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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: STOCKTONMarch 25, 2017Sue SemrauIvey SlaughterLeticia RomeroStockton, California FLORIDA STATE 66, SUE SEMRAU: We're thrilled obviously with the win over a great Oregon State team. You know, to win 31 games, you have to be a very, very good basketball team, and they do a tremendous job with the program. And having lost some players last year and having some new kids step into roles, just really want to compliment the job that Scott has done with his team. As far as our team goes, it all starts on the defensive ends. Ivey Slaughter and Brittany Brown have really been the two catalysts in that area. We started slowly. Again, that big gap of time, I think maybe is what's kind of tough for us, but started slowly. But for Ivey to open up the second half with that big steal, I think gave us a ton of energy, and that's what she can do. Nine steals in a postseason game, I understand is a record, that couldn't go to a more deserving young lady. For Shakayla Thomas to have another double-double; for Leticia to work as hard as she did to get the ball, they made it really, really hard. You know, I thought Brittany did a tremendous job on Sydney, and when we said it was going to be a team effort to stop somebody that is as talented as Sydney Wiese, and to keep her in single-digit scoring is a tremendous fear for our basketball team. Q. Can you just talk about the start of the game and maybe what you guys were thinking and saying in huddles when you were looking at the scoreboard? LETICIA ROMERO: I honestly don't know what we were thinking, because we start really slow. I think -- I don't know, I think we hold back, we weren't being aggressive. I mean, they start really good. They knew we could shoot the three point line, the three pointer, and they just didn't let us shoot. They denied us. We didn't know how to play, and I think the biggest thing for us today was that we were able to come back and to overcome that. Q. Ivey, 11 points, nine steals, against a very tall Oregon State team. What was it like out there for you, and was this the most physical game that you've played in as a Seminole? IVEY SLAUGHTER: I would say it was one of the most physical games that I've played in. Yeah, they were very big. They had really good posts. They can rebound really well, and I think that I just tried to use my athleticism as much as I could, and I think it really helped us. Q. Your coach touched on this, coming out in the second half with defense, but for both of you, what were the things that stuck out in your mind as what you needed to do to come out that fast and just take over? LETICIA ROMERO: I think getting stops on defense. We know how good our defense can be, and honestly, like for me, seeing what Ivey was doing in defense, getting steals, just being everywhere, gave us a lot of security, and that confidence transferred to the offensive end of the floor, too. I think she really changed a lot of things in this game. Q. For Ivey, when you see Leti come out the way she does, just how much confidence does that give your basketball team, and how much does that open up your offense? IVEY SLAUGHTER: It gives us confidence. I believe like Leti said, we came out a little slow. We had a lot of jitters and I think that we all just tried to fight as much as we can. We have nothing to lose. You know, it's win or go home, and we knew that, and especially when Leti start going, when she starts going, everybody else gets going, especially on the offensive end. I think it was amazing that she got going. Q. How much pride do you take in doing all these plays that are considered the dirty work. You take the charges; you get the steals; you are always up in someone's face. Talk about the level of pride you take in that type of play. IVEY SLAUGHTER: I think the whole world knows that I'm not the best scorer or I'm not the best defender on the team, but I just know that -- SUE SEMRAU: Yes, you are. LETICIA ROMERO: She definitely is. IVEY SLAUGHTER: I just know that with my rebounding and me taking charges and helping the team, that's what they need for us to win the game and I do it to my best ability. Q. When did you realize you had good hands and quick hands, and were able to make those kind of plays, and have you ever had a game like that? IVEY SLAUGHTER: Well, funny story, I started doing gymnastics when I was younger, and I guess that helped me with flexibility, quick agilities. But then my mom made me decide I had to play basketball or do gymnastics, and gymnastics was very costly and I chose basketball. And I think that really helped me a lot with just my hands, my hand-eye coordination. SUE SEMRAU: We're happy you did. Q. What age did you decide this? IVEY SLAUGHTER: It was fifth grade. Around 12 years old. Q. When you're down 21-4 in that second half, that third quarter, was that kind of the moment when you first took the lead that you felt like all the momentum shifted? LETICIA ROMERO: I think it was the steal from Ivey honestly. Because I was confident that, you know, after -- in the second half, we were going to have a different kind of game. I saw everybody was locked in. So everybody, you know, ready to go to fight, and just seeing that the first possession you get a steal and get it going. That gave me so much energy to just play my game and help the team. Q. This is going to be a familiar opponent in terms of this round, and you guys a couple years ago played an Elite 8 game against South Carolina. What do you remember about that game and what do you bring into this game now? LETICIA ROMERO: What I remember, is that it was a fight. Like we -- I remember finishing the game and my whole body was hurting. We fought and they did, too. It was a really good game. We ended up losing by, I think it was four points -- six, actually. I cannot even tell you like the little details, but it was just a battle, and whoever want it more and made plays and all of these things, I think it's what's going to come down to. Q. What kind of experience do you gain playing for Spain? How does that help in moments like this, in pressure-filled games like this? LETICIA ROMERO: I think leadership you see in other players. I think I learned a lot from professional players. You see the national team, and they are all professional players playing overseas. They had really good careers, and they know how to change things. They know how to act whenever we're down. They know how to motivate teammates. I think I try to bring