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South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley
On how tough it is after 20 games and redefining the team…
“It’s part of basketball. It’s the challenge of basketball. You never know what hand you’ll be dealt, you just have to play it. I thought our team played it as best as they can.”
On the effort of the team…
“I’m pleased with the effort. We’re getting better in that department ,but I think it is boiling down to discipline at crucial times of the game. You can get yourself back in the game and win it or you can take yourself out and lose it. And I know we’re young, but you can’t coach youth, you have to coach basketball. And we have to give them a certain discipline so we can win some basketball games. And you have to do it right way or you’ll falter somewhere down the line”
On playing more guard oriented offense…
“For us, we’ll take the first available look. Sometimes it’s a perimeter shot, and sometimes it’s a drive to the basket. You never know with our basketball team because they are playing in different roles then they’ve had to be in. It’s going to take a game or two, or even the remainder of the season, to get used to their new roles.”
On starting Courtney Newton
“We are going to try to win the right way and to lose the right way. If our players aren’t abiding by what we want on and off the floor then there are consequences to it. Our decision to start Courtney is because she provides an outside threat. No one fights and works harder than Courtney, so I thought she did well and brought that element to the court.”
Senior Guard/Forward C.J. Pace
On learning new role without other seniors…
“We lost our top leading scorers and top rebounder, so everybody needs to pick up the pieces where those two left off. From me being a senior all the way down to Lakeisha [Sutton] as a freshman, everybody has to learn the new role and do what they came here to do. We will get our effort and our talent and put it together to find a new way.”
On the additional load on her shoulders…
“I don’t consider myself alone because it’s a team effort. I am the only senior able to play, but I have Demetress [Adams] and Brionna [Dickerson] on the sidelines helping me and taking somewhat of the load off my shoulders. They just say to not worry about them not being out there, and they keep me enthused. I don’t think it’s pressure. It’s more like, go out there and do what I am supposed to be doing as well as bringing along everybody else because I am the oldest and I have to be a leader.”
Freshman Guard Lakeisha Sutton
On stepping up on offense…
“We all have to pick up different roles and come here and do what we have to do. When coach calls a play, we are going to execute that play. When that play is for me, I’m just going to try my best to score”
LSU Head Coach Van Chancellor
Opening statement
“I thought about two times in the second half we had a real chance of getting ahead of the game. I should have known that a Dawn Staley coached team was not going to go away. They were a major matchup problem with all those guards out there. We went out as if they would be shooting and they would drive. We backed off them and they would hit a three ball. It was a tough match up for us defensively. I’m proud of our team for hanging in and getting a win on the road. Any win, anytime, anywhere is a great win.”
About having an inside advantage
“I thought at times we would go hot and cold, go through a streak and really try to pound the ball inside. We were trying to do things to get it inside. I thought we had a real advantage on the inside.”
On if he had ever coached against Dawn Staley
“She has always played for me, on the [2004] Olympic gold medal team and in the WNBA. She and I have had more than just a coach- player relationship. And she’ll tell you that in the second half of the gold medal game it was her play that that scored the last 14 points, it wasn’t my coaching, and she won the gold medal for me. And I’d agree. As a player she was a tough, tough nut. And her teams are exactly like she is. What you saw in them tonight, fighting and never giving up, is what Dawn Staley is as a player.”
