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

March 19, 2022

Kim Mulkey

Khayla Pointer

Jailin Cherry

LSU Tigers

Media Conference

LSU 83, Jackson State 77

MODERATOR: Pleased to be joined by Head Coach Kim Mulkey, graduate guard, Khayla Pointer, 26 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, and four steals in this evening's game. Graduate guard Jailin Cherry, a season and career high 24 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Q. Khayla, the three-pointer to put you guys up three there at the end, just talk about that and how much you wanted the ball in your hands down the stretch overall?

KHAYLA POINTER: Just stay confident in your game no matter the stretch of the game, highs and lows. It's a game of runs. Obviously, I work on those shots every single day after practice, shoot before practice. So, you know, ball came around and I just shot it with confidence and didn't think twice about it. Obviously I'm happen it went in. Yeah, trust your craft.

Oh, yeah, I mean my teammates gave me a lot of confidence and they have faith in me to make, you know, tough shots and hit tough shots. And, you know, set other teammates up. So really, you know, they give me the confidence. And like I said, you just trust the craft and trust the work that you've put in.

Q. Could you give us a sense of what it was like to be down by 10 with less than five minutes to go in a high stakes game and how you were just feeling and the progression towards the end?

KHAYLA POINTER: Honestly I've said oh, my God probably the past 10 minutes since the horn ended. This team, we just were relentless. Grit. You know, we weren't ready to go home. And obviously, you know, we have a team full of seniors as well so what does those next 10 minutes look like? Are we in the locker room? Are we crying? Are we taking our jerseys off for the last time? Or are we celebrating and getting prepared to play on Monday?

So a lot of that is going through your mind at that time, but you just stay confident. You know, we have a lot of time in the game and the game is not over until that horn sounds. And we just kept going at it and kept going at it and made a run and we were able to take the lead and we just kind of held onto it.

Q. Midway through the third quarter you guys had a 17-point lead. Jackson was able to get momentum and swing that. What did they do well during that run and what did you guys do to kind of counter that?

KHAYLA POINTER: I didn't know it was 17.

JAILIN CHERRY: I didn't know it was either.

KHAYLA POINTER: We stopped doing what got us the lead. We were in the first half, you know, defending really, really well and just forcing them to take tough shots and limiting them to one shots. And then we were running. And then in that third quarter we got away from doing that. We were letting them get dribble drives and we were letting them get offensive rebounds and then we weren't running. So it was literally a switch from all of the things that got us the lead in the first half. And Jackson State is a great team. We knew it was going to be a dog fight. They are athletic and they have great bigs, great guards. But it's a 40-minute game. They went on their run, and we were like hey, we still have time. So, you know, we went on our run in the end, and we were able to pull out the W.

JAILIN CHERRY: Yeah, basically what Khayla said, they're a good defensive team. They're scrappy and they're athletic. Literally hung on the rim during the game. So they got offensive rebounds over us. And that's what they did so well in game and what brought them back in the game. And we went on a little drought, but, you know, we gelled back together and like coach said we bowed up.

Q. Follow up to that. You guys are the home team. You are the higher seed. How did you think Jackson State kind of played up, maybe exceeded some expectations of a 14-seed?

KHAYLA POINTER: They played a great game. Obviously we have been prepping for them all week. They -- I don't know what their record is, but I think they won 18 or 19 in a row. So we knew it was going to be a tough game. Obviously, like I said, they have great players. You know, they are well coached and they're athletic and they play with a certain swag about themselves. So we just had to try to match their intensity. And like I said, it was a long game, but I'm happy my team was able to pull it out and get the victory.

Q. Just wanted to clarify from the question, the largest lead was 10 points in the fourth quarter, not 17. It was 74-64, 10 points,.

Q. What was the largest lead in the game?

KHAYLA POINTER: In the third.

JAILIN CHERRY: Ours was 17.

KHAYLA POINTER: What was it? 17? I did not know that.

JAILIN CHERRY: It was up for a minute and then came back again. Um-h'm.

Q. Last I checked earlier in the fourth quarter Foustine had seven blocks at one point.

JAILIN CHERRY: Oh.

Q. What does it feel for like the guards to have a presence like that down the --

JAILIN CHERRY: It's -- it's great, honestly. You know, we -- we try not to get beat. But we know that if we do, she's right there to take it out the air. And we love to have a big post presence because she bails us out a lot. You know, legs get a little tired and we get beat a couple of times, but she is always there to take it out the air and she does it so well. We are super proud of her and what she has done in that game. She really was a game changer.

Q. This is for Jailin and Khayla. Obviously this game tested your composure and your poise. How good was it to have it right out of the gate? You know, there's a little bit of you guys having a layoff as well to kind of get back into the game?

KHAYLA POINTER: It's March. Everybody knows seeding doesn't matter. We have seen it on the men's wide. We've seen it on the women's side. It is about who wants it the most and who is trying to extend their season. And, you know, the game is survive and advance. Like I said earlier, Jackson State is a great team. And we knew we were going to have our hands full all night. I'm happy we won it, obviously, the game. Survive and advance. That's all we're trying to do.

