Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Athletics

By EMILY LOOF
Saint Mary’s Sports Information Office
 
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Members of the four NCAA Division III women’s basketball national semifinalists—Wartburg, Bowdoin, Amherst, and Thomas More—sat down to share some thoughts in following Division III national semifinal games Friday evening.
 
Here are some of the highlights:
 
THOMAS MOORE COLLEGE: Head coach Jeff Hans, junior Madison Temple, senior Abby Owings, and senior Nikki Kiernan.

• COACH HANS ON THE GAME: “I thought we showed a lot of resilience tonight, getting the early lead. But then we were fighting an uphill battle all game, and that’s a credit to what Amherst does defensively. It was a tough night, and we haven’t had too many of those nights. But they fought the whole night, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
• COACH HANS ON THE AMHERST BUZZER-BEATING THREE-POINTER IN THE THIRD QUARTER: “It swung momentum back to them. If that doesn’t happen, who knows what happens.”
• TEMPLE ON THE AMHERST BUZZER-BEATING THREE-POINTER IN THE THIRD QUARTER: “It was deflating, to get back within one point and with those few seconds left, she just stepped up and made a big shot. We tried to keep our heads up and just move onto the next play.”
•  COACH HANS ON AMHERST’S MCCARTHY’S STRONG PERFORMANCE: “That’s what a strong player does. That’s what happens at this stage. Players have got to make plays. And they did, and we struggled putting it in the basket.”
• TEMPLE ON HER TEAM’S MULTIPLE RALLIES: “We all knew we had to get stops on defense because our shots weren’t falling. We knew we had to cut that lead down and focus on keeping them out of the paint and making sure we were boxing out. We just weren’t able to tie the game up or get the lead.”
•  COACH HANS ON WHAT SETS AMHERST’S DEFENSE APART: “They’re so disciplined on what they do and how they do it. They are so long, they have high motors, they chase every screen, they fight through every screen, and they’re right there all the time.”
• COACH HANS ON WHAT HIS SENIOR CLASS HAS MEANT TO THE PROGRAM: “Two Final Fours, one national championship, that just doesn’t happen very often. For a place like Thomas More, that doesn’t happen. They are special players and special people. The experiences that they’ve been able to take their team on, along with their teammates, past and present, it’s not by accident.”

 
AMHERST COLLEGE: Head coach G.P. Gromacki, senior Hannah Hackley, junior Emma McCarthy, and sophomore Madeline Eck

• COACH GROMACKI ON THE WIN: “What a game. If you looked at the score, you wouldn’t be able to tell how close it was. We started a little slow, but then we settled down. I’m really proud of how my team handled the runs that Thomas More made, and give them a lot of credit, they have a great program and great players.”
• MCCARTHY ON HER STRONG PERFORMANCE: “Our game plan going in was to try to get it inside. My teammates did an amazing job doing that, and then they hit some great shots, so when Thomas More gave me some pressure, they were able to hit some great shots.”
• COACH GROMACKI ON THOMAS MORE’S EFFORT: “They were energized, and they came after us a little bit early. I don’t know if we were shocked a little bit or what, but we gave them some baskets, but then we kind of settled in and we were fine. But it made for a fun atmosphere.
• COACH GROMACKI ON HIS TEAM’S BUZZER-BEATING THREE-POINTER IN THE THIRD QUARTER: “I think it just made us believe a little but more. To find her up top, that was a great shot.”
• COACH GROMACKI ON HIS TEAM’S SUCCESS YEAR AFTER YEAR: “We don’t think about it. We worried about who we’re playing today and now we’re worried about who we’re playing tomorrow. I think if you asked our team midway through the season the number of wins we had in a row, I don’t think they could have even answered that. And I think that’s a good thing. That’s not why the guys up here are playing the game. They’re playing because they love the game and they love their teammates and they’re representing Amherst College at the highest level.”
• HACKLEY ON HER MATCHUP WITH THOMAS MORE’S OWINGS: “She is an amazing player, All-American, does it all. We were able to hold her to only a few, but so much credit goes to my teammates. The scrambling behind me meant that we were able to shut her down tonight.”
• MCCARTHY ON HER TEAM’S DEFENSE: “All five of us on the court know what we need to do to get it done. It’s a huge emphasis of ours. If we’re all not in sync, things go south. When they do get some open shots, sticking together is what makes us successful on defense. They score a lot of points, and our defense is one of the defenses that limits scoring, so that’s a huge testament to us.”
• COACH GROMACKI ON HIS TEAM’S 2016 LOSS TO THOMAS MORE IN THE FINAL FOUR: “That was a different team, this is a different team. We’re just focusing on who we’re playing right now.”
• COACH GROMACKI ON WHETHER HE IS CONCERNED ABOUT FATIGUE, SINCE HE PLAYED ONLY SIX PLAYERS ON HIS ROSTER: “Not at all. We’ll go in tomorrow night and do what we need to do. People need to step up if we need them to tomorrow, but with one game left, we’re not holding anything back.”
• HACKLEY ON WHAT SENIOR LEADERSHIP MEANS: “Just trying to motivate people and encourage them to play their best basketball and peak at the right time. What’s so great is that even though we only have 11 players, everyone feels comfortable stepping up and sharing their voice. We have such a tight-knit group that really feels confident speaking up.”

