TCU women's basketball beat Army 88-51 in the Maggie Dixon Classic. Madison Conner and Sedona Prince, who combined for 57 points, speak to the media in the postgame interview.
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00:00 Now we have Madison Connor and Sedona Prince follow today's win over Army.
00:07 Questions in the room for these two.
00:09 Sedona, fourth double-double in the first five games of the year.
00:13 Big 33-point performance.
00:15 How quickly did you feel like you got into a rhythm today, and how did you maintain throughout?
00:22 From the jump, that was a big thing we were focusing on as a team.
00:26 As soon as the ball tips off, we're in attack mode.
00:30 That's what I really want to work on today.
00:32 Just focus on setting my foot down early and being in presence immediately.
00:37 Not just turning on at the second half, but from the jump.
00:41 That's what I'm going to focus on today.
00:44 For both of y'all, last game, Connor closed the game on a 12-0 run.
00:48 This game, y'all closed the game on an 8-0 run.
00:51 Was the message going in to finish strong today?
00:54 I feel like starting strong and finishing strong is one of our main points today.
00:58 As we get to the big draw, if we go on an 8-0 run, the game's over.
01:03 We have to focus on the little details as we work the kinks out.
01:07 Those are the two main focuses today.
01:10 For either one of you, the pick and roll you started going for you guys in the first half, during the second half.
01:17 Talk about developing that relationship and how that's been progressing.
01:21 We got into a flow there.
01:24 Every time we brought it down, it's pick what you want.
01:30 Maddie and I are very strong in that.
01:34 We're getting more used to playing with each other, especially getting game reps with that.
01:38 You can see it coming together very nicely.
01:41 It's very fun to play in.
01:44 If they double on me, there's no chance you're going to run out on Maddie.
01:50 It's just fun to play.
01:53 The more reps we get, the more games we go, we're going to get better and better at it.
01:57 To that point, Madison, you had 15 threes tonight.
02:00 They all looked like they were pretty open looks.
02:03 Is that what Sedona's talking about, the pick your poison, when everybody knows the quality of shooter you are and you're still getting looks like that?
02:09 There's not much you can do.
02:11 If you have Jayden coming off a pick and roll, you saw today, she used her speed to go get some layups.
02:15 She has a layup, Sedona has a dump off, Raggy the three.
02:18 I feel like the pick and roll, especially us three, you have to pick one or the other.
02:22 At the end of the day, we're going to get open looks just because all three of us have different strengths.
02:26 When we're in a pick and roll together, we're in a little triangle, one of us is going to get a lot of good looks.
02:33 Talk about your ability to put pressure on other teams' defense.
02:37 They had two ladies foul out today.
02:40 Last game, multiple ladies fouled out again.
02:42 Just the ability to draw fouls and put pressure on their defense.
02:46 I feel like with Sedona down there, there's not much they can do.
02:49 If they double from the back side, it's a guard rotating trying to help on a lob.
02:54 Realistically, the only thing you can do is foul.
02:56 If they're there and they wall up, they're going to get a skip three.
02:59 I feel like, having her down there, many teams cannot guard it.
03:03 On the other side of things, defensively, how do you guys feel you've improved from game one to today?
03:14 Tremendously.
03:17 Playing together, we still have things to work on, for sure, as does every team.
03:23 We've just become so much more of a unit, helping each other, communicating, and being tough.
03:29 We got so many steals. I don't know how many steals we got tonight, but it felt like a lot.
03:34 We're just an aggressive defensive team.
03:39 We should be better, but it's been a massive jump.
03:43 Do you feel like that defense fuels your guys' offense with the number of fast break points you guys had?
03:48 Yeah, for sure. I feel like today we did a really good job keying in on their best player, number 21.
03:53 She went one for six, and she's a phenomenal shooter.
03:55 For us, attention to detail, paying attention to those little things.
03:59 We can't have a star player go off for 30 points in a night.
04:03 We have to lock in, and I feel like we did a really good job of that tonight.
04:06 For both of you, you all head on the road for the first time this season.
04:09 What excites you all the most about going on the road for the first time?
04:13 I feel like we went to Costa Rica together, so it was kind of fun. We got a little feel of that.
04:17 Once you're actually playing in-season games, it's a little bit different.
04:20 Just focused level on units and scrimmages.
04:22 We've been on the road together, so it's not like the first time we're on the road.
04:25 You have to have a different sense of intensity when you're on the road.
04:29 Good thing it's not somebody's home court. It's a mutual location.
04:33 When you're on the road and you're not at home, you don't have your fans supporting you behind you.
04:38 It's a great up-notch.
04:40 Absolutely. I'm excited to see Jaz Shelly. I know that Mark touched on it.
