|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2014Krista DonaldErika FordAndy LandersDULUTH, GEORGIA South Carolina – 67 THE MODERATOR: We'll begin with an opening comment from the coach and the student‑athletes. COACH LANDERS: We got whipped, plain and simple. South Carolina came out and did the exact things that we talked about not wanting them to do. They transitioned us. They got the ball to the basket early in the game and created the same lead they created in Columbia. They did that off of turnovers and missed jump shots early in the game. At that point I'd be remiss if I didn't say they were terrific. They did what they wanted to do. They got the ball inside, they got it in transition. They had a couple big baskets in the first half coming off the bench in the form of three‑point shots. They should feel very good about what they did today. I'm a little bit disappointed with what we did. KRISTA DONALD: They're a good team. They were ready to compete. I feel like we as a team didn't come out ready to play. The score showed that. ERIKA FORD: I would agree with Krista and coach. South Carolina is a great team. We just didn't come out ready to play. You had certain people coming out and competing, the rest were kind of dull. We didn't come together as a team and play together well. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Coach, how much did you think confidence was in play in this game, having played them not too long ago and losing? It appeared like some nerves, lack of confidence. COACH LANDERS: It's interesting. That's a fair question. But in reality my confidence was high because we know what happened at South Carolina. We know how it happened. We also know that we did a lot of very good things ‑ many more good things than we did today. If we correct the easily correctable mistakes we made, we can play with Carolina. Didn't happen. We let the exact same thing happen. I'm repeating myself. The transition baskets, the quick shots