 
WARTBURG COLLEGE: Head coach Bob Amsberry, senior Miranda Murphy, and senior Katie Sommer

• COACH AMSBERRY ON THE LOSS: “Bowdoin exposed us in ways I couldn’t even imagine. They’re really good, and they earned that thing. They were a lot better than we were tonight and all the credit goes to them. I thought we made a good run at it, cutting it to 10 going into halftime. And then we broke down and made a couple mistakes and boom, it was right back to 20. I don’t think we gave up 90 points all year, so they earned that.”
• COACH AMSBERRY ON BOWDOIN’S KELLY’S STRONG PERFORMANCE: “I think she benefitted from the rest of her team because of how well they penetrated. We were breaking down off the dribble. We didn’t do a good job of containing the drive. She’s a great shooter and we knew it.”
• SOMMER ON THE DIFFICULTY OF FACING THE DEFECIT: “I had all the confidence in my teammates. I told them, ‘Let’s fight. We’re fighters. We’re going to do this.’ I’m so proud of them. We kept fighting, it just didn’t turn out our way.”
• SOMMER ON BOWDOIN’S DEFENSE: “They were pressuring the ball pretty well and I think we panicked a little bit due to their pressure.”
• COACH AMSBERRY ON SOMMER’S CAREER: “Katie’s a great player, and she was a great player from day one. More than any player I’ve ever had, she was able to make everyone else way better. She did so much for this program. I think our other players really feed off Katie’s energy and her ability to set them up.”
• SOMMER ON THE SENIORS’ RELATIONSHIP: “Growing up, we played against each other. We knew each other coming in. And getting to share these last four years with them is indescribable. I’m just so thankful that I’m on the team I’m on.
• COACH AMSBERRY ON THE BOWDOIN OFFENSE: “Honestly, I thought coming into this game that we could defend them. I felt really comfortable with our game plan and thought we could do a good job and we didn’t. They have so many players that can get you off the drive and can put pressure on you. We really got exposed.”
• MURPHY ON WHAT SHE WILL TAKE AWAY FROM HER CAREER: “From our freshman year to now, just to see the growth in the program and the community support we got. Tonight, you could see that there wasn’t an open seat behind our bench and that’s just a great atmosphere to be a part of.”
• COACH AMSBERRY: ON THE LEGACY OF THIS WARTBURG TEAM: “This group has done so many things that no other Wartburg team has done. First ever Final Four, and then two out of three years. First undefeated regular season. But to me, it’s not really about all of that. It’s who we were. Our number one goal was to have a championship culture. And an underclassman spoke up in the locker room spoke up and said, ‘You guys did it the right way. You taught us how.’ I think that says a lot about this group.”  

 
BOWDOIN COLLEGE: Head coach Nancy Shibles, junior Taylor Choate, junior Abby Kelly, and senior Kate Kerrigan

• COACH SHIBLES ON THE WIN: “We really came ready to play, It was a phenomenal shooting performance. I thought we had some dips in our defense, but we were focused on bringing a great defensive effort and great effort on the boards, and I thought overall we did a pretty good job of that, which I think overall made the difference in the game.”
• KELLY ON HER STRONG PERFORMANCE: “We all practice that every day, we’re all shooters on the team. I think that it’s awesome that Coach trusts us to do that. It felt good. It was exciting.”
• COACH SHIBLES ON WHAT SETS HER TEAM APART: “Adversity can bring out amazing growth. In the case of our loss to Tufts, it did just that. We really focused in on those weaknesses that were displayed in that game and it’s made us a much better team. Our confidence is great.
• COACH SHIBLES ON THE MATCHUP WITH AMHERST: “We’re really excited to have this chance to see Amherst again, after losing to them in their own gym by four points earlier in the season. We want to exorcise all of our demons.”
• COACH SHIBLES ON KELLY COMING OFF THE BENCH: “She just adds a great punch coming into the game three or four minutes in, offensively and defensively for our team. She gives us what we need right when we need it and makes a nightmare situation for teams.”
• COACH SHIBLES ON HER TEAM’S OFFENSE: “I love the way that our team loves to score the ball, loves to share the ball. They’re selfless, they truly don’t care. Our leading scorer changes every night and I really think that’s an important part of our team’s culture and chemistry and it’s what makes this group so special.”
• KERRIGAN ON HER TEAM’S OFFENSE: “In practice every week, we go at it. We push each other defensively and I think that makes our offense thrive.”
• KELLY ON HOW IMPORTANT A QUICK START WILL BE AGAINST AMHERST: “We have to set the tone early. This is our last game of the season no matter what. We have to show them what we’re made of, prove a point, and it all starts with tip-off.”