04:45 I haven't seen Jaz in three years, and she was one of my best friends at Oregon.
04:49 Just playing with her and being able to give her a big hug and then beat her down is going to be really fun.
04:57 Twelve free throw attempts for you tonight, Sedona.
05:00 How important is that aspect of your game when you know that they're going to be physical with you in the paint?
05:04 Super important. I've been getting a lot of reps for free throws.
05:08 At the beginning of the season, it's hard to get that touch of, "I haven't played in a year and a half."
05:13 Getting that back was interesting and slow.
05:17 If they're going to send double teams or whatever and just try to foul me,
05:21 I have to be able to make free throws to get those extra points.
05:24 It hurts more for them.
05:27 I haven't told this story to anyone.
05:29 They fouled me a lot. They were hanging on me today.
05:32 For both of y'all, Coach said that Agnes is the backbone of this team.
05:37 Can y'all elaborate on that?
05:39 For sure. She does everything.
05:42 She only shot four shots today, but Agnes helps us in so many different areas.
05:46 She works her butt off regardless.
05:48 Offense, defense, whatever you need, Agnes is going to do it.
05:51 I feel like we have a good mixture of that on our team.
05:53 A lot of teams don't have a Joe well because they don't have a player like Agnes who's willing to do the dirty work.
05:57 She does it every day of practice.
06:00 She works crazy hard.
06:02 She's always in the gym working on her shot because she knows if she's wide open, she has to knock it down.
06:05 She does that for us.
06:07 If we didn't have Agnes, I feel like this might struggle a little bit more.
06:10 She helps us sometimes.
06:12 She is the backbone.
06:14 When you see Agnes getting down on the floor fighting for loose balls,
06:17 getting active on the offensive board,
06:19 does that inspire you and motivate you to get after it a little bit more too?
06:23 For sure.
06:24 You see your teammate working hard and getting on the floor.
06:27 When they're not getting the same shots and the same opportunities offensively,
06:30 that makes you want to play hard for them.
06:32 I feel like she does that.
06:34 We all rally behind her.
06:35 When she gets the flexion, she goes and makes a layup.
06:37 She gets so excited.
06:38 We're like, "Let's go, Agnes!"
06:40 Little things like that.
06:41 We play for each other.
06:43 She's one of our main players.
06:45 Overwards too.
06:46 That's such a big thing.
06:47 We have such good shooters and scorers.
06:49 When Aggie's in there getting us extra rebounds,
06:52 it's not necessarily for her to get a shot.
06:54 But she's getting us extra possessions so that if we miss it the first time,
06:57 we're getting incredible possessions because of her.
07:02 Speaking of another role player,
07:05 you've got Tara that goes down near the end of the first quarter
07:08 and then that opens up a few minutes for Vic in the fourth quarter,
07:13 who, like you, has missed a lot of basketball in the last year or so.
07:17 What did you see from Vic in those final few minutes of the fourth quarter,
07:20 and how good was it to see her get moving a little bit?
07:23 She didn't look like a freshman at all.
07:25 She came in, she was steady.
07:27 She might have been nervous, but she didn't look like it.
07:30 She gave us great minutes.
07:33 She was solid and just played good defense, had great possessions.
07:39 It was awesome to see her because she has been working so hard
07:41 and came back from a very, very difficult injury,
07:43 and that's very hard to do, especially as a kid that young.
07:48 It's a testament just what a good human she is,
07:51 how much she's been working, and how good her game is.
07:54 I feel like coming in from the past few games,
07:56 when they went in those last few minutes and kind of had a roll,
07:58 they had a different sense of focus, and I feel like that was huge.
08:01 She went two for two, three assists, and one steal in seven minutes.
08:05 For a freshman, that's huge.
08:07 Any freshman gets in the game, they're all nervous,
08:09 and especially her, so she hasn't played in a while.
08:11 But she has been in practice every day, so we all have faith in her,
08:14 and she did it tonight, so very proud of her.
08:17 Madison, for you, seven to make threes tonight.
08:20 What's your shooting touch from? What do you credit that to?
08:23 I just am in the gym a ton. I mean, I airballed a few.
08:26 I mean, I don't know what's going on.
08:28 I airballed twice last game, and I airballed again this game.
08:32 Yeah, struggling, but I mean, I'm just in the gym all the time.
08:35 I'm getting shots up.
08:37 Before I came to college, I wasn't really that great of a shooter,
08:40 but when you get to college, you have to be great at one thing
08:42 because teams are going to take everything away,
08:44 and you have other people that do great things,
08:46 so you have to be able to come in the game and do what you're good at.
08:48 So I'd rather just get up, shots, and have confidence in my shot.
08:54 Anything else for these two? All right.
08:57 Bye.