ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 2, 2022

Vonn Read

Chrislyn Carr

Teisha Hyman

Syracuse Orange

Postgame Press Conference

Clemson 88, Syracuse 69

VONN READ: Obviously a tough way to end the season there. Our kids showed a lot of fight. We're really proud of them and their effort. We got it down to four there in the fourth quarter, and you've got to credit Clemson, they made a really good run to close the game. I'm really proud of our fight and really proud of these two young ladies up there. They kept fighting. Chrislyn had 20 points, she played a really good game, and Teisha had 25. I'm really proud of their fight.

Q. Coach, obviously it was a tough season and tough way to start the season with so many transfers and getting the head coaching job. What did you learn this season and what message did you give the players in the locker room? You only had six playing today.

VONN READ: Yeah, our whole message has been just to rally around the young ladies the whole season, make sure that they had a season from that standpoint, and they competed pretty much all year long, and they fought every game.

Our message has just been really just to stay together and compete, and I thought that they did that the whole season.

Q. You guys were making comeback attempts in the second half. You guys closed it to four at the beginning of the fourth quarter. What do you think happened defensively where you guys were unable to stop them but still continue to put the basket on your own, especially with you two finishing with 45 points combined?

VONN READ: Yeah, I'll start with that. I thought we gave up some easy transition buckets, and they kind of got behind us a little bit. So they made a pretty good run there at the end. But I thought the transition buckets, they kind of made some plays. Washington played a really good game for them.

TEISHA HYMAN: Yeah, going back over what he said, I think transition points kind of hurt us in the end game.

CHRISLYN CARR: Just like they said, I would say transition buckets hurt us. And just fighting back I think at the end, we kind of gave in a little bit and we just needed to fight and keep doing that the whole time. So yeah.

Q. Coach, you guys had a tough game from beyond the arc shooting-wise. Can you talk about what went wrong and then why you guys weren't having success?

VONN READ: Yeah, I just think it's a game of making shots, and we were 4 for 24 this game against Clemson, and our first game we were 13 for 28, so we knocked them down in our first game. We just didn't knock them down. We had some good looks, but our players normally knock those down. They just didn't go down for us, and that happens.

Q. Vonn, last time you guys played Clemson, Delicia Washington was held to five points. Today she scored 33. What would you say was the difference between those two performances?

VONN READ: Yeah, I just thought she is more aggressive when she's their main scorer. She's a talented player, talented scorer. She's taking a lot of shots for them, but she was really efficient today. She knows she has to be really aggressive, and that's what she did today. She made plays for her team.

Q. I know you have five seniors on your roster. This could be their last game for Syracuse. When you look back at that, what do you think about when you see those five seniors?

VONN READ: Yeah, I like how they came together as a collective group and stuck together. We had a lot of leadership in those five seniors, really proud of their performances and how they continued to fight. Some of them played out of position. We were always trying to shuffle the lineup to try to put them in the best situation to be successful. But I'm extremely proud of their fight. They fought pretty much all the way through the end of the season.

I'm really proud of those five seniors, also proud of Teisha here. She continue to played hard and continued to compete, and I'm glad that she was able to showcase her skills and just stay healthy the whole year. I'm really proud and blessed for that.

Q. Chrislyn and Teisha, is the three-point shooting just as simple as the shots didn't go in, or what did you guys see that didn't go well?

TEISHA HYMAN: Well, today I think we had some good looks. We've kind of been in a three-point shooting slump, and I don't think it's from not practicing or nothing. I just think the way the game is, when we get momentum, our shots start falling. When we tend to miss, I think our confidence goes with our misses, as well.

CHRISLYN CARR: Yeah, just to go back off what Teisha said, I think we got really good looks today. We just didn't make them. But I think we really shared the ball better than what we have been sharing it. Like I just said, we've just got to make them.

Q. Just the decision to bring out the full-court press in you guys' game against Boston College, you brought it in three or four minutes into the first quarter. You brought it in just at the eight-minute mark in the first quarter today. Were you looking for the press to work? How did you think it was going to impact Clemson and how do you think it performed today?

VONN READ: Yeah, I thought that we -- we were able to force 23 turnovers. We did the same thing in the first game against Clemson. I thought they were a little bit vulnerable. Washington is really good with the ball, but once we got the ball out of her hands and made other people try to beat the press, we were effective with it. We knew that was a way for us to be able to try to change the game, and we got some turnovers and got a couple of easy baskets out of it. But that's just something that we can't really sustain the whole game with these two. I'm asking them to do a lot and then asking them to play full-court pressure with playing 40 minutes, that's kind of tough.

But I think in some instances you could see we had some success with it, but it's not sustainable for 40 minutes, if I'm asking them to score 20 points and play 40 minutes, so we had to kind of pick our poison with that.

Q. I know the ACC Tournament just ended, but is the team looking at any other postseason options?

VONN READ: We're not at this moment, no.

Q. I know you wanted to keep the focus on the present, but now that the season is over, do you feel like you've done a good enough job to earn the permanent title as head coach?

VONN READ: That's not for me to make a decision. I'll leave that in the administration's hands. And then I have a faith. I'll be fine either way. I just appreciate the opportunity that the university gave me and just to be able to try to lead these girls.