Nov. 29, 2005
Women’s Basketball Game
Georgia Southern vs. South Carolina
November 29, 2005
South Carolina Coach
Coach Susan Walvius:
“You have to give Georgia Southern a lot of credit in this game. I think that they came out and played hard, with an attitude of nothing to lose. I think they came right at us today, beat us to every loose ball, rebounded the basketball, penetrated. We didn’t defend penetration very well. And it was really disappointing because we had such a great effort against two top ranked teams in the Bahamas and led two top-ranked teams. And got a sense that if that finish, we’re going to be right here and be a top-20 team this year.”
And then we come out tonight and we got outworked and played very flat in the second half. I thought our press looked good for moments in the first half. But rebounding was a major concern today. With the size that we have and athleticism that we have, we should never get out-rebounded. And that’s something that we work and that’s something that we emphasize. We had goals for the game in that area and we just didn’t get it done.”
On going away from the full-court press:
“We weren’t scoring and we were in it, but we went through a drought offensively. We did go away from the press when we had a bigger line-up in the game. I think we’re a better pressing team with Demetrius in the game, with Mel in the game. With our bigger line-ups in the game, we were giving up some perimeter looks against the press and when they were in it we were away from the press a little bit. I also thought they did a nice job adjusting to the press in the second half. One of the things that I think our players are beginning to understand is that they have to bring their role every night…Georgia Southern shot 50% in the second half for a period of time, but when we got after it, we were much more aggressive. I think we did a good job. I think one thing that our players are starting to understand is that they have to bring their role and their job every night, that they’re not a bench player. They’re a vital part of our basketball team. And our team needs to learn how to win and take pride and be able to finish down the stretch. And that’s something that’s been there the last couple of games for us. If we can get them over that hump…My concern with this game is our poor rebounding and giving up. We did not defend penetration at all. We can correct those things. Offensively, we had the opportunity to get the ball inside and we do that…We’re looking to get a little bit better every day. If we do that, we have a chance to be a pretty good team.”
Over confident after play in Bahamas:
“I don’t know. We want to play our best game today. What happened in the Bahamas is history. It’s a long journey, it’s a long season. And our objective was to come out and play our best game today and give our best second half today and we didn’t do that.
South Carolina Player
Stacy Booker:
“We didn’t work. We were just being lazy on defense. We got some stops but we have to work all the way, just not half way.”
On her second half groove on the three-point shot:
“I just have to keep shooting even if some of my teammates are off on their shots. I just have to help out in any way I can and that’s what I try to do, just keep shooting.
On disappointment of loss:
“I can even say anything about it.”
Georgia Southern
Head Coach Rusty Cram
“…We’ve had eight and 10-minute letdowns in each ball game that the game was opened up. Tonight we focused really hard on finishing those…We could have folded, like we did earlier. We just challenged it. We made a few changes. We kind of changed some things on defense and gave them a different looks and fortunately we were able to make a run and stay in it and hang close the second half enough to finish it.”
On South Carolina’s defense:
“Well, I don’t know if anyone’s played five guards against them. That was the change we made coming in. We wanted to beat them with some quickness, pull them out away from the basket and then try to get some penetrators to the basket and get to the free throw line. Because we knew they were going to out-rebound us. I mean how do you beat them…From there it just started escalating. When momentum gets on your shoulders, it makes you do some things that maybe you aren’t capable of doing a lot of times. Momentum swung our way a little bit and it kind of snowballed from there and for us, it was a good thing.
