ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 2, 2022

Amanda Butler

Delicia Washington

Clemson Tigers

Postgame Press Conference

Clemson 88, Syracuse 69.

AMANDA BUTLER: Just really, really proud of our team's fight, of our ability to collect ourselves and come into postseason really ready to play, and in a lot of moments in this game bring Clemson's best, which is what we're always chasing. Delicia did a fantastic job of leading us and filling that stat sheet like we put pressure on her to do, but I thought Amari Robinson played a tremendously tough game. Hannah Hank had her best game of the season offensively. So just really proud of my upperclassmen setting the tone and really carrying us through some tough moments.

Syracuse is hard to play against. Really admire the job that Vonn has done. They press you. They can score individually, especially Hyman, as good as anybody in the country. So to maintain our composure and to be advancing into the next round of the best tournament in the country, we're excited, and we're ready for what's next.

Q. Coach, can you talk a little bit about what you saw from your team in terms of three-point shooting and then talk a little bit about how Delicia did against Syracuse's defense?

AMANDA BUTLER: Our three-point shooting? Is that the question? Or theirs?

Q. Your three-point shooting, yeah.

AMANDA BUTLER: I thought we were really selective. I thought we were really smart about the threes that we took, and the ones that we hit were timely. They were big plays for us. We did a really good job, which is something we're always trying to do from one battle to the next, of applying improvement and what we learned from our last time-out. We got a little loose with our threes in our last time-out, and we wanted to be a lot more intentional with when we were shooting them and why we were shooting them and making sure that was the very best shot for us, and we weren't turning down a good paint look with that.

I think there might have been a part B to that question.

Q. Yeah. Delicia's performance today and what she exploited specifically against Syracuse's defense.

AMANDA BUTLER: You know, I think she just really took advantage of whatever was there, possession by possession. Sometimes it's transition, which I think she's potentially one of the best if not the best in the country when she's got space, of being able to just score in a variety of ways. And then I think when she was really simple with her attacks and got away from trying to make really complex, difficult plays and just really attack space and made good decisions, good simple decisions and then got to her spots and made the plays. That was also critical.

Also you can't go without saying, 11 defensive rebounds, that ignites her opportunities in transition, as well.

I just thought she played a really complete game.

Q. Delicia, do you want to comment on your game today?

DELICIA WASHINGTON: Honestly, I wouldn't have been able to have this great game without my teammates. They was able to find me in transition, get the ball in my hands, and just believed in me and made the right decision with kicking the ball ahead and looking up the floor.

Q. Coach, with the game today scoring 88 points, is this your best game of the year? Do you feel like -- great way to start the tournament.

AMANDA BUTLER: Well, I mean, scoring 88 points feels really good. I'm not going to lie about that. But I think that we look obviously at a lot more than the scoring column. We did turn the ball over way too many times for what we're capable of. There's certainly things that we're going to have to do a lot better as we get into round 2.

But we all know the feeling that you get when the ball goes through the net. There's very few other things that make you feel as confident and gives you as much energy.

Definitely being able to score that many points on a conference opponent is one of our best offensive performances for sure.

Q. Delicia, scoring 88 points, plus your game today, do you feel like your game is clicking at the right point at this time of the year?

DELICIA WASHINGTON: I mean, scoring 88 points is always good. Getting up on top, and me just being able to go out there and do whatever I do to make sure that my team comes out on top, and that's what we did. We played together and we stuck together and we did the right things to be able to come out on top today.

Q. Delicia, can you talk about in that fourth quarter Syracuse was coming back a couple times, they got as close as four. What were you able to do offensively to keep attacking the basket and keep maintaining that lead you guys had?

DELICIA WASHINGTON: I think just getting out in transition and keep running. I think Nunu Bradford, she did a really good job of looking up the floor, kicking the ball ahead, and we was able to get a lot of fast break lay-ups. Punching the ball in to Hannah and Amari was also a positive for us. So just being able to stay composed and pushing the ball in transition.

Q. This is a little bit of an off-court question, but we're coming towards the end of the first season with name, image, and likeness, and how difficult was it to navigate that this season? And, Coach, I'm curious how you addressed it with your players. And then, Delicia, whether it impacted you or how you navigated it?

AMANDA BUTLER: Way to change the vibe. Great job.

Yeah, you know, I think that anything where young people at this age in their life get a chance to discover who they are and the best version of themselves, and then to be able to use the various platforms that they have, especially as a student-athlete, to profit from that is a positive thing, as long as it's done responsibly with a lot of intention and thought about, again, who they are and who they want to be.

Creating a brand or some of those things, I think are good exercises for really discovering your authenticity, which we think in our program is your biggest competitive advantage.

We're at a university -- Clemson just did a fantastic job of continually not just educating our student-athletes and coaches as things were happening, but our leadership has been out in front of this for years and trying to find all the ways that we could make sure that our student-athletes understood what their potential was, and then at the same time giving them avenues and ways with all the content that's produced, for them to be able to use it in all the ways that fell within the NCAA rules.

Definitely a brand-new day, but I think if you are recruiting people that understand the mission of your program and understand the importance of self-awareness, then it can be a huge, huge positive, and that's what we're trying to do.

Listen, I want them to make as much money as they can and potentially take me out to eat, buy me better Christmas gifts, buy my children bigger and better toys.

I'm for it.