that to our team this year, and especially the mentality of, you know, we have to make the most of it, every single day. You cannot just go throw the motions for the whole week and expect to come to the game and be good. I think our team this year has been really good this year in terms of coming prepared to every practice. Q. You nearly had a triple-double on Russell Westbrook. How do you attest to the versatility you have? Most of your rebounds are offensive. So how do you attest to your versatility all across the board? IVEY SLAUGHTER: I think because I'm quicker than a lot of posts that I'm able to get around them and use my feet to be able to get rebounds, and our coaches told us from the start of the week that when we knew we were playing Oregon State, that they were an amazing rebounding team, and we couldn't just have one shot. We had to go get second- and third-chance points, and I think I just took that to heart, and knowing that I can rebound really well, that that's what I tried to do. Q. Can you talk about the start of the game, and what you were thinking when you looked up at the scoreboard, and was it a change that you needed to make to get things to shift, or do you think it was doing what you guys usually do? SUE SEMRAU: Yeah, that's a great question. I was stunned. I was stunned that we were missing the shots we were missing. I felt like the defensive end was affected by our offensive in-production; unproduction. But we knew that if we could convince them how good they were defensively, how good we are defensively, that things could change. Yeah, I think Brittany Brown really started to become an aggressor, and a lot of people followed suit. Q. How do you convince a team in the Sweet 16: You're really good on defense. How do you say it? How do you motivate them to actually do? SUE SEMRAU: Yeah, that's a great question. This team, I wanted to spend another week with this team, because I want them so badly to believe in themselves even more than they do. I don't know if you've seen the Dove ads where they sketch a woman who is describing herself, and then they sketch a woman who has just met this other woman, and they ask that woman to sketch the same woman. And we describe ourselves often as not as beautiful as we are, whereas another man or woman, will describe us as more warm and open and the smile. So we're our worst critic. They also did a guys's commercial with that, too, and it was pretty interesting that the guys thought they were a lot better looking than they really are. But we talked about that, and I thought it was interesting that Dove sponsored some things in our locker room, and we were able to go back to that, because we had showed them that, that clip, and really to help them believe that they are better than they are. Q. It seemed like the last media time-out of the game, you guys were only up maybe a basket or two. That time-out, it seemed like your seniors were doing most of the talking in the huddle. What were they saying, and then just how proud are you of them for finishing the game the way they did? SUE SEMRAU: They were locked in. And we were talking about the adjustments that we were going to be making, and they did a phenomenal job of communicating those things to each other in the huddle, and then on the court. And you can have one person mess up, and bam, game changes. And they locked each other in: Nikki Ekhomu came in and did a great job as a young freshman on Sydney Wiese; they locked her in as well; Ama Degbeon coming in the game for a defensive adjustment. All the credit goes to them. Q. Just what memories stand out from the 2015 game against South Carolina, and what does it mean to meet them again at this juncture? SUE SEMRAU: Well, you know, it's really not even that game. We scrimmaged them the last two years, and we love that opportunity, because we have so much respect for South Carolina and the job that Dawn's done and the program and team that they have put together. Really you look back to those scrimmage situations, and as a scrimmage partner, you follow them throughout the year because you're a fan. Just have a ton of respect for who they are and how far they have come. Q. What is it about the Elite 8 game? I've talked to coaches and players through the years who say this is the toughest of all of them, because you're sitting at the foot of the Final Four; if you can talk about that a little bit. And Ivey, you talked about not seeing yourself. She's sitting up there, saying I'm not the best at this; I'm not the best at that. She had a game-changing performance for you guys tonight. SUE SEMRAU: I'll address that first, because there's so many young women that just -- and you love it, because they are not cocky, and at the same time, it's a confidence that we're trying to instill. We talk in our program about becoming strong, beautiful, powerful women. That's more important to me than whether or not we go to the Final Four is that that character is developed in these young women, and I have an amazing staff that helps us with that. This game, you know, it's so interesting, because I remember when I was a young coach hearing people say, why is your goal the Final Four? Because then you're going to get to the Final Four and you've achieved your goal. And so I think, but that's what, again, what people hear. That's the pinnacle. And for so many programs, that seems to be the pinnacle, and so there's a lot of pressure that is put on to get to that game. So I think that's probably a big reason for it, and you know, we've experienced it before, so I think that is a benefit for us that we didn't have maybe a few years back. Q. What are some of the quirks or the intensity that you see in Dawn Staley and wanting to scrimmage with her program every year? SUE SEMRAU: Quirks? Q. Her team was talking about her Lifesaver chomping habit, and Tara VanDerveer was talking about snapping rubber bands when she was playing at Virginia. She's intense, and you've seen her over the years and want to scrimmage her each season. SUE SEMRAU: Yeah, absolutely. I have so much respect for her as a member of the ACC. We're really proud of the level of play that she brought to the ACC. As a competitor, I don't look at the quirks. I look at her team and what her team is able to do. I think that really speaks -- her team speaks volumes for who she is. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. Congratulations, and we'll see you Monday. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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