Sunday Sit-down with Mizzou women’s basketball coach Kellie Harper
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
ABC 17 Sports Director Nathalie Jones brought on Mizzou women's basketball coach Kellie Harper to preview the second round of the WBIT in this week's edition of Sunday Sit-down.
You can watch their full conversation in the video player above.
You can also find a full transcript of the interview below.
Nathalie Jones: Welcome back, everyone. It is Sunday Sit-down time. We're joined by Mizzou women's basketball coach Kelly Harper, who's in the midst of some March Madness herself, Kellie, obviously you're in the WBIT, you know, just how fun is this time of year, getting to be with your girls again for this last stretch.
Kellie Harper: Well, you know, when you are a basketball player, you're basketball coach, you want to be playing in March. You you want to have that opportunity. And you know, obviously for us, that's not the ultimate goal, but where we're at right now, just having the opportunity to play, it's a big deal, and it needs to be something that, you know, our players in our program can expect.
Nathalie Jones: What kind of conversations--just take me through the conversations when you guys kind of got the bid to the WBIT, how much excitement was there to kind of take this next step in your first season, go to a postseason, right?
Kellie Harper: Yeah, you know, we've been tracking on this for a while. We as in the staff, and then we started talking to our players about it down the stretch in the season and and then when the season, when our season ended at the SEC tournament, it was something that we also continued to track, and we talked to our players about we've had numerous opportunities to talk to them about what postseason means and playing and what it can do for us, and historically, what it's done for some other teams that have played In this particular tournament. So I think the players are excited about the opportunity to play. And, you know, not be sitting at home in March, be on the road. Unfortunately, we'd rather be at home playing, but at least we're playing in March.
Nathalie Jones: Well, you're still in the thick of it. I know you're advancing to another round, in the second round here, but to get your first postseason win as the head coach at Mizzou against Seton Hall. What does that moment mean? And what kind of step is that? Do you feel like for this program?
Kellie Harper: Well, I'm honestly for me, obviously, it's, it's great, but I'm so happy for our players. You know, we've got a lot of players on our roster that had not been to a postseason game, not been in a postseason game, and so for them to experience that environment and to experience a win, I think, is a big step for a lot of those players. And you know, sometimes you can't move on until you accomplish something first. And so hopefully for us, that will be a stepping stone.
Nathalie Jones: How critical is the experience that the players are getting right now, when you look at what you want to build going into next season as well?
Kellie Harper: I think it's I think it's critical. I really do I think the experience is invaluable. I think they need to expect it. You know, the rest of campus is on spring break right now. And I think it is important that when you're a basketball player, and you come to Missouri that you know you're going to get some fall break, your Christmas break, but do not expect spring break. And I think that's an important piece to March. I think it's an important piece to the culture we're trying to build.
Nathalie Jones: Well, I want to talk about the last game against Seton Hall. I mean, just, just the grittiness of your girls, and in that fourth quarter to limit Seton Hall to five points and then win that game. What did you love that you saw from just how they finished that game and how they've kind of grown from this season?
Kellie Harper: Yeah, I think there were a lot of momentum swings in that game. And there were a couple times that, you know, I felt like Seton Hall could go on a big run, and we were able to make play, whether it was offensively or defensively, and then, you know, just hung in there until shots started falling a little bit better for us in that fourth quarter, and at the same time, we were able to get some stops. And so I love the poise that our team displayed. It was, you know, it's a different gym, Seton halls, it's a smaller arena. It was very loud. You know, we're on the road with a different opponent, so I think our players really handled the environment well. And you know, that's not always easy to do. So proud of them for that. Proud of them for finding the guts to figure out a way to get stops to get the win when it came down in that fourth quarter.
Nathalie Jones: Well, my goodness, Grace, Slaughter, 22 points, 10 rebounds, moving up on the all time scoring list. How fun is it to watch what the Grain Valley native is doing right now?
Kellie Harper: You know, I think seeing her in postseason was was a big goal for me. I just wanted her to have that opportunity to not only showcase her talent, but to grow as a player and to have an opportunity to see and to feel postseason play. She was Grace. I mean, she's been so consistent for us all season long. You know, she was aggressive there. In that first half, had to take some tough shots there, and that second half, she was able to knock down some threes, some big ones that really gave us an opportunity to and momentum to pull ahead.
