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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2014Nikki DixonNyilah Jamison-MyersAudra SmithGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA Syracuse – 63 COACH AUDRA SMITH: First off, I want to commend Syracuse on playing a decent basketball game. They really had a lot of kids step up. They shared the wealth tonight and had a balanced attack in terms of their scoring. For us, I was proud of the way our players played, the way they fought, especially the majority of the kids having to play a ton of minutes last night. That was a very emotional and physically exhausting game for them. But I'm really proud of the way they fought. I really felt like Syracuse had to battle to win this game. And they turned it on in this late second half and went on a run and we couldn't recover from that run. Unfortunately we gave up quite a few offensive rebounds there, and that completely exhausts you on defense, when you have to continue to play defense over and over again. But I can't begin to tell this group, these two young ladies here and the rest of the group how very proud I am for them for getting to this point and battle a team like Syracuse like they did today. Q. Coach, what's the challenge of defending a team that just keeps bombing away from three point range like that? COACH AUDRA SMITH: Taft, the kid didn't even play against us the first game. But that's the thing with 3‑point shooters, she has a very quick release. And a couple of times we thought she was coming off the ball screens and we were getting ready to defend her utilizing the ball screen and she just shot it. We lost her a couple of times. That presented a great challenge for us in the first half. Also the offense, they were running the first half, they were lining up shooters on the right and left side, setting the ball up top, and Leary was diving to the paint and we couldn't defend her. We couldn't trap her like we normally trap in the post. She was in the middle of the lane. And we couldn't bring anybody from either side because of the shooters. That presented a huge challenge for us in terms of locating the shooters and making sure that we got in their face. Of course, you know, Coffey knocked down two. Taft, she was the X factor in the game tonight. She was the X factor, she kept them in the game and kept them going the first half when Sykes went out. Q. Nikki, you guys were playing with basically six players there at the end of the game after Quinyotta fouled out and they were running with 11 most of the night. Did you feel like you wore down the second half? NIKKI DIXON: Definitely, I felt like we were limited on numbers. But we've been limited on numbers all season, because it's not an excuse, we have been playing with 6 or 7 or 8 strong, regardless of what it is. I felt like we kind of ran out of gas. Q. You played two of your best games of the season in the tournament. What do you think is the key to sort of finishing strong like that? NYILAH JAMISON‑MYERS: I feel like ‑‑ like I said yesterday, I'm just working on consistency. I'm just trying to make it to where I can bring it like this every night for next season and seasons afterwards. Q. If you could, the two players, you know, you're obviously disappointed, but it seems like you were playing your best ball right here at the end of the season. How do you feel about the progress you made and the program made this season? NIKKI DIXON: I feel like ‑‑ it's like, I don't know, it's like tournament time is the time to just ‑‑ everything you possibly have been through this season, you play so many games that when you get to the tournament time you have to have like a second brain, like a second physical body and mental brain. A new player, fresh out of the summer. You have to get to that point when you come to the tournament, teams are ready to win. And there's also teams that sleep. And there are also teams that come in that are the underdogs and sneak up and win against very good teams. I felt like the progress we've made ‑‑ did you say individually as well as ‑‑ Q. Wherever you think you made progress. NIKKI DIXON: It doesn't matter. As a team, we really are changing, and that's the biggest thing, we had a really good foundation for this program. And we're ready to take off. Q. Coach Smith, same for you, obviously you just finished your first season here. What are your thoughts on it right now? COACH AUDRA SMITH: A lot of positives going into ‑‑ my wheels are already turning about postseason workouts and into the summer and next fall, because you know before we know it the season is back around again. I have to admit, they won't admit it in public, but for these young ladies, this has been a tremendous adjustment for them. Literally, I think I said to someone the other day, it's like I picked them up and dropped them off in Japan, and they're like, Oh, my God, I don't know the language, how do I get around, how do I navigate this thing? I completely changed everything that they've been used to. So I made them very uncomfortable, which is part of the process in terms of growing. We have a lot of talent returning, we have quite a bit of talent coming in. And I'm hoping that these young ladies have learned from not only when I started, but what the staff has started in terms of everything that we do, from practice, from the way we dress, from the way we speak, from the way we conduct ourselves, from the way we take pride in being in class on time, from the way we take pride in everything, in who we are, that that will help us move forward. Because Clemson is a very special place. This program at one point was at the top of the ACC. And my focus and my goal is to get us back there. And I'm really proud of the way they came into this tournament. No one expected us to beat Virginia Tech yesterday. But especially the way we played them at their place. And they dug deep and they won, and in the way they battled tonight. There were numerous times they could have folded and Syracuse could have beat us by 20. But they continued to stay in the fight. So that shows huge progress and that we're getting there. And I know it's going to continue to take more time. But the future for us is very, very bright. As long as they continue to learn to understand me, which sometimes can be quite difficult. I guess I'm a strong disciplinarian is a nice way to put it. But we have to have it. We have to do it. And this is a tremendous league. I'm so excited to be back in this league, but already I'm ready to get started working so we can be ready to get back here yesterday and our stay here next year will be longer than it was this year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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