Last Saturday the Drexel women’s team had an 11-PT win over Delaware to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Dragons lost to James Madison in their regular season finale before winning 3 CAA tourney games in 3 days to clinch the 2nd NCAA tourney appearance in school history. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with assistant coach Laura Kurz about being named Big 5 POY and making the NCAA tourney.
You made the 2005 Elite 8 as a player at Duke: how did you like playing for Hall of Fame coach Gail Goestenkors, and how close did you come to making the Final 4? We only had 8 eligible players on our roster that year so we were a really small group. We made a great run but got stopped by LSU in a close game. The following year we beat LSU in the Final 4 and made the title game (before losing to Maryland by 3 PTS in OT). I have a ton of respect for Coach G and she did a lot of great things for the program.
Why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Villanova? I wanted to make more of an impact on a team and was unsure if I would get the role I wanted in Durham. I grew up about 25 minutes from the Villanova campus and wanted to be closer to home so that my friends/family could come see me play. They won the Big East a few years earlier and I felt that I would fit in well from a basketball standpoint.
You were named Big 5 POY/All-American in 2009: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? That was always a goal of mine and I was really fortunate to play with some really good teammates. It was cool because the Big East was the best conference in the country at the time so every game was super-competitive, whereas Duke was a perennial top-5 team that blew everyone out.
You were also a team captain: what is the key to being a good leader? I am not someone who is super-vocal so I tried to lead by example and was in the gym a lot of the time during the offseason. I showed up to play.
After graduation you played pro basketball in Greece: what is the biggest difference between basketball in America vs. basketball overseas? They use a 24-second shot-clock so the game is faster over there. We played a slow tempo at Villanova but in Greece we tried to get quicker buckets.
Last March Amy Mallon was promoted from assistant coach to head coach: how was she able to be so successful in her 1st year as head coach? She is really special and it has been such an honor to work under her leadership style. She is the type of coach who can get on her players but they respect her because they know how much she is invested in them as people 1st. What I love about her is that she makes everything fun: it was a long season due to COVID and our players were more burned out than normal but she made accommodations to bring the best out of them.
What is it like to be a college basketball coach during a pandemic? It is very strange. We have been tested for 155 of the past 157 days with only 2 days off due to Christmas and a snowstorm! Everyone is lacking a social connection so you have to be more sensitive to what your players are going through. Practice/games are the same, albeit without fans. You still have to worry about your offense/defense, and recruiting via video rather than in person has been a big change. Our whole mantra is that we have to be flexible: with so many teams dealing with cancellations we are just grateful for every opportunity that we have to play.
In the CAA tourney title game on Saturday you had an 11-PT win over Delaware: what did it mean to you to win a championship, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? It was so exciting! We just had that “it” factor from our very 1st game at Elon, then had a pair of nice comeback wins against JMU/Delaware after trailing at halftime. I do not know if I have ever won a championship before so it was a really special moment and is something that I will always look back on.
The men’s team at Drexel won their own CAA title last Tuesday: how much interaction is there between the 2 teams, and how great is it to be a Dragon this month?! It is so cool. The men’s and women’s teams are closely connected, both players and coaches. There is a lot of interaction and both staffs reached out to each other after winning their respective titles so we are really lucky.
What do you think about being a #14-seed, and what do you know about Georgia? I know a little bit because we played them when I was at Villanova. They have had a lot of success and have 4 senior starters in their veteran group. They are big/athletic so it will be a tough match-up for us but we are looking forward to the challenge.