JAILIN CHERRY: Khayla put it best. No other way to say it, you know. What she said. Seeding doesn't matter. Any team can be beat at any given time. It's March. March Madness, and this is what we're here for.

Q. Jailin, I have to ask you -- right here. Did you feel it in warm-ups? Did you know you were going to shoot that well tonight?

JAILIN CHERRY: Honestly, no. I was missing a couple of shots in warm-up. But I just hit my first couple shots and I was like oh, yeah. So but I don't know. It just -- the basketball Gods were shining down on me and came to play tonight.

Q. Khayla, where would you rate this atmosphere that you played in tonight? Especially, I mean, they brought their fans, they were loud. I mean it was -- it was pretty hype the whole game.

JAILIN CHERRY: It's Louisiana. We have the best fans in the world. We believe that. They play a key success, a key part in our success throughout the whole year. And they were huge for us today. You know, they helped us gain a little momentum. Obviously we feed off of their energy. Everybody knows Louisiana fans are crazy so I'm happy that we're here at home and got the home-court advantage.

JAILIN CHERRY: Got to not to.

Q. Kailin, kind of playing off of that I saw at one point you had gone like during a timeout or a dead ball you had gone over to the fans to get them up. Did you all feel like a palpable difference towards the end of the game during that run to get back into it?

JAILIN CHERRY: Definitely. Like I said before, the fans are like our literal sixth man. Like they're our extra teammate. You know, they -- every time that we get down, we went down by 10 and they were still in it with us and still cheering "LSU, LSU," you know. And that gives us so much energy. So the more they give us energy, the more momentum change towards us, and we just kept feeding off of them.

MODERATOR: Thank you for your time.

KHAYLA POINTER: Thank you.

JAILIN CHERRY: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Now we'll take questions for Coach Mulkey, please.

Q. Kim, just after the horn sounded you were down in your usual crouch, you just kind of bowed your head.

COACH MULKEY: Say that again.

Q. I'm going to take my mask off. Right when the horn ended, you kind of you were in your catcher's crouch and bowed your head for a second and just stayed there. What were you thinking?

COACH MULKEY: I'm worn out. Tired. Worked hard. That was a heck of a ballgame. I don't think anybody turned the TV off. I don't think any fan for either team left. And I was tired. It's like it's over. That's all I was thinking.

Q. What did you tell Coach Reed after the game? Y'all kind of embraced and talked for a long time. What did you share with her in that moment afterwards?

COACH MULKEY: Told her that I got a dose of her team last year when I was at Baylor and how much I respect the job she's done. And that she's a heck of a coach and that her kids played their hearts out. And I don't know if you want me to tell you second part of that because you're all Jackson State people. But I said you ain't going to be at Jackson State long if they don't pay ya.

[LAUGHTER]

COACH MULKEY: And I'm not her agent, I'm not her best friend. I just know talent, and I respect people from afar on a job well done.

Q. I'm just wondering if there ever was a message to your team to match their toughness and intensity?

COACH MULKEY: Say that again.

Q. Did you ever have to challenge your team to match their toughness and intensity?

COACH MULKEY: Yeah. I just told them they're man-handling you. I told them that their will to win in that moment was far greater. And lastly, this game's not over.

Q. Hey, coach, you talked a little bit about your familiarity with Coach Reed. What do you think was the biggest difference from playing her last year to playing her this year?

COACH MULKEY: Well, it's two different teams now. I just left a team at Baylor that can go to a final four and they got the same team from last year basically. This team won nine games last year so I can't compare Baylor's team to this team playing Jackson State. What I can tell you is she has three returning starters at Jackson State. And those kids, there is no substitute for experience. They have been in those one versus 16 or two versus 15 games. And that experience just makes you more confident. And I think her personality from what little I've watched on film and things, is that she has those kids playing hard and believing and has some transfers in there like we all do. And a lot of them getting chances to play that maybe weren't playing at other places. But just she's got a lot of good players.

Q. What was your expectation coming in facing Jackson State? You watched your film, you did your scout. Did you expect it to come down to the wire and be this close?

COACH MULKEY: I don't know that I ever just sit and say oh, we're going to blow somebody out, oh, it's going to be a close game. I think all we do is we just sit there, and we write down tendencies. What they do well. What we need to do. Matchups. Who needs to guard who? What we need to run offensively.

I don't know that I ever, ever, would ever disrespect anybody that I play to think oh, this is going to be a close game, not a close game. We are just focusing on what we have to do to try to win.

Q. When it was a 10-point deficit, Coach, is that what you touched on just a while ago, but what did you tell them and what was the feeling at that point?

COACH MULKEY: I think it was four minutes and something to go in the game. I said the game's not over. I said now we're -- they're in a bonus. You know, we got the fouls so if you foul they're going to the free-throw line. I said but we've got to change the momentum here. We've got to pick it up in a full court. And we went to full-court pressing. We haven't had to do that much this year.

And you know, guys, even if we had lost that game, my kids never stopped playing hard. They just, you know, they just kept playing hard. And we happened to get some steals and changed the momentum there. The thing about this game, you had two technicals, right. Coach got a technical for them and we got a delay of game technical. You had big momentum swings in the game. It was a game that you got to see a team -- Jackson State, I would have to look at -- y'all maybe can help me, those of you that follow them -- eight threes is not the norm for them. They average I think four a game.

