Villanova - 73, Providence - 65
THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement from Coach and then take questions.
ERIN BATTH: Hello, everyone. Tough fight. Two really good teams. I'm proud of our team. I'm really excited to see what we've done today. You know, I don't know, we just -- we fought, which is what we do. So I'm really proud of them for that. We beat Nova in a lot of categories. I'm looking at the stat sheet, and I think if we made a little more free throws. We shot 20. We only made 13. You know, we had one more shot attempt than them. We had less turnovers. We had more steals.
I mean, it just didn't go our way. Again, definitely don't want to take anything from Villanova and her squad. She has a great team and Denise does a great job. We were right there. Right there. And even at the very end, we were making a run, and then they got some offensive boards. They only had five, but they counted. The five they got, they got at the wrong time for us and kind of put a dagger in us.
But we didn't quit. I don't know, I'm grateful for the seniors, the fifth years that I had to coach this journey. I appreciate them for wanting to be Friars. They will always be Friars. It's kind of a cool thing. But it didn't go our way, but we fought. That, I'm very proud of. Always will be.
THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about the embrace that you had with Sabou. It looked a little emotional. Can you talk about what she means to the program?
ERIN BATTH: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's what it's all about. I took this opportunity -- this great opportunity to be the head coach at Providence College knowing that you would have players like Sabou. And so for her to join us has been a huge blessing. I told her she's already helped us move history and do some really awesome things through this program, and I appreciate that. I'm proud of her. I coach her hard, and it's all paid off.
So that hug is what it should be. And I hugged all of them, all of my seniors that won't return because I'm just grateful and when it's done, it's done. And it happens really fast. But I'm really grateful for Sabou. She put a lot on her shoulders this season, and she did it with grace. She did it the right way. She's a great teammate and a great leader. And so very proud of her. And she grew. She got better. She's a better player.
Q. Sabou, hearing Coach talk, and not just the fight that you had, but it almost seemed from the opening tip that y'all had an expectation that you were going to win tonight's game. You played almost 40 minutes tonight, left everything on the floor. What does basketball mean to you from giving you joy in competing that we really saw tonight, especially in the first half, the way were you kind of showing out?
SABOU GUEYE: Basketball means a lot to me. That's all I know. That's why I started crying, because I'm just grateful to be here, to just be a Friar. This is one of the best college career of my life. I'm just grateful for Coach and my teammates. Basketball just means a lot to me overall. I can't even talk.
Q. Despite obviously high emotions and despite the tough loss, was tonight kind of a breakthrough for the team? Did you see something out of the team tonight that was kind of building the momentum? Despite, obviously, not coming out with it, but was there a positive that came throughout this game?
ERIN BATTH: That's a great question. A lot of positivity. I really like how they were engaged in timeouts. I gave them a lot of instructions in timeouts and I have a lot of fire in me, and I do a really good job -- you're going to make me cry (laughing).
So the timeout situation, I think is good. I think we came out of timeouts. I think we were focused. I think at halftime it was really good. I like how they were engaged with each other. People have -- women on my team, some have started, some have not. Some have started and stopped starting and their attitudes have been really great.
They're very unselfish. They know Sabou needs to have the ball, they know when Tene needs to have the ball, and I love that. So we're just getting there. I hate that it's over because we were right there. But I will tell you what's not over, is my relationship with these women. I'm going to all their weddings. Like I said before, they can't get rid of me, can't hide from me. And they're Friars forever and that's what we do here. So that's a forever deal.
But a lot of good things. We were right there. Look at the stats. Right there. Just got to make a few more shots and communicate a little bit better and we'll be fine. So I'm excited where this program's going. I have everyone I need. Everyone in that locker room's all we need. It's all we need to get it done and I'm proud. Very proud of 'em.
Q. There were stretches in both the second and fourth quarters where you guys kept Villanova off the board for five minutes or more. What was it that changed in those moments?
ERIN BATTH: Yeah. No, we knew they're great shooters and very smart, high-IQ players, and athletic too. They tick a lot of boxes. So one of our biggest goals was to control the boards, offensively and defensively, because even though they shoot a lot of threes, long rebounds, and so you really have to make connection and it's harder to kind of rebound a three-point shot, because it goes over your head, and you got to make contact and grab the ball with two hands. And I thought we did that.
We talked about that a lot. We were talking about it all season. So I thought we did a good job of that.
Q. When you weren't here yesterday, my understanding is that you were calling in and talking to the coach. Talk a little bit about that.
ERIN BATTH: How did you find that out?
Q. I'm a journalist.
ERIN BATTH: Oh, journalists, so good at their jobs.
Yes, I couldn't help it. I tried. I tried. I was at home and I had to get up and I had to sweep the floor in the same spot for two hours. I was, like -- but, no, yeah, I called a little bit, but then I let it go because I have a great staff. And when I tell you -- when I saw the staff, just different people, Elissa Cunane, she had her interview, and then Sharon Baldwin who is a veteran and she's my mentor and she had her time, and then seeing Coach Val Nainima do her thing, which the really cool thing is she's my friend. I saw my bestie do her thing. Ain't nothing like that. I work with my friend. Yes, I do. So I'm very proud of her.
But I called in a little bit, but not much. They don't listen to me either. I ain't going to lie. I'm like, I said to do this. No. Which I'm proud of. It's good. It was great. That was her time, that was their time. God makes no mistakes. His timing is great. So, hey, proud of 'em.
Q. I think you owe us some mac and cheese.
ERIN BATTH: How do you know that? I saw that on a video. The girls were saying, Mac and cheese. But, yeah, I can cook. I can cook.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports