Nov. 20, 2005
Columbia, S.C. –
USC Head Coach Susan Walvius:
On the game:
“I thought it was a battle of tempos tonight. Winthrop did a great job controlling the tempo and holding the ball, almost a Villanova style of play. They were very effective with their game plan, especially in the first half, so in the second half we came out and tried to disrupt that. I thought Winthrop also did a good job defending the inside shots, and we did a good job responding from the outside.”
On Demetress Adams’ second straight game in double figures:
“You can see Demetress getting better and better, it’s scary how good she’s going to be for our program. I think she and our team will develop more and more as the season goes and hopefully you’ll be seeing some great basketball when we get into SEC play.”
On the toughness and the flow of the game:
“As you know, the SEC is a very physical conference. I as said earlier this year at SEC Media Days, you are definitely going to see a much more physical team at USC this year. We wanted to come out and run to start the game. It was too slow overall for our liking, especially in the first half. Our team adjusted well in the second half and I thought really did a good job after that point.”
Junior F Melanie Johnson:
On Winthrop’s team:
“Coach told us today in the shoot-around that Winthrop was a very disciplined team and that the best way to beat that discipline was to disrupt their point guard. She also talked about reversing the ball so that we would create more open shots from the outside and that’s what we did tonight.”
Freshman G Demetress Adams:
On her second straight game in double figures:
“I’m just out there trying to be myself and having fun with the team. This is all new to me so I’m trying to adjust and take it one game at a time.”
Winthrop Head Coach Bud Childers:
On the game:
“I have always believed in giving credit to your opponents, and I give South Carolina credit. The game got really physical and out of control in the second half, it was rough. When you’ve got three or four freshman out on the court it’s a real learning experience. I’m sure we gave South Carolina some things they need to work on and we certainly have a few of our own after tonight. Melanie Johnson was the difference in the game I felt, she got a few put-backs in the second half and that was really the killer for us. I’m really proud of our team, we had 60 to 80 percent of our minutes being played by freshmen. I thought we went out there and played with great purpose and effort tonight.”