Nathalie Jones: Well, you're heading out to Provo, Utah. Do you have much experience out in Provo in your career? Have you ever headed out there?
Kellie Harper: Never played at BYU when I was a young athlete, I played in Salt Lake City, but I know it's a beautiful place to go into. They're having great weather right now, so that's always a pleasure. Us in March, when you get when you have to play somewhere, and it's not you're going to get some sunshine, you know, work on some vitamin D. That's never a bad thing. But we're playing a really good basketball team, you know. I think this is one of, if not the first team out of the NCAA tournament. I think a lot of people felt like they could have been in I think they their resume definitely warrants a second look at that. But you know, we're just excited about the opportunity to play again. We'll go over there. We'll have a scouting report that our players will feel really good about and can go out and execute. And you know when the ball's tipped up, we'll see what happens.
Nathalie Jones: What do you feel like are the keys to success against BYU?
Kellie Harper: I think the first thing for us, we've got to take care of the basketball. We've been a little loose with it here of late. And I think for us, you know, being able to get a shot at we're shooting pretty good percentage when we get shots up. So I think for us, give ourselves a chance. And when you do that offensively, once you get a shot up, you know, you may have an opportunity to score. But the other thing it does, it takes away some transition opportunities from our opponent. They're pretty aggressive. They play so hard, so we want to take away any easy things that they could get, and a lot of that has to do with our offense.
Nathalie Jones: What do you tell your girls about the opportunity you have to go to BYU, and like you said, a team that was borderline into the NCAA Tournament, what kind of opportunity do they have here on Monday?
Kellie Harper: Yeah, I think you said it. I think they have to look at this as a great opportunity. And you know, you can go over there a little chip on your shoulder, you can go over there and look at it a lot of different ways, but it's just an opportunity, one to play one more game together and to have one more opportunity to advance. You know, it's, it's been a special year for this basketball team. We've, we've gone through a lot of ups and downs and, you know, wouldn't, wouldn't be bad to keep this ride going.
Nathalie Jones: Well, I know you're in the thick of it still right now, but when you had that little break, did you kind of get to reflect on what this year kind of meant to you, and what kind of steps you felt like this program took? Did you get to reflect on that at all in the break you had?
Kellie Harper: You know, a little bit, but I think, I think we've had a pretty good handle on reality weave in the staff all season long. I'll be able to reflect a little bit more when it's over. I'll be honest with you, we were, we were game watching. We had a spreadsheet of all the possible teams that could get in the WBIT. And you know, we we really wanted that chance, and so we honestly were tracking on some other tournaments and pulling for people that didn't know we were pulling for them because we felt like we needed a few teams to win in their tournaments so that we would have this slot and this opportunity. It's been fun. It's been a fun journey thus far, and glad it's not over. You know, hopefully we can keep this ride going.
Nathalie Jones: Yeah, we talked about the importance of the experience for the girls, but I mean, obviously your staff that came together, and how good was this to kind of have this for the staff as well, a group that's obviously worked so hard all season, as well.
Kellie Harper: You know, that's, that's a great perspective, great point the staff has, I mean, they have, they have worked so hard, right to put this team in position to be successful every night. And, you know, I, think they've done an amazing job every single day, whether it's fighting to get the practice plan exactly right, figuring out what defensive coverage is going to work best. And it's not just for our opponent. It's okay to a lot of people can do a scouting report on the opponent, but we're doing a scouting for on the opponent that we can work through, that our players can achieve. So I think we've done a really good job of combing through that and, you know, figuring that out on the fly and sometimes through trial and error this season, but for them to be rewarded with not just the tournament invitation, but now a win in the diet I'm just we're just really happy for them, because they've really done it. Done a great job.
Nathalie Jones: Well, Kellie, I appreciate you joining us. Good luck out in Provo tomorrow.
Kellie Harper: Thanks a lot
Nathalie Jones: For the rest of you guys. We'll be right back after the break.
