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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 3, 2012LaSondra BarrettNikki CaldwellCourtney JonesNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE LSU – 72 THE MODERATOR: We are joined by LSU head coach Nikki Caldwell, LaSondra Barrett and Courtney Jones. Coach, if you could start us with some opening comments. COACH CALDWELL: First off, these two young ladies to my right, I can't say enough about them, as not only players but as people. Their competitive spirit tonight was huge. Even though LaSondra was in foul trouble the first half, I thought Courtney really stepped up her game. That's what you have to have at this time. Kentucky, a very, very good basketball team. I mean, we knew it was going to be a battle. They have one of the best players in our conference. Defensively they really do a great job of getting after you. Obviously, they turned us over quite a bit. I was proud of this group for staying together and playing this game with a lot of heart. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. What was going through your mind when LaSondra had to go to the bench for two fouls? Did you think you had to elevate your game in any way? COURTNEY JONES: My first thought, I was a bit angry. She's a very physical player. She takes charge, offense and defense. But I knew we had to have her on the court. I knew the second half she would come up with her A game, and she did. I just tried to be as motivating, just do the things that LaSondra did when she's not on the court. Q. Coach, first half, shutting Kentucky down so well with some of the 16 points. What were some of the things you were doing to hold a good offense down like that? COACH CALDWELL: Well, first off, we talked about awareness, knowing where Mathies is at all times. We took the shape of their offense by running 2‑3 look. We stayed true to trying to keep them off the boards. I thought we did a much better job of that. We eliminated some of the transition baskets in the first half. That was key for us because they're a team that really relishes on you turning the ball over because they execute so well in the transition game. So we talked about those two areas, transition defense and board play. Q. Courtney and LaSondra, all things consider, is this the biggest game you ever played in your career? COURTNEY JONES: I don't think so. I think LSU still hasn't had their big game yet. Q. To this point. COURTNEY JONES: But I think there's so much more to this team. We decided to come out and give all our effort and work hard because we wanted to win bad. Q. LaSondra, you had 24 turnovers today, but you are kind of used to turning the ball over, dealing with it. LaSONDRA BARRETT: Absolutely. I mean, they're a good pressing team. They try to speed you up. They're very aggressive in their defense and traps. I think we took advantage of that. We were just patient with the ball. We wanted to dictate our tempo of the game. Playing them the second time, we know their personnel, what they like to do. I think we took over. We just dictated the tempo from the beginning, carried that throughout the game. Q. LaSondra and Coach Caldwell, when you go back a month, you lose Destini, you lost five of six games, what was it that you talked about then to get to the point where you are now? COACH CALDWELL: First off, I told Boogie that she has to run point. That was a big adjustment. There's not too many players you can move from the, let's say, 4 or 5 all the way to the point guard. Usually you'll move a swing guard into that situation, which we have. When we lost Destini, we also lost Jeanne in that stretch with a concussion. By her stepping up her game, playing the point, I thought that really helped us. It gave us a different sense of security, ball security. Obviously Courtney, we had to move her around, as well. We had to put her out on the perimeter. We were really shuffling players around. I think it took us a little bit to settle in. Once we did, we started on that run. But this group really made a huge sacrifice. But if you look at Destini, what she is about, her spirit, she makes sacrifices for her teammates, as well. So it was an easy transition for them when they really grasped their mindset around, Okay, I got to do whatever I need to do for this team. Q. Coach, if you do wind up taking on UT in the final tomorrow, is that something that be a little bit more special to you? COACH CALDWELL: It would be just special. It's just going to be special anyway. I have truly enjoyed this group. It's been an amazing journey. Whoever comes out of that next line, I know this team is going to lay it on the line. I know they're going to play with a lot of heart. We're going to go after whoever we have to stand up against. I have much respect obviously for Coach Summitt and what she's meant to the game, as well as Dawn Staley. I remember playing against her when she was at Virginia. This tournament, being in the SEC, this is where it's at. We got two great teams getting ready to tip off. I know our name has been moved over one more slot. Q. Coach, I felt like you dominated this game inside today. Did you think so? COACH CALDWELL: I felt like we tried to really establish our inside game because we're big. We're going to take advantage of our size. When we did do that, it put a lot of pressure on them to guard us, which allowed us to get to the free‑throw line. But that's been our game plan the whole time. Whenever we are establishing that inside attack, we typically do a very good job of shooting a high percentage. We may turn it over 20‑plus times, but we're near 48, 49% each game. Q. Was there ever a point that it went through your mind if you lost the lead, Kentucky made a big run, you might have put LaSondra back in during the first half? COACH CALDWELL: No, she thought that (laughter). Coach, can I go in the last two minutes? No. Again, when we see that we've got our opponents playing 20, 25 points in a half, we feel like we can keep them in the 40s, I feel good about this team winning. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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