ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 6, 2021

Dana Evans

Louisville Cardinals

Postgame Press Conference

Louisville 72, Syracuse 59

Q. Dana, you've talked all year about the talent you have around you. What's it been like -- I know you're not playing offensively up to the caliber that you want to be or shooting the ball to the caliber you want to be, but what's it like to see -- you Hailey step up yesterday, Ramani, Norika today, just to see so many people chip in when you need them the most.

DANA EVANS: It takes a lot of pressure off of me knowing that I have great teammates, teammates that will step up in big moments and make big shots like we have been in the past two games. So it's just something that makes me feel better because I know I don't have to force anything. I can get my teammates going and get everybody around me going. It's definitely a good feeling.

Q. What does it say about your team that they were able to be successful two games in a row without needing big scoring from you?

DANA EVANS: It means a lot. It means that they've been putting the work in. They've always been talented. So I feel like they never really get as much credit as they should, and seeing them now get credit means a lot because they put in the work. They stay extra, put up extra shots, and it's all paying off when we really need it.

Honestly, this could kind of be a blessing not having me play my best ball, but we're still winning ball games. That's definitely good for us, it's a good sign, so I know I need to step it up for our next game, but having teammates like that around me makes me feel a lot better and it takes pressure off of me feeling like I have to do everything, when I don't, because I have a great group of teammates surrounding me.

Q. Championship games are special. You get a chance every once in a while, whether it's a regional championship, a regular season or whatever. What makes them different? I know there's a lot of pressure, but also people can really step their games up. You've been in a few. What makes these special?

DANA EVANS: It's fun. This is what we've been waiting for. This is something that we've been working for all summer, all year long. It's here, and now we know that we have one more game to win a championship. I know everybody is going to be dialed in and ready to play. Everybody has been focused. I think we've gotten great production from our bench. Everybody is ready, we're focused, we're going to watch this next game and see who we have the opportunity to play against for this championship, and we're just going to listen to our coaches with the scouting report and just be ready.

Q. Has that loss to NC State at home stuck in the back of everybody's mind coming into this tournament?

DANA EVANS: Of course. That's something that we think about, but we don't know who we're going to play. Those are two good teams playing against each other, so we might have the opportunity to get a rematch with NC State or we will be playing Georgia Tech again. That's two good ballclubs.

Q. What do you feel you've got to do differently this time if you do play State?

DANA EVANS: I would just say how we've been playing, just getting everybody involved, everybody getting open shots and just knocking them down. I think we've been doing a great job with sharing the ball, making the extra pass, rebounding has improved and our defense has improved a lot. I would say if you take away the free throws these last two teams have took, we would definitely be holding these teams to lower than 50 points. So I think our defense has definitely improved, as well as our rebounding.

Q. You mentioned after the game on the ESPN broadcast that you wanted to get Kianna going early and you've said that a lot of times this year, where you want to get your teammates involved. How do you balance or how do you know when the time is, like, All right, I've got to get everybody else involved or flip the switch and say, I've got to go get my own shot?

DANA EVANS: I would just say, starting the game off, I knew I needed to get her going. She didn't have a great game yesterday. That's probably not a great game for her, which I think she still played well, but I needed for her to see that ball go in on the three-point line because we're going to need her. We're going to need everybody for these next couple games. Hailey got herself going well the first game, so I knew she would be fine, and she did just fine this next game, too. So my key was to get Kianna going and get our posts some touches, get them some easy looks at the basket, because, like I said, it's going to take everybody.

Q. Jeff had mentioned earlier in the year talking to you about there were times where Asia in the postseason would only shoot a couple shots, but do so much on the other side, and the same with Shoni. How much do you think about that, when you're not shooting the ball the way you want to, how much do you think about making sure you impact the game in other ways, as well?

DANA EVANS: Well, the focus is usually on me, so just setting screens, having people set screens for me and having them flare or pop or just cut to the basket, because they have to play off of me. The teams, like they double me sometimes. So just getting everybody else involved, getting them some easy looks I think, as well. And I think they've learned how to play off of me, and when people are running at me, run corner and I'll get you open shots.

We've been playing well together, and I think that's definitely helped us.

Q. How have you seen the confidence and resolve of the teammates around you kind of grow since maybe, say going back to like the NC State loss to now, in terms of responding to tough moments, coming up with big shots and having the confidence to step up?

DANA EVANS: I think when we hit adversity in the beginning of the season we would just kind of fold and kind of go into our own ways. But now we know it's win or go home, and we don't have time to be in our feelings or to get our feelings hurt about something Coach said or our teammates said. It's just, get better, listen, take the advice and go with it and just be better.

We know that we don't have time to dwell on situations like that. We've got things to do. We just push each other.

Q. Jeff obviously has mentioned and probably said it over and over again the importance of rebounding for you all this season. To out-rebound a Syracuse team that's probably three times as big as you, what does it say about the growth you've made, from giving up 20 offensive rebounds at Wake, to where you are now?

DANA EVANS: It's huge. That's the difference in winning these ballgames. We're going to play another great team tomorrow, depending on who wins this game, and they have bigs that rebound and crash the boards, so we've got to keep them off the boards in order to win this championship.

I definitely have to give credit to Hailey and Olivia, our two freshmen. They rebounded the ball really well. I want to say Hailey had seven and O had 10. That's 17 O rebounds right there. So they've just got to keep going for us and keep doing what they've been doing.