Q. What a match; what's going through your head?
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO: I'm just so happy. I was just trying to take deep breaths and not get too frustrated. Like on the last hole -- when I was in high school I played the Scott Robertson Memorial and I had a 20-footer to continue a playoff, so I just took a deep breath and really thought about that hole and not trying to force it in, just putting a good speed, and it went in, and that was just great momentum. Then made a really good up-and-down and almost made birdie on this hole and then I killed my 3-wood, and then I had a lip-out on the next hole, and I was like, okay, don't get frustrated. I was hitting really good shots, so just keep hitting good shots.
On this hole I was in the same spot this afternoon against Megan, and I three-putted because I hit it four feet short. So I was like, okay, you know it's not that fast, and I actually thought I hit it too high, but then it rolled in on the very back, so that was nice, especially after I thought I made that putt. I'm just so happy. This is the first time I've ever been in extra holes in march play, and I think I went --
Q. Four holes, yeah.
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO: Yeah, so I'm just really proud of myself. I really want this thing, so I really fought for it.
Q. A lot happened. Can we go back to 18? She almost holed it. Could you see it? You heard her reaction. Just tell us what you knew.
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO: Yeah, I heard her reaction, but I saw the ball. I knew it wasn't in the hole. I knew it was probably two inches, and I was going to give it to her. I just hit a great 7-iron. It didn't go like at the pin, but it was really good, so it was like, it's all right, it was really solid, just -- I was just trying to stay focused and not getting too -- like shoot, if I had parred the last two holes I would have won on 17, just trying not to think about the past, just focusing on what I needed to do right then. I think it's really easy in match play to say, oh, like I made six birdies but I lost on 17. Like it doesn't really matter. You just have to beat the person you're playing against. So I was just trying to focus on the present as much as I could on exactly what I needed to do without trying to force anything.
Q. Do you remember what you yelled?
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO: "Yeah!"
In nationals last year I made a 12-footer and screamed it, so I think now Golf Channel has to --
Q. I was going to ask, do you remember what you yelled then?
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO: Actually I remember.
Q. What is it about match play that brings out the best in you because I've seen you in stroke play, but it's like you're a completely different animal in match play, so what is it about match play that brings out a different side of your game?
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO: Yeah, I think it just frees me up. I know that I have to make birdies to beat the person. Like you can't just play sort of steady golf. Something in stroke play that I try and work on -- in stroke play I'm really good at birdieing in but sometimes I have a slow start, but with match play you can't have any of that, you just have to go for it the whole time. I think that's what really kind of frees me up in match play, and something that I'm trying to assimilate in stroke play.
Q. So you're a quarterfinalist now, mom on the bag. I know when I go out to tournaments she's always right there with you. What's it like to share this moment with her?
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO: Yeah, it's really, really special. I mean, this is the first U.S. Am I've played in, and she started caddying for me last year, and she was there when I won the Pan-Am Games, when I won gold, so she had caddied for me then, and yeah, it's just really special. She knows what to say. She knows my golf game. She has a really good golf IQ, so I know I can just rely on her to tell me what the slope is and what number I need to play, which is good when you're kind of just in the moment and you need someone else to kind of help you out.
So yeah, she's incredible. I'm so lucky to have a mom like her.
Q. When I lip out on the last hole and then you come and make this putt here, how do you kind of keep it out of your head?
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO: Yeah, I trusted my eye there because I missed my par putt this morning or this afternoon, and it breaks a lot more than you think. It dips, dives right at the hole. So yeah, like I said, I was just trying not to focus on, oh, that was my chance to win on the last hole. I was just trying to keep hitting good shots, and yeah, that was sort of my mentality.
Q. Long day tomorrow; how do you relax tonight?
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO: Well, actually I have a final project due. I have two summer classes, so unfortunately I have to work on that because it's due tomorrow at noon, so --
Q. You're a little busy tomorrow.
EMILIA MIGLIACCIO: Yeah, so I'm going to be busy tomorrow. Yeah, I'm just going to -- I don't know what we're doing for dinner, but I'm just going to relax and go to bed as soon as I can.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports