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BIG EAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 10, 2013Kayla AlexanderQuentin HillsmanHARTFORD, CONNECTICUT Syracuse: 61 Villanova: 56 THE MODERATOR: Joining us is Syracuse head coach, Quentin Hillsman, and senior center, Kayla Alexander. Syracuse advances to tomorrow night semifinals, they play UConn tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Coach, a quick opening statement? COACH HILLSMAN: Well, I thought the key in the game was our second half. I thought that in the first half, we did a very good job of recognizing shooters, and I thought the second half we did a better job of contesting. They got some open ones second half but all the ones they got that they shot when we matched up, we did well. I got to give our kids credit they did a good job sticking to our game plan, Villanova is tough and they played 5 out and everything they do goes against every principle in our zone and we had to make sure we contested every shot. Coach Reid did a great job of breaking down the tape and gave us two or three things to concentrate on and nutrilize some of their three's. We knew we had to make 50% of our shoot from the field to offset their 35% from the 3‑point line. I got to give my kids credit, they just really competed like crazy and our staff did a very good job of preparing us for the game. Proud of them for sticking with it. It's tough being here with two days off and obviously we were anxious to play and game. Glad we came out on top. Q. Kayla, you matched your career high with 34 points today. Can you talk about the strategy and obviously they didn't have anyone to guard you down the post. KAYLA ALEXANDER: Honestly I give it all back to my teammates. They were looking inside, and I thought we were playing a good inside/outside game, where they were open on the outside they were going to attack, and open on the inside they were going to hand me the ball, and they kept giving to me, and I don't score unless my teammates give me the ball, so I give it all back to my teammates. Q. Kayla, you go into the game tomorrow against Stewart and Dolson, how are you preparing mentally? KAYLA ALEXANDER: Mentally we have to get ready to be prepared to go hard tomorrow and we have to give your "A" game, like on the inside, the post and around the arc. Q. Coach, can you address her development over the past four years and have you had a player that has made more strides in a four‑year span than she has? COACH HILLSMAN: I always tell her she is my life line. She really is and when you have a player this talented. You have to find a way to make her better. I think she developed over summer, and I had to find a way to develop as a coach to make sure we gave herthe ball inside. My challenge this summer, I told her to go get better and be able to play in the mid‑post and in the elbow and I'm going to get better and find a way to get you the ball every possession. I think if she didn't do her job my job didn't matter. So she did her job really well and I did my job okay but she make me look good, so I got to give her credit as we're getting better. Q. What does this mean for the program, beating Villanova, winning your 24th game, most in school history. COACH HILLSMAN: Obviously, this is how it was set up, you don't want to be the team that doesn't advance when you're set up to advance. Now we played today, we both going into the game tomorrow night with some legs and it's going to be a tough game, obviously, we understand who we're playing, UConn is a very good basketball team and they can score from all five positions on the floor but it's a great opportunity. To play against a great basketball team we relish that and want to compete as hard as we can. Q. Kayla, talk about the‑‑ it's been a long road for you, and it's all coming together at the same time, your individual success and the team success, can you wrap it up for us? KAYLA ALEXANDER: I think it started in the preseason, we had four freshmen competing and contributing from the start and we were going to keep each other accountable and take no short cuts. We were going to get things done. I think that held us accountable and it helped us throughout the season. Now we're starting to enjoy what we have accomplished right now, trying to go out there and play hard and have fun playing basketball and doing what we all love and compete as hard as we can. Q. Coach, you played UConn earlier this year in this building what do you need to do this time to have a better result? COACH HILLSMAN: First thing is keep her on the floor, because she was in foul trouble the whole game so we have to keep our best players on the floor and we have a chance to compete. We can't foul ourselves out of the game and Connecticut pushes every possession and they pretty much pound you into submission, grabbing the fouls and we got to make sure we get back in transition, see the floor, get matched up and guard 'em. It's a great, great team and we know that. This is the best conference in the country when you look at Notre Dame and Connecticut, they're going to be there. So we have a great opportunity to play against one of the best teams in the country, two of the top three teams are in our conference so we get to play 'em every year and obviously we're playing UConn twice this year so it's a great opportunity for us. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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