NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - SOUTH DAKOTA STATE VS USC

March 17, 2023

Lindsay Gottlieb

Destiny Littleton

Rayah Marshall

Cassell Coliseum

USC Trojans

Media Conference

South Dakota State 62, USC 57

LINDSAY GOTTLIEB: You know, credit South Dakota State. They are a really good team. We knew that. They are poised and experienced and we tried to make it really hard for them, and I thought when they needed to, they made the winning plays. You know, credit to their coach, Aaron, who does a terrific job.

I'm really proud. I'm proud of our team and I'm proud of the people in the locker room. The journey we went on was an exceptional one. We wish it were longer. We wanted to keep playing. I'm really disappointed but the predominant feeling is pride in this group and what they have done for our program.

Q. You shot 31 percent. What was it about South Dakota State's defense that made it such a difficult shooting even for you guys?

DESTINY LITTLETON: They are a seasoned team. They have been here before. You know, they have been playing together for a very long time. They just took away what we wanted to do. They pressured us. They forced us to take shots that we normally wouldn't take. And so they kind of just got us out of our rhythm a little bit, and we couldn't really find the open person. I think we were worried a lot about the charges that they take so we kind of just mentally started playing differently.

But credit to them. They came in and had a really good game plan.

Q. Was there anything that South Dakota state threw at you guys that you weren't expecting?

DESTINY LITTLETON: They just found their open player. 44 was on one, and credit to her. She was aggressive the entire game. She got calls that went for her majority of the game, and you know, they found her down the stretch. She was hot. She had, what, 29, so she was definitely a difficult matchup for us. But really, they just were who they were and they found the hot people.

Q. Coach talked about how proud she is of this journey that this team went on. You came here to help sort of establish some footing for this program. Do you consider this journey that you went on a you can says this season?

DESTINY LITTLETON: Absolutely. Obviously we don't want to be out in the first round but USC has not been here in a very long time. So that was my No. 1 goal coming here is to get USC back into the NCAA Tournament, and we checked that off the list.

Now obviously we have set the foundation, us graduates who are leaving, and obviously the players who are still here, we set a level of greatness that we want to see moving forward. We have really good recruits coming in. So I think just moving forward, obviously losses hurt but we are able to just kind of build on this season and move forward and hopefully get deeper in the tournament.

Q. I don't know if anybody told you but you broke Lisa Leslie's blocks record for a single season. She's a legend. What does that mean to be in the same breath at her?

RAYAH MARSHALL: Thanks for telling me that because I actually didn't know that. It's really exciting to know.

For me, I just like to come and compete. I feel like when I'm blocking shots on the defensive end and sparking my team full of energy, definitely going to have to brag to Lisa a little bit about that. But I'm grateful to have done that and completed that with Coach G and this team this season.

Q. What's one thing you want people to remember about this team specifically this year?

DESTINY LITTLETON: Just that we are a team that nobody looked at us as a potential NCAA Tournament team, and we believed in ourselves. We believed in the program that Lindsay has put together, and we just believe in each other.

I think every day -- we are not perfect. We don't hit shots but one thing that we did all season was play for each other and we just wanted each other to win, whether, you know, that be a win at the end of the day or a loss.

But we were here for each other. We didn't stop fighting. You can never say that we are a team that just laid down. We almost came back do you know by, what, eight in overtime, when people probably thought, oh, it was over.

Just a couple mistakes down the line, but honestly this team is just -- we're coming back. The rest of my teammates and the coaching staff, they are going to come back even harder next year.

Q. Selland had 29 points, 16 consecutive at one stretch. Tight what about her makes her such a tough matchup?

LINDSAY GOTTLIEB: I mean, shoot, to me she's a pro. She scores at all three levels, from -- when I say that more from the free throw line, you know, on the block, and in from three.

But their system and their offense makes it really hard. You can't really double her right because they will kick out for threes. She is constantly moving. They play in flow really well, and she's a terrific player who got to her spots and made big shots.

Q. You jumped out to that 10-point lead early in the first quarter. What was going right for y'all in that moment and what didn't go right after that?

LINDSAY GOTTLIEB: Yeah, I mean, I think our defense, I can't remember specifically but I know Rayah blocked up a couple shots and they were having a hard time scoring, and our pressure was bothering them and we hit some shots on that end.

Our defense remained fairly consistent but we had trouble putting the ball in the baskets and converting stops into scores, which it's tough. When we were really, I feel like cooking on the defensive end, we want a bigger lead than what we had. At the end of the first quarter, I felt like we were in control but we were only up three.

I think just our inability to turn those stops into scores is probably the biggest thing and then they can you tell a rhythm in the second quarter. That three to end the half was a backbreaker just because it was -- points were so hard to come by, and it gave them a lead going into halftime. Then we had to really speed up the game and started pressing in the second half; and then they were too rhythmic coming out of the half, and I thought we kind of jacked them up a little bit. But the fact that we were playing from behind was tough.

Q. Seemed like your team really showed a lot of effort fighting back at the end of the fourth quarter, fighting back in overtime. How much is that just the character of the team you have, and how much is that coached in and where does that -- how much does the roster construction factor into that as well?

LINDSAY GOTTLIEB: That's a great question. You know, in the spring last year, when I sort of figured out having been at USC for a year, you know, where we needed to go. Like what the direction needed to be and how we were going to get there, and I was very transparent with, this is, you know, this is where we are going and this is how we have to shift the culture.

Then I had to go out and got a bunch of transfers who believed in that vision. It's like a mix of people from a lot of different places but our North Star and driving force has always been: We want to be in the postseason, and we are committed to winning and what does winning look like. So I had a bunch of people who really bought into that all year.

Then we coached them up in terms of how it has to look terms of the effort and the intensity. But I credit our players, and I told them in there, I do think there's a lot of good things in store for this program.

But I'll never forget this group. They have changed the perception of what people think of us. A couple of them were super seniors in their last year of eligibility, and even though they may not be here when we do some other big things in this tournament, they in my mind sure as heck are going to be part of it and part of the Trojan legacy in a way that was really important to me. I'm proud that have and I think it's something that's been part of our identity all year long.

Q. Destiny and other transfers had NCAA experience but Rayah didn't. It was her first and she had a double-double and all those blocks. How impressed were you with her tonight and prospects for her moving forward?

LINDSAY GOTTLIEB: Yeah, I was really impressed. We challenged her in the last, whatever it has been, almost two weeks since we played to take advantage of this stage. But really more just to continue to grow. When I got the job, she was my first phone call, right. I needed to keep her. She had been signed with USC and from that point on, she's been coachable.

She's been bought in. She wants to be great. She allows us to push her, so I think she got a taste of it tonight. I think that could be a scary thing in a good way of, she's not, you know, she's not happy with the feeling I think and I think that's going to drive her but her talent is limitless. We are going to help make her one of the best players she can possibly be and one of the best players in the country. But I was really impressed with the way that she came out tonight and competed.

Q. Was there anything that South Dakota State threw out that was maybe unexpected from what you saw on tape and in your scout?

LINDSAY GOTTLIEB: Not really. I mean, maybe the pressure on our wings. We had a hard time getting to our spots on offense. Like I think he probably knew we had a size advantage inside, and so we have seen sagging defenses to try and negate our presence inside but he went more with a pressure, make it hard to get to the wing. So I would say maybe that felt -- I felt that more than what I had seen on film.

But from an offensive standpoint, I thought we had a good scout and knew it was coming. They are just really good at it and when we were holding them from scoring easy baskets we weren't scoring enough. I think on the defensive end is maybe where they were able to apply a little more pressure than I expected.