NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - LSU VS JACKSON STATE

March 18, 2022

Jailin Cherry

Khayla Pointer

LSU Tigers

Media Conference

Q. Khayla, since Alexis went down, y'all have had three of your lowest scoring totals of the year, but last game it went up like 10 points. Are you all getting kind of used to that, and other people stepping up to replace her 16 points?

KHAYLA POINTER: Yeah. You have to have a next-man-up mentality. Obviously, we lost Lexi for a couple of games there. But that just means everybody has to do a little bit more. Coach emphasized to us in practice, you might have to score -- somebody might have to score six more points or you might have to get eight or ten more rebounds. So you just kind of try to level it out a little bit. Obviously yes, we did miss her point production, but everybody is just trying to step up and make up for what we lost.

Q. How do you do more without trying to do too much?

KHAYLA POINTER: I think when you play the game of basketball, you just remember that you're out there having fun. So it might be that you take a little bit more shots. And you create more possessions for yourself, whether that's getting some offensive rebounds, causing some turnovers. So you let the game come to you. You don't go out there and just start shooting every shot that you get. But you have to be more aggressive, and you kind of have to have a different mindset or mentality that I gotta help my team a little bit more.

JAILIN CHERRY: Just to piggyback off Khayla, you just gotta have that mentality, but just play your game. You can't play outside of what you do. So just do that to the best of your ability, And like she said, take a couple more shots and do a little bit more extra for the team, like get a couple more rebounds and something like that, make a defensive stop.

Q. You've never had a break this long in a season probably. Was that a welcome break? Did you really benefit from it or do you know that yet? And what are your thoughts going forward from that?

KHAYLA POINTER: Yeah. I think we've had a pretty good couple of weeks focusing on ourselves, taking a little rest here and there and preparing for who we might play. But I think we've had -- the team has been doing well. We've got some shots up, building a little bit of chemistry, so I'm very happy with where we are right now, and we're very confident going into tomorrow.

JAILIN CHERRY: Yeah. We had very good weeks. This week especially has been -- everybody has been toned in, zoned in, everything. We just been getting after it as a team. Everybody's been locked in, taking the right shots, doing the right things on offense and defense and just trying to get better and get ready for the next game.

Q. Jailin, how would you describe Jackson State as a team? Obviously, they've won 18 games in a row at this point. Just how would you describe them as a team overall, and what do you know about them?

JAILIN CHERRY: They're a good team, really scrappy. They got bigs inside. They got guards. I'd say they're a really solid team. We just have to come to play and match their intensity.

Q. Khayla, congratulations on the All American honors. When did hosting become a real thing for you guys, a real goal? Was it that way all year or was it a certain point in the year? And now that you're here, does it seem like you're at the NCAA tournament? Because you're playing at home, there's all these different trappings and different teams here, but what does it feel like now that you're actually here?

KHAYLA POINTER: Thank you for that. But we were actually just talking about it over there in the hallway. We're like, it feels a little weird. Obviously we haven't made the tournament that much as our career has been here. And, definitely, we haven't hosted it. So it is kind of funny having to come in a different door. We're still in our locker room, still in our little area, but like, we walk out there on the court and it's like, wow, this is March Madness, like we're here. But we're really, really excited. We're excited to be here, and obviously we've had different goals and stuff that we've had all year that we keep within our locker room. But hosting has been a goal that we've had our eyes set on for a while here. And I think every game we just took it game by game and just tried to go 1 and 0 and focus on the game plan and execute, and we wanted to win at the end of the game. And when you put those pieces together and you go take it game by game, game by game and we win here and win here and check this column off, we led to hosting. But that's nothing to the preparation that we've put in all year. We've worked hard, and we've really made it to everybody being accountable, holding yourself, and being the best that you can be and doing whatever you can do to help the team.

Q. Just the idea of being here in this moment, and Coach Kim has talked about you all wanting to extend this season as long as possible, play together. You like the feeling of winning and continuing, those kinds of things. Now that you're here in this moment, could you speak to that and the idea of let's see how long we can go?

JAILIN CHERRY: Yeah. Coach has been on us, especially like the seniors, having a sense of urgency, you know, it's one and done now. So it's a blessing to be here. We're excited to be here, and we're going to keep fighting to extend the season. That's all we want to do is win.

Q. Earlier in the year Coach talked about just kind of keeping y'all level, not getting too high, not getting too low. For both of you girls, how is she able to kind of keep y'all level knowing that this is the biggest stage n?

KHAYLA POINTER: Yeah. Like I said before, we've never really been here before in these shoes. So you kind of don't really get to have a big head or be cocky in that aspect. But that also goes to our character and who we are as people. We're not those type of people. We don't carry ourselves that way anyways. So you try not to get caught in the moment. Obviously, we see the season that we're having, and we're very, very excited, and happy of all the stuff that we've been able to accomplish and the goals that we've been able to accomplish this year. But there's always more basketball to play, and obviously everybody has that one ultimate goal, and that's to be cutting down nets and win the national championship. So when you always keep your eye on that last goal, it's kind of easy to stay focused and stay locked in.

JAILIN CHERRY: Just what she said. We're just very humble people, and we know not to get too big of a head because you know that can bite you in the butt a lot of times if you get ahead of yourself. So we just try to keep our eyes on the prize and stay true to who we are.

