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NCAA WOMEN'S FINAL FOURApril 6, 2008Van ChancellorQuianna ChaneyErica WhiteTAMPA, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: We're joined at the podium by LSU head coach Van Chancellor, Quianna Chaney and Erica white. Coach, when you're ready, an opening statement. COACH CHANCELLOR: Tough way to lose a basketball game. I really feel for our seniors. They have done everything I've asked them to do since I was appointed LSU coach. And they've done so much and overcome so much and I'm really proud of them graduating. They do such a great job. And I am sorry I couldn't help them win. Ask the players questions. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Erica and Q, if you could just sort of say what was going on on that last play? ERICA WHITE: Candace Parker took the ball, drove it the length of the floor, and I think someone came over to double. She ditched the ball to a teammate, missed an open layup. They got the rebound and got a second chance at it. That's how they won the game. Q. Can you tell me what was going through your mind as it happened and as it unfolded? ERICA WHITE: Personally I was thinking just trying to keep the ball in front of us, try to stop the ball. That's something that we didn't do. We let Candace Parker drive the ball the length of the floor. And I was just thinking just block out, try to get a rebound. And that's something else that we didn't do. Q. After you made the two free throws, Erica, to put you all up, did you feel pretty good about your chances if you all could play some defense there? ERICA WHITE: Yeah, I definitely felt good about our chances. I knew I'd knock it down. And I felt confident in our defense. But we just didn't make a play. We failed to make a play at the end and I think with seven seconds to go, we turned Tennessee one time, if we made Candace Parker just cross the ball over one time, I think we'd win. But we failed to do that and so we lost. Q. Could both of you talk about the game that Sylvia played today and what that says about her? ERICA WHITE: I think that it says that Sylvia's a competitor and that she's not going to back down from any challenge. She's been hearing about Candace Parker all week, and she knew that she was going to go up against a tough player. But at the same time she knows what she brings to the game, and 20 rebounds and 24 points is a heck of a game for anyone to have one time, but Sylvia's done that many times in her career. QUIANNA CHANEY: I agree. She came out. She did the best she can do. Like Erica said, 20 points and got a lot of rebounds, 24 points and 20 rebounds, what more could you ask for? Q. I realize it's fresh, but I'm not going to get a chance to ask you tomorrow, can you reflect a little bit on your careers and how you're seniors and this was your last game for LSU? ERICA WHITE: I think we've had an awesome career here. For any team to make it to the Final Four one time, I don't care what anyone says, is an accomplishment. For us to get here every year is definitely something that no one can discredit. We have done some amazing things here. I think that one thing, we just lacked in confidence on the offensive end. And Coach Van has done an excellent job in helping us with that this year, but for whatever reason we just weren't confident tonight. But I think our legacy will be one that definitely did the job in building up the LSU program and giving it -- putting the LSU program on the national stage. QUIANNA CHANEY: I agree. As a senior, the things that we've done -- we've done some great things that a lot of teams haven't done, five straight Final Fours, who wouldn't love to be here. So I will say that I enjoy my years here at LSU. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, both. Questions for Coach. Q. Coach, is this the toughest loss you've experienced in your career? COACH CHANCELLOR: Yeah, especially when I thought we had it won, and I had it won, but had a great shot. Up 1, they've got to go the full length of the court. And it's really a tough loss when I think about these kids and what all they have gone through for four years. I really feel for them. Q. Did you see where Sylvia was when the last bucket was made? Could you see where she was? COACH CHANCELLOR: Yeah, she had gone over to help double-team Parker. That wasn't Sylvia's fault. Q. Just on that play, was that a problem that Candace was able to get that far down court that quickly, did you see that? COACH CHANCELLOR: I thought the problem was we were wanting to turn her, never did turn her one time. She got down to the other end on the basket. In seven seconds she had time to get the ball to the other end, missed a shot and pass it, miss a shot and get a rebound. That's a lot of time. Q. This might be too fresh, but where does LSU go from here? COACH CHANCELLOR: That would be about the least concern that I have in the whole world. I don't mean that bad, it's just how I see it. Q. Coach, when you look at the game as a whole, you guys really battled back, especially at the end. Do you feel like this is a game that you deserve to win? COACH CHANCELLOR: Not the way we played. I thought it was a game we could have won. I think when you shoot 30-something percent, 11 percent and 38 percent from the free throw line, you have a chance to win it at the end. You're lucky you had a shot. Offensively, all the things I've been trying to instill in this team and I thought I had, they all came back tonight. We didn't play with the confidence offensively. We played with it defensively. Q. Sylvia looked like she was playing hurt. At the end was she hurt? COACH CHANCELLOR: The reason she's not here. She's bad cramping, it was all we could do to keep her in the game at the end. Q. What did you say to the team in the locker room after the game? COACH CHANCELLOR: I felt bad for them. I told them, I feel bad in some way, somehow, I was unable to help them win. I can't explain to you what all this team has gone through in the last year and a half. And I just wanted them to experience winning a game at the Final Four, and I just felt bad because some way, somehow, I couldn't help them get there. Q. Did you feel they were doing -- you've played them twice this year before, did you feel they were doing something different against Sylvia, trying to keep her off her spots early in the game anyway? COACH CHANCELLOR: If you want my honest opinion, we got her 24 shots. We haven't got her 24 shots all year. We were getting the ball to Sylvia right where we wanted it. That was not our problem. Then they doubled us because we couldn't make a shot from anywhere else. Q. Coach, can you describe who was supposed to be on that side with Hornbuckle? Seemed like everybody went to Parker. COACH CHANCELLOR: I don't think it's fair to the player. I won't describe that. You want to describe it, you can. I'm not one of those who is going to blame players. I should have done something different to help my players to not have been in that position. I was trying to turn Parker and I couldn't get that done and that cost a mismatch. Q. How affected by the harness do you think that Parker was? COACH CHANCELLOR: How what? Q. How affected by the apparatus, by the -- COACH CHANCELLOR: No question, she ain't never been 6 for 27 in her life. She had a gutted performance tonight. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. End of FastScripts |
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