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On Monday afternoon, the Texas women's basketball team and Illinois will meet at the Moody Center during the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
But before facing each other, Texas and Illinois had to face the media Sunday. Texas, a No. 1 seed, beat Williams & Mary to make the second round. The Longhorns were led by SEC player of the year Madison Booker's 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field. The Longhorns racked up 26 assists on 41 field goals.
Illinois, a No. 8 seed, was paced by Genesis Bryant's 17 points in a win over Creighton.
Here is everything that Illinois said about Texas during their news conferences for senior forward Brynn Shoup-Hill and freshman forward Berry Wallace and head coach Shauna Green:
Shoup-Hill: "For me, what I took is their size, athleticism and how intense they are on defense. I think that's something we can also relate to and something we have to prepare for. Overall in every position, they're super tall, super athletic so that's definitely something we'll have to watch out for in our game."
Wallace: "Yeah, I agree, obviously just their defense and they're playing really hard the whole game. They have a lot of good players.
"Just knowing that we have to come out and be aggressive and match their physical and just match their energy on the court, so just being prepared for that."
Green: "I hadn't watched her as much as even just watching her last night live and then watching her on film and I know obviously my assistant, (Calamity McEntire), has coached at Texas and brings a lot of her experience and their overall time, what we're going to expect and just seeing them last night and seeing a player like herself — she's on another level. She's up there with all of them.
"Her size, she's smooth, her ability, her midrange game, her athleticism. She can do so many things on the court. Obviously we'll be undersized against her, who we put on her, so it's going to be a really hard guard for us, but, yeah, she's a little bit different in my mind than Juju or some of them, but she's obviously an elite player and deserving of being that (Associated Press) First-Team All-American."
Green: "That's one thing I think that you see right away from them. Obviously their size is imposing but they're so physical. I think a couple weeks ago having to guard (6-foot-7) Lauren Betts, having to guard (6-foot-3) Kiki (Iriafen), you know, similar where Betts is really, she's physical, she's going to try to bury you and get those elbows up and fly around in there too. I think that's going to help prepare these guys of what it feels like, but the thing about Texas is, yes, they have multiple. Jones goes out, you bring Oldacre in and Oldacre, we recruited her when I was at Dayton. It feels like 20 years ago. I'm like isn't she out of eligibility yet? But she's just a great player who's played really well and Jones, just their size alone.
"I did tell our kids, you think you got fouled yesterday (against Creighton) and you thought yesterday was a physical game? You have no idea. We gotta ramp up and be able to match that, be ready for it and not let it affect us because this team is physical, they're tough, they're going to get into you and you're going to get fouled and they're not going to call it and that's okay. We got to continue to be mentally tough and physically tough."
"I think we all know everyone expects Texas to win, right? So we are the underdog. All the pressure is on them. We have zero pressure. We can just go out there and play. Obviously we're competitors and we put pressure on ourselves because we want to be elite and we want to be great, but, yeah, all the pressure is on them right now."
"I don't know Vic personally. Obviously recruiting and when I called him to ask him if I could talk to Calamity about coming to Illinois, but, yeah, I don't know him, but I have a ton of respect for him for what he's done everywhere he's been. He's one of the best coaches out there and what he's done here at Texas, what he did at Mississippi State. Everything that he does, I'm a defense-minded coach. I love his defensive mindset. His teams are tough. They're physical. What he has done is what we're trying to build our program to be with consistency and being able to get those high-level kids to be able to compete for conference championships and national championships."
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas vs Illinois: What was said at NCAA Tournament
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But before facing each other, Texas and Illinois had to face the media Sunday. Texas, a No. 1 seed, beat Williams & Mary to make the second round. The Longhorns were led by SEC player of the year Madison Booker's 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field. The Longhorns racked up 26 assists on 41 field goals.
Illinois, a No. 8 seed, was paced by Genesis Bryant's 17 points in a win over Creighton.
Here is everything that Illinois said about Texas during their news conferences for senior forward Brynn Shoup-Hill and freshman forward Berry Wallace and head coach Shauna Green:
NCAA Tournament interviews: Texas vs Illinois
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On what stands out about Texas aside from the Longhorns being a No. 1 seed
Shoup-Hill: "For me, what I took is their size, athleticism and how intense they are on defense. I think that's something we can also relate to and something we have to prepare for. Overall in every position, they're super tall, super athletic so that's definitely something we'll have to watch out for in our game."
Wallace: "Yeah, I agree, obviously just their defense and they're playing really hard the whole game. They have a lot of good players.
"Just knowing that we have to come out and be aggressive and match their physical and just match their energy on the court, so just being prepared for that."
On what stands out about Madison Booker after playing All-Americans like JuJu Watkins and Lauren Betts
Green: "I hadn't watched her as much as even just watching her last night live and then watching her on film and I know obviously my assistant, (Calamity McEntire), has coached at Texas and brings a lot of her experience and their overall time, what we're going to expect and just seeing them last night and seeing a player like herself — she's on another level. She's up there with all of them.
"Her size, she's smooth, her ability, her midrange game, her athleticism. She can do so many things on the court. Obviously we'll be undersized against her, who we put on her, so it's going to be a really hard guard for us, but, yeah, she's a little bit different in my mind than Juju or some of them, but she's obviously an elite player and deserving of being that (Associated Press) First-Team All-American."
On the challenge of facing Texas post players Taylor Jones and Kyla Oldacre
Green: "That's one thing I think that you see right away from them. Obviously their size is imposing but they're so physical. I think a couple weeks ago having to guard (6-foot-7) Lauren Betts, having to guard (6-foot-3) Kiki (Iriafen), you know, similar where Betts is really, she's physical, she's going to try to bury you and get those elbows up and fly around in there too. I think that's going to help prepare these guys of what it feels like, but the thing about Texas is, yes, they have multiple. Jones goes out, you bring Oldacre in and Oldacre, we recruited her when I was at Dayton. It feels like 20 years ago. I'm like isn't she out of eligibility yet? But she's just a great player who's played really well and Jones, just their size alone.
"I did tell our kids, you think you got fouled yesterday (against Creighton) and you thought yesterday was a physical game? You have no idea. We gotta ramp up and be able to match that, be ready for it and not let it affect us because this team is physical, they're tough, they're going to get into you and you're going to get fouled and they're not going to call it and that's okay. We got to continue to be mentally tough and physically tough."
On if Texas or Illinois has more pressure
"I think we all know everyone expects Texas to win, right? So we are the underdog. All the pressure is on them. We have zero pressure. We can just go out there and play. Obviously we're competitors and we put pressure on ourselves because we want to be elite and we want to be great, but, yeah, all the pressure is on them right now."
On if Green has a relationship with Texas coach Vic Schaefer
"I don't know Vic personally. Obviously recruiting and when I called him to ask him if I could talk to Calamity about coming to Illinois, but, yeah, I don't know him, but I have a ton of respect for him for what he's done everywhere he's been. He's one of the best coaches out there and what he's done here at Texas, what he did at Mississippi State. Everything that he does, I'm a defense-minded coach. I love his defensive mindset. His teams are tough. They're physical. What he has done is what we're trying to build our program to be with consistency and being able to get those high-level kids to be able to compete for conference championships and national championships."
Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Access all of our best content with this tremendous offer.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas vs Illinois: What was said at NCAA Tournament
Continue reading...
