Up next in 10
Dressing room interviews w/ Lexi Donarski, Indya Nivar, Maria Gakdeng, Lanie Grant & Grace Townsend
Mar 27, 2025
#UNC #WBB
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just continuing to advance and just show
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everyone what we're about. Is from the
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area and how special is it to to get to
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to play with her basically in her
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hometown. Yeah. I mean, it's a lot of
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fun. We're we're all excited to be here
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and happy for her that she gets to come
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home. So, you you got to be in some
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other rivalries when you're in the Big
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12. What has being in the Duke Carolina
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rivalry been like for you the last two
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years? Yeah, I mean I feel like the D
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Carolina rivalry is like the best
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basketball rivalry in all of college
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basketball. So just being a part of that
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has been so much fun and just the energy
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around the game, the competitiveness
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that both teams give you like it's it's
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a fight every game and it's a lot of fun
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to be a part of. Did you feel that the
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first time you played them last year?
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Did it feel like something a little
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different than than any other game you
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played in some ways? For sure. Yeah. I
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mean, it's you can feel the rivalry in
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every single game that we played them.
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Yeah. Now, you grew up in Wisconsin, so
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were you did you have any sense of it
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before you came here? Uh, yeah, for
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sure. I mean, I feel like anyone that
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watches college basketball, is aware of
1:12
the Duke Carolina rivalry, and just
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knows what it means, and they love one
1:16
program and hate the other. Exactly. How
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do you feel like defensively you've been
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able to adjust? Obviously, you were
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defense Big 12 defensive player of the
1:25
year when you're there and you came here
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and brought that defense and especially
1:29
this year when you guys have been such a
1:30
good defensive team. How have you been
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able to help raise that level of defense
1:33
here? Yeah, I mean the team is always
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going to get my best effort on the
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defensive side of the ball and just
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trying to do my best to take the other
1:40
team's best guard out of what they want
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to do. So taking a lot of actions,
1:44
making their shots more difficult, it's
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definitely been something that I've
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tried to do. And I feel like this year
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especially, we've really had a full team
1:50
buyin that no, we're not playing
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one-on-one defense. It's five on five.
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So even teams that want to play ice ball
1:56
all night, we're like, no, that's not
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how we play. Like you're not going to be
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playing on an island, we're playing five
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on five and we have each other's backs
2:02
on the defensive side. So I feel like
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especially this season that we've really
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had that full buy in and that's why
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we're we've won so many games. What what
2:11
did you learn from the first two Duke
2:13
games as far as limiting turnovers with
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the pressure that they're going to bring
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and did Monday night kind of help in
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that regard? I definitely think that
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coming off a West Virginia game into
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playing with Duke is very helpful. West
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Virginia the pressure is similar
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compared to both teams. Obviously they
2:30
play differently, but the ball pressure,
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how difficult they make reversals and
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just their uh yeah, just their pressure
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on defense is very similar between the
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two teams. So, I feel like we grew
2:40
throughout the game against West
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Virginia, and that's something that
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we're going to just continue to grow and
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carry on into our next game. How do you
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How do you feel about playing Duke on a
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big stage like this? It seems weird.
2:50
Yeah, I'm super excited. I mean, anytime
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we get to play Duke, it's a lot of fun
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and it's always a fight. You're going to
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get the best effort from both teams. So,
3:00
we're excited and it's definitely a team
3:02
that we know well, so it'll be fun.
3:05
Lexi, um, one of the things that was
3:07
interesting that coach said, um, what
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what do you think you guys learned from
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the first two Duke meetings as far as
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limiting turnovers? Obviously, that that
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was a big deal in both games. And and
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did Monday night's game kind of help you
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in that regard? Yeah. Um, you know,
3:24
their aggressiveness on defense is
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really what they're known for. They're
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very handsy. They just make it hard for
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us to get the ball in. And yeah,
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limiting those turnovers is a key
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component in the game tomorrow. Um, our
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game against West Virginia I feel like
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has has really prepared us for that
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moment. They were very handy and like
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their press was very very aggressive and
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I think that kind of compliments the way
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Duke plays and I think we watch film on
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that and the games in the past and I
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feel like we've learned from that and
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definitely can grow tomorrow in that
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aspect of turning the ball over. And
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then the fact that you stayed with him
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for much of the game without uh Liz,
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without Reaniah at Duke, what what does
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that tell you that you can do tomorrow?