Q. To both of the players, I guess Khayla first, we've talked a lot about Kim Mulkey and what she's brought as your head coach, but what can you share about the other coaches on the staff, Sytia, Daphne, Kaylin? What have they brought to the team? How have they improved you as players and whatnot?

KHAYLA POINTER: Yeah. They're great. Obviously, Coach's passion and intensity is fueled through everyone. But they get after us. They stay on us, but they also love us. You know, they crack jokes and mess with us while we're out there on the court. They're always messing with us when we're dribbling or trying to block our shot and stuff. But we have a relationship with them, and when you have that relationship with your assistant coaches and your head coach, you want to play for them and you want to play hard, and I think that's the reason we play and you see that out there while we're on the court.

JAILIN CHERRY: Yeah. They're definitely great coaches. They sit with us before and after practice to go over plays. They work with us like in skill development. They're always motivating us to be better and always keep confidence in us. Like you said, like we have that relationship with our coaches, and they play with us, but we get serious, too. So it's a joy playing with them.

Q. Jailin, has it been different as the season has gone on? Y'all went from a team with very modest expectations, and the wins built up, and y'all got ranked, and now you're hosting. Obviously these other teams here look at y'all as the team they have to go through to advance. Has it been different to go from being the team that is trying to do that to being the team everybody is gunning for?

JAILIN CHERRY: Yeah. It's very different, actually. We're so used to being the underdogs, and now we have a target on our back, and we're really going to get everybody's best game. So it's a difference. I'm not going to say it's hard, but we gotta come to play every game. We can't slap around or just play around each and every game. So that's the main difference.

Q. Khayla, in past years, I guess when you looked at Baylor from afar, looking at Baylor destroying teams, and you probably wonder how are they so consistent. Once Kim became your coach, what did you learn about, I guess, the secret or the essence of Kim Mulkey basketball? What's the secret?

KHAYLA POINTER: What's the secret? Coach doesn't want anything from you but just to play hard, really. Honestly. She keeps the game really, really simple for us. We have a few sets that we run, and then we play hard on defense. It's really not -- I hate to just make it like that, but that really is. And when you put that -- what's the word I'm looking for? When you put that effort and that intensity and that passion and then you have her on the sideline like that just cheering for you just makes you want to just go ten times harder. And obviously we have a very, very talented roster this year. So we came and we jelled together and look at everything we've accomplished.

Q. I feel like this game is going to feel like the Florida game with the fan support that you guys will have and how the bigs were important in that game as well. What are your expectations for tomorrow night's game?

KHAYLA POINTER: Yeah. I hope our fans come out. I think they're really, really excited. Obviously we haven't hosted in a very, very long time. But, yeah, it's going to be a game for us. Like J said, Jackson State is a great team. They have good guards they have good inside play, so we have to make sure that we come to play, but I'm definitely happy about our home court advantage and our atmosphere, playing in front of the best fans in the world.

JAILIN CHERRY: Yeah. I could see it being like the Florida game just because of the atmosphere. But, yeah, we just gotta come to play. They are a good team, but the home court advantage is something that we have put into our arsenal, basically, this whole season, because the crowd has been our sixth man of the year type. So, yeah.

Q. Obviously the men's tournament kicked off yesterday. Big upset. This is for both of you as well. St. Peters, huge upset. Have you all talked about that? Do you think about that?

KHAYLA POINTER: Man, it's crazy. We were watching it last night when we were here watching Missouri State play. We were watching on the phone. And I was like, wow, I really couldn't believe it, honestly. And I was like, it's March. I mean, it's March. And obviously, like we mentioned earlier, everybody has a sense of urgency. You have those seniors. And certain conferences, even when they even make it to the tournament, they feel like they have something to prove, and they want to say, hey, I can play with you all, too. I think you see that, and that's why you see so many upsets and stuff. Again, when we talk about ourselves, we just have to make sure that we focus on ourselves, really, and do what we do best and stay true to ourselves, make sure we push the ball in transition, make sure we rebound, really tune in our defense. Obviously, they have some great players, but we need to come in, we need to play together so we can focus.

JAILIN CHERRY: Yeah. The main things that I've got from it was really like seeding really doesn't matter. It's who wants it more. And that's where the upsets are coming from, because everybody is, I guess, focused on seeding, oh, they're this seed or, oh, they're that seed, and the underdog wanted it more.

Q. What's it like to play for a coach that's so passionate that she holds everybody accountable, even referees? I know you're going crazy over there, and then, of course, the last game, what happened at the end. What's it like to play for a coach like that, that you know that everybody is accountable and like she just gets after it?

KHAYLA POINTER: Yeah. Obviously Coach Kim is who -- I've watched her for a long, long time over there at Baylor. Used to admire her outfits; and just to see her passion, her intensity, getting on the refs and getting on her players. So when it comes full circle and she comes here and she coaches us, it's kind of cool to see it up close. But she does nothing less but just fight for her players, whether that's getting on us or whether that's getting on the refs. You know, she's going to give it to them. Good call, bad call, whatever, Coach is always fighting for us. So it's great to have that support and a coach like that that cares for you and really has your back.

JAILIN CHERRY: Yeah. You can definitely tell that she has our back. Like K said, she's going to fight for us in any way possible. She's going to get on us, but she's going to get on the refs. But she's also going to encourage us to keep going. Regardless if she's getting on us, and now she's going to tell you, shoot the ball. She don't care if she's yelling at you. You just gotta play your game, and it's great to play for her, and I'm thankful that I got the opportunity to play for her.