Jan. 21, 2007
USC Coach Susan Walvius
Regarding Mississippi State’s three-point performance:
“It was a combination of them getting stops and (defensive breakdowns). I thought they did a good job attacking the rim and passing the ball sharp. We didn’t come out as aggressively as we needed to, and we let them get comfortable. They hit some big shots and things really rolled in their favor. I thought (Mississippi State) did a great job today protecting their home court. We knew it would be a battle. They played Georgia, played Tennessee tight at Tennessee, they beat Florida State this year and Georgia Tech at Georgia Tech. We knew they had the tools. They had a great night. Eighty-seven points against the Gamecocks says a lot about either their offense or our defense.”
“Long shots are long rebounds. You have to have a mentality to rebound the basketball and typically we do. We got beaten on the offensive boards today. That’s a category we typically (do well). We shot 49 percent, and as a coach you should be happy about that but we had 23 turnovers. You have to take care of the basketball and Mississippi State took care of both categories.”
“Lauren (Simms) did a nice job (at point guard). Lauren always fights for us. It helps us to have depth in the way of communication. One thing we do miss without Lea Fabbri is communication on the floor, whether offensively or defensively. Typically that role (of point guard) is your glue. Lauren does a nice job but we’re putting a lot on her shoulders right now.”
“It’s important we play harder than we have. Our team knows that we’re good. We have a good basketball team. They dropped their heads a little after the Mississippi game. I don’t think we responded well today. I like way we responded to the Vanderbilt loss and stepped up and did good job against Alabama. We have to regroup, work harder. That’s the way you win games at this level – it comes to hard work, dedication and leadership.”