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Oh yeah, it just shows that everybody is
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prepared to fill in like whenever we
4:11
need a sub, people are ready to play at
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that the level that we need them to
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play. And yeah, everybody's going to be
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needed tomorrow and that's just exciting
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that we have uh Rana and Alyssa back cuz
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they're definitely going to help in all
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those aspects. Obviously, you grew up in
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the Triangle. You know, the Carolina
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Duke robbery very well. How weird is it
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to have those two rivals play here on a
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big stage like this? Does that seem odd?
4:35
Not odd. It just shows the level of
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basketball in the triangle. I feel like
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having three teams in the sweet sweet 16
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is
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just very exciting for the area. Um, and
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just to have that rivalry in this type
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of tournament, I don't know. It's just I
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think it's exciting. I don't think it's
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odd. it it was bound to happen either
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now or later on in the tournament. So,
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yeah, it's just very exciting to be a
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part of that game again for the third
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time this season in this position. Has
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there been any talk about the 2022 men's
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game? Uh not not as a group, but I've
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thought about it. I um you know, little
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clips on Tik Tok show um show up about
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that game all the time and it's just
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exciting and the way that we were hoping
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the way that game turned out turns out
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for us.
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Thank you.
5:23
Uh how how's how's the experience of
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what what have you learned from the
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first two games against Duke? Obviously,
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it's not easy navigating inside against
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Forier and some of those other players.
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Yeah, I think they're really good
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defensively. So, being able to be
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aggressive, um they look to front me in
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the post, so getting those easy lobs,
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easy buckets is going to be really
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important for us. Uh I'm excited for
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this matchup. I don't really try to do
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anything like different, special, just
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playing my role, playing it well,
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staying aggressive, keep posting up like
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I do every other game. Um, it didn't go
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our way last time, so obviously going to
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have a different year going into this
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next one, but I'm excited for for
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tomorrow. Yeah, obviously teams have
6:02
been physical against you all season,
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but that was particularly the case in
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those two games. Um, how do you deal
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with that? Um, honestly, I just I don't
6:12
have a choice but to play through it. I
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don't have a choice sometimes. Um, I
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feel like I could get some calls, but it
6:19
doesn't usually go my way, but I've
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learned to play through it, honestly.
6:22
Um, play through that physicality. It's
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something I've gotten used to. So, being
6:26
used to it at this point. Um, just keep
6:28
playing. Um, try to stay try to stay
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like composed, I would say, because
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sometimes it does get frustrating when I
6:34
feel like, you know, I deserve like a
6:35
foul call maybe, but um, staying
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composed throughout all that. Not trying
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to be like any different than I have
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been. Um, continuing to call for the
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ball. I think I can I can also I feel
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like I get tired sometimes, but I got to
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continue to just fight fall off the ball
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because it does draw defenders in, opens
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up shooters, opens up the floor for
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everyone else. So, what's your view of
6:53
the of the UNC Duke rivalry on a big
6:56
stage like this? Um, the rivalry is
6:59
always big, always been big. It's a
7:01
histo. It's a historic thing. So, having
7:03
to play the men is going to be fun. I
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think it's going to be a whole lot of
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fun. I think um um going into tomorrow
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um there's a lot of expectations on both
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sides, but I think being it being at a
7:13
neutral site, it's going to be fun.
7:15
There's going to be supporters on both
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sides. I think we might have more
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because Rene's bringing a lot of people
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from her hometown, so it'll be really
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fun. Not trying to do anything special,
7:23
but just being ourselves. All right.
7:25
Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. What What do
7:27
you think you guys learned in the first
7:30
two games against Duke as far as trying
7:32
to limit turnovers? And did Monday's
7:35
game kind of help you in that regard?
7:37
Yeah, I would say that because we've
7:38
played them twice, we're very familiar
7:40
with them. We're familiar with their
7:41
personnel and their actions and their
7:43
style of play. So, I think that coming
7:45
into it for a third time, we'll be a lot
7:46
more comfortable with the pressure that
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they're going to bring and just in
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general how they play and just learning
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from maybe stretches and the second in
7:54
the second game where we can be better.
7:55
So, yeah, just just comes down to making
7:58
good decisions with the ball in the back
8:00
court. Sure. I would say that's that's a
8:02
part of it, I think. can like like I
8:04
said just being more comfortable and
8:06
playing a little less like stressfree
8:07
like you know rivalry games people are
8:09
always a little bit nervous but you know
8:10
we're playing in a neutral sight for the
8:12
sweet 16 like it doesn't get much better
8:14
than that so you know being smarter with
8:16
the ball and also you know having Raya
8:17
back as our primary ball handler is
8:19
going to be very helpful along with
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Alysa so it's going to be great so like
8:23
at the second game you didn't have
8:24
Raniah you didn't have Liz and you still
8:27
stayed with him for much of the game
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what does that tell you that you can do
8:31
tomorrow I think that gives us a lot of
8:33
confidence I know that there's a lot to
8:34
grow and a lot to learn in from that
8:36
second game. But I think we got deeper
8:37
as a team and we learned a lot. I
8:39
learned a lot from that game. I've
8:40
watched it back a couple times. So, you
8:42
know, it forced people to step out of
8:44
their comfort like our the second game
8:45
forced people to step out of their
8:46
comfort zone and like grow as players.
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And I think that now coming as a third
8:50
time like having Ray and Alyssa, it's
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going to be obviously an added bonus.
8:54
So, I'm excited. You said you learned a
8:55
lot. What was the biggest thing you
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learned? I would say just the amount of
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effort it took to put a 40minute game
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together like as somebody that was the
9:04
like one of the primary ball handlers
9:06
and people that were looking to score.
9:07
So I would say that in general
9:11
and you should be a senior in high
9:13
school but you're playing in the sweet
9:15
16. What are the emotions just when that
9:18
rings through your head? Honored and
9:21
humbled I would say. Like I was watching
9:22
March Madness last year and I had no
9:24
clue that in 365 days I was going to be
9:27
a part of it. And now like forcing
9:28
myself to take a step back and like look
9:30
at look at it from a whole and realize
9:32
like what I'm doing and like how
9:34
fortunate I am to be doing it with this
9:35
particular team like I mean it means
9:37
everything to me. Thank you. Yeah, of
9:39
course. What what do you think that you
9:41
guys learned from the first two Duke
9:43
games as far as trying to limit
9:45
turnovers? Obviously you were an
9:47
integral part of the second game. I
9:49
think at the end of the day it's like
9:50
you said limit we need to limit our
9:52
turnovers to protect the ball but at the
9:54
same time I think it's the same thing
9:55
defense and rebounding is just what
9:57
keeps coming up for us. This is your was
10:00
it you be your first sweet 16? Yes. What
10:03
are your emotions going into that? I'm
10:05
excited. I think it's fun.
10:06
kind of nice, but it's kind of nice to
10:08
play a team that we already know so
10:10
familiarly, but at the same time, it's
10:12
like gives us even more energy to play
10:14
them and compete at a high level and
10:16
continue to go up to the elite.
10:19
How much were you cheering for your old
10:21
school there? Made a nice little run. I
10:23
was watching their games. I was excited
10:24
for them. They were doing well. I think
10:26
it was a big win for them over Georgia
10:28
Tech in the first round. I think at
10:29
halftime, we like they like the chances
10:32
there against UCLA when they pulled
10:33
away. I think was fun to see them be
10:35
able to experience that in the NCAA
10:37
tournament. Thank you.
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