So let's talk about why they got back in the game. You asked the kids this. The truth of the matter, they got back in the game because they unexpectedly made threes that we didn't -- not that we didn't prepare for it, but it's not usual. So that got them back in the game. Dribble penetration, ducking your head. When you're down what -- what did you say, 17, double digits, you have nothing to lose. So you just duck your head, and you go make something happen. And I thought their guards did that. But I thought, too, Crump, is that her name, Crump? She did some pretty darn good special stuff out there for them today.

Q. They started 6-6 from three in the second half.

COACH MULKEY: Yeah, 80% at one point. I turned around to my coaches, I said I thought y'all told me they couldn't shoot threes? They're shooting 80% from the three. But that's why it's called March Madness. It's wonderful.

Q. Coach, just going back to that five-minute mark and just throughout that five-minute stretch. What did you see from the experience of your team and how they stayed together just on their own?

COACH MULKEY: My intensity sometimes when I'm coaching, I have to be careful because what motivated me as a player sometimes doesn't motivate kids. So they may take it as not being positive. Like I may say something like -- I'll give this example, nothing in particular today -- but if a coach told me she's kicking your butt and I'm under my breath saying watch me. I may not can say that to these kids. Do you understand? They just won their very first game in an NCAA tournament. These kids right here. This senior group. So that's important.

And we don't need to forget that, is they won. And they experienced something today and tonight and tomorrow and the next game that they have never experienced in their life. And I will tell you the fans were unbelievable. They stood. They cheered. Everybody in this arena got a good basketball game to watch. And one that needed -- you knew the Tigers were going to win, right?

Right? Some Tigers were going to win. Either in the navy and red or in the purple and gold. So it was just, it was good. And the familiarity, guys, think about this, how long does it take to get to Jackson Mississippi up I--55? Two and a half hours? That's exciting. That's exciting. People know Jackson State University. They know about LSU. LSU, how about Cherry? Where do you think that kid is from? Gulfport, Mississippi. Not "miss-a-sip-pee". It's "mis-sipee". Okay. We're a regional area. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, okay. We're proud people. And you saw some kids out there and some coaches out there competing.

Q. It looked like as you first -- right after the game, it looked like you said I don't know how we won as you first embraced the Jackson State coach right afterwards.

COACH MULKEY: I could have. I could have -- I say a lot of things to make coaches in defeat feel better.

Q. But the point --

COACH MULKEY: I wish more coaches would do that because really you had, what, she had a 10-point lead with how much time to go in the game. I don't know how much we made that up other than we started pressing. I'm not going to go down there and say oh, it was my great coaching. You go down there and you're going to have some compassion. I go down there sometimes, and I'll say look, you didn't lose, the clock just ran out. So what was your question?

Q. Point being whether if you did say that that just kind of encapsulated how wild you felt the end of that game was and what a steep climb you guys had in the end.

COACH MULKEY: I don't know wild would be a description because I don't think we were out of control at all. I don't think either team played out of control. I think both teams played hard and had different spurts in the game. I thought ours was a sense of urgency. And man, we got to get after it right here, time's running out. So yeah. Go ahead.

Q. You can correct me if I misquote you, but I know earlier in the week you were saying you don't want them to be too high, you don't want them to be too low, you want them to be levelheaded. This game here was exactly what you said. I want to know what was said to them before they went out? And what did you do to make sure they kept a level head during throughout this games?

COACH MULKEY: Well, I'm not one of these coaches that plans these pregame speeches. What comes out of my mouth before a game is mainly remind them of what we're trying to do. Go over on the board everything you may see. 2-3. 3-2. 2-2. 2-1. Remember everything we've gone over and ways to win the game. And we go play. A lot of what I tell them is through the course of the game during the timeout. And that can be a lot of stuff, don't sit close to my bench. Okay. It could be a lot of stuff.

Q. Coach, you obviously have a good rapport with Coach Reed, and it is March Madness and it's fun and all that. But there was a video that came out when they got into the tournament Kim Mulkey has got it coming and all that. It was a close game. But I heard that got back to you.

COACH MULKEY: (Laughing) Y'all see it? Who saw that video? I did see it. I didn't see it because I'm on social media, I saw it because people send it to me and it was bulletin board material, okay.

So what is your question? You want to know what my reaction to it was? Y'all know I like to sing, right? So when I saw it, because it was my name, I said reminded me of that song Jim Croce used to sing. Jim Croce was killed in a plane crash in Natchitoches in the 1970's for those of you who are too young to know who he was.

He had had a song that goes like this: You don't tug on superman's cape. You don't spit in the wind. You don't pull the mask off the 'ole Lone Ranger and ya don't mess around with Kim. That was my first thought.

[LAUGHTER]

COACH MULKEY: But you see, a lot of them young people, they don't know that song. So my thought is this: Y'all know who Destiny's Child is? Say my name, say my name, say my name.

Y'all have a good day. Love you all. We good?