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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: SIOUX FALLSMarch 25, 2016Dawn StaleyTina RoyA'ja WilsonSioux Falls, South Dakota Syracuse - 80, South Carolina - 72 THE MODERATOR: We're joined by South Carolina. We'll begin with an opening statement from Coach Staley. COACH STALEY: Obviously we're disappointed that we don't get to continue our season. Syracuse did a great job at executing the game plan for 40 minutes. I thought us getting into foul trouble, we could not in the first half overcome that. It just kind of stagnated us. Even though we did get the lead, we were just off. We were just not in sync. They did a good job at winning the game. THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes. Q. Could you comment, was their zone defense forcing you to rely on the threes or do you think you could have been more aggressive and trying to force the ball inside? TINA ROY: I think we could have tried to get it more inside. It was open on our side. I think we had to take those shots. We could have got the ball in more. A'JA WILSON: I think we're a very good team. I think our guards did a pretty good job of knocking down shots. I mean, in the end, that's what it is. Q. Tina, when you got things going in the first half, was it due to the foul trouble that you knew you had to put the team on your back and knock down some of those threes? TINA ROY: My role is to shoot the ball. When I get in the game, that's what I focus on, open shots. Q. With their offense, was it tough to catch up with their speed? Looked like they were being patient and driving past you guys at will. TINA ROY: Not well. Certain plays we might not have been there on the catch, being on help defense, protecting on the ball screens. It was communication. Q. Coach talked about being out of sync. How did it feel on the floor? Did it feel like you could never get in a rhythm? TINA ROY: I felt in the second quarter we started getting into a rhythm. Syracuse is a great team. They played a great game tonight. They were a better team at the end of the day. Q. Tina, you never got on a run. Was there a sense in the game where you felt them hanging around and the momentum switching? If so, when do you feel it got away at that point? TINA ROY: Well, in the second half they started to execute their game plan. We weren't making outside shots trying to get the ball inside. It was just execution of the game plan. I don't feel it was nothing we didn't do right, they was just executing on the other end. Q. A'ja, what was so hard going up on the inside against a player like Briana Day? A'JA WILSON: Syracuse plays a collapsing zone. We knew we had to take out one player to make it easier on the other post player. It was tough because she has length and she can really jump out the gym. I feel like our post players handled her well. I feel we handled the post well, it really just comes down to them just executing. Q. As well as Syracuse executed tonight, we've seen you so many times overcome so many things. Is it a bit stunning that this unfolded and you could never get on that run that puts people away? TINA ROY: Honestly, I just feel like they executed the game plan tonight. We tried our best. It just didn't work in our favor tonight. Q. Tina, looked like you were face guarding Brianna Butler for most of the game. How was she able to get open for the two big threes down the stretch? TINA ROY: Well, you set screens. COACH STALEY: When you're strapped with foul trouble, that's what happens. That's what happens. THE MODERATOR: We'll excuse the student-athletes back to the locker room. COACH STALEY: Let's get on with the questions that I can answer best. THE MODERATOR: Questions for coach. Q. Dawn, with Khadijah and Tiffany in early foul trouble, do you think that disrupted y'all's offensive flow? COACH STALEY: Yeah, I think anytime you lose two seniors, Tiffany is used to playing well over 30 minutes. Khadijah is right behind that. It's just syncing up and the flow of what we like to do. When you have to substitute, change your substitution rotation because of fouls, it throws you off a little bit. That's what happened to us. Q. Did you feel like the game was called maybe differently than some games you played in the tournament so far? COACH STALEY: Well, I mean, we're not a fouling team. We're not a team that fouls 23 times. A lot of that, you know, happened at the end of the game where we had to foul. But at this stage of the game, you want your players being able to determine the outcome of the game. I don't think that was the case, because we got ourselves in some first-half foul trouble. Q. Dawn, what is your assessment of the shot selection, especially on the threes? Is that what the defense was giving you? COACH STALEY: I think, you know, we took the bait. If you look at our stats, our post players are 17 for 22 from the floor, 31 rebounds, 31 points. Shooting at that percentage, you know, we should have been trying to get that ball in a lot more than what we did. Q. The senior class has obviously done a whole lot. How tough is it to bid farewell to them, especially after a game like this? COACH STALEY: It's tough. It's all saying this is the last game, the finale of what that senior class have meant to our program. It's pretty darn tough. But I always try to look at the bright side of things. I told our players, If you're hurting, if you're crying because you're saying good-bye to our seniors, great. But you should hurt and you should cry for not being in this position at this time of the season by the amount of work you need to put in to ensure that this doesn't take place prematurely anymore. Q. Coach, since being up 11 late in the third quarter, Syracuse shot 12 for 23 the rest of the game. What did you feel was the reason for the defensive breakdown there? Was it foul trouble or something else? COACH STALEY: I think it's a combination of a number of things. We weren't hitting our shots, so I think you can fuel yourself by hitting some shots, get some energy behind that. But we couldn't play like we wanted to play from a defensive standpoint because we had Tiffany Mitchell with four fouls at the end, Khadijah with four fouls. A'ja Wilson had four fouls. We kind of had to adjust to how the game was being called. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you very much for your time. COACH STALEY: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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