coach and I hope to just see our relationship grow from here yeah I second everything that

they're saying you know coaches has not only helped us on the court but also off the court I know I can speak personally

about it she's helped me just be able to talk to you in this kind of setting like this cuz I know my first year here I would I would never be able to sit up

here on stage just to talk to you but um she's instill so much confidence in each and every one of us and just being a

able to play for her and having her coach us is is a blessing for real second row right here um do you guys

have a plan to watch the men's game later is has that been discussed at all how you're going to do it and any

preview uh you want to give about uh Duke Arizon on the men's side so I speak for us um yes and no because it's so

late and we do have a game tomorrow um but yes we support them 100% we will be

tuned in um until you know like our our eyes closed um tonight so yeah I don't

know what y'all would say but uh no I would say the same thing you know I obviously want to watch it I don't what

time is it at 9:30 oh it is a little late yeah my bedtime is like cut off at

10 so um yeah we love to support them those are our boys so I can't wait to see them you know play maybe we'll watch

the first 30 minutes have a little watch party and then we'll go to bed for sure yeah oh never mind hey well

okay we will we will be watching the whole game we'll be tuned in we haven't talked about it yet but I'm pretty sure it's going to come up once we get back

to the locker room everybody front

row thank you this is for uh for Ashlin um can you talk about just the the

emotion I mean obviously it's a sweet 16 so there'd be emotion no matter who you're playing but because you know the

opposing team so well and you've had these two sort of grinded out battles with them how do you sort of balance

that emotion with you know staying within you yourselves and playing the way you want to play that's a great

question um I would say I say it all the time but like just staying dup you know

just staying us uh we know the game um tomorrow will be like a lot of highs a

lot of lows but as long as we just stay connected stay together um I feel like

we could push through whatever it is um that may that we may face um and yeah

like like I said you know just focusing on us and focusing on the um the big thing that we want to get to um so I

would I feel is though like that is going to be key for tomorrow second row Sandra Negley with

Yahoo sports for all of you what do you feel like it is about the ACC that has

helped prepare you to reach here but also go further in this tournament right um I feel like a lot of

teams in the ACC where everybody body's a great you know offensively and defensive end I feel like we're all just

super competitive and regardless with who are we playing the opponent that we're playing we're just going to compete each and every day and that that

helps us throughout the throughout the season Toby I mean I would say the same thing you know the AC is super

competitive and very physical I would like to say very physical again cuz coming in you know as a freshman coming

from high school and just facing you know girls that have been in college for like four years it's a lot to adjust too

so I think that's really helped prepare me just for this next level and competing in March Madness as well

Ashlin yeah I agree with everything they just said you know like the level of competition and also being in the ACC

knowing that like every Thursday or Sunday it's up for grabs like whoever

plays the hardest whoever makes the least amount of mistakes um whoever stays together like those are normally

teams that win and I would say you know just having to you know be able to prepare um

week through week um for those type of teams um yeah like I said like it's it's

a monster um in the ACC and I just you know like I I love the level of

competition that it continues to build and build each year um and

yeah if anyone on Zoom has a question please hit the hand

sign any other questions in here we'll go to the front and then to the

back um I was wondering if rean and Ashton if you could answer this and then Toby you answer you guys are the the

upper class players I wonder how you've sort of helped Toby as a freshman and what what you've been able to do to to

sort of share your experience and knowledge with her and then Toby what's it been like to have these two as teammates in your first season in

college um Toby I I really don't know how to answer that Toby how how about you give us insight about how we help

with you I don't I don't understand um I think the girls around you are what get

you through your freshman year like this is you know there's going to be ups and downs in basketball because playing division one basketball is hard mentally

physically there's a lot that you're doing every day so the girls that I've had around me these strong women that

I've been able to look up to it's been incredible especially these two beside me I feel like they they've helped me

through everything like there's so many different plays that you have to memorize they would help you know quiz

me before games or practice IES like things that I need to remember so having

them and then obviously the other girls that aren't here right now has completely transformed the player that I

am and I feel oh you you got I feel like also knowing um and seeing her play and

like playing beside of her and knowing what she's capable of and knowing what she can bring um each and every day like

I feel like that's a blessing for us because like certain talents that she

has that we don't have or vice versa and just like being saying that like we have

been in college for like longer than she has and knowing how like things work and don't work as far as like on the gr like

just being able to help her um navigate a little bit through all of that like

it's it has been really really fun strictly because like I tell her all the time like her growth from when she first

started here to now like it's tremendous like and like I'm just super proud of her because she's going to continue to

like show that she's a great player yeah I second that you know uh there's going to be a lot of ups and downs you know

especially for Toby her freshman year but you know we all know what she's capable of and in those moments we try

to instill a lot of confidence in her even though she don't need it cuz she she's a very confident player herself

but but in moments where we all make sure that she knows that we're there and we got her back very

back hey I just wanted to hear your thoughts on you upper classman having come through the tournament before what

it's like being back and how that's felt so far and then Toby for you as a freshman what that's been like so far

thank you yeah you know being back uh in the same position that we were last year it's a great feeling you know it's a

it's a it's a blessing just to be in this position to be in this sweet 16 and you know we're all just you know taking

it one game at a time we're just all excited to to compete with one another for one another game yeah I mean I agree

with Reagan you know saying that like we've been here before um like it's a blessing um you know the

excitement is always going to be there um maybe a little bit of nerves as well but um you know just being able to

compete at this level you know like coming back to back um like she said it's a blessing and we we just can't

wait um to continue to compete within the tournament if Lord say the

thing um I feel like people kind of try to tell you what to expect in the tournament but you don't really know

till you exper experence it yourself so I'm I'm you know kind of waiting on that we had the ACC uh you know Champs

so um I feel like that kind of that's going to help transition into this competition as well just because the

level of competitiveness and then facing the same teams that are also in the sweet 16 as well so I think that

prepared me as much as I can be prepared but I don't think you really are until you experience it

yourself we have time for one more question

just talk about the challenge of you know facing an opponent three times and what has y'all's preparation looked like

going into this matchup is it any different than it has you know the past two Toby will'll start with you

this um I feel like the preparation is relatively the same just because we're very prepared as a team every single

time we play them because we know what they bring to the table um I think playing them a few times has definitely helped because we know um you know what

to expect I mean you can never really know what to expect in a game like this especially during March madus but as much as we can so I think that's

definitely helped us before and it's going to be a competitive game Reagan yeah I feel like um since the first time

we played them they got better the second time we played them they've got better so I feel like you don't really know what to expect like Toby said going

into the game but we know that they're going to bring the their aam they're going to bring their competitiveness their energy and we're just going to

have to match that ashy yeah to agree with u what Reagan said you know like

this is a great team a great coach um like she said they've gotten better um

from the first game second game and we just know like they're going to compete and leave it all on the floor um they're

going to bring their best and you know like it's up for us to you know to to

continue to like compete at the level that they're going to compete at um but yeah you know like the preparation was

you know like pretty much harder I would say because you know it's March Madness anybody can beat anybody um and yeah

like just being prepared um for that and prepared for um tomorrow's game is

really like what we've been you know focusing on and just you know um we're

going to continue to like challenge ourselves and continue to you know stay the course and stay us um in order for

us to you know compete for tomorrow okay thank you ladies thank

Youk you Marilyn will start at

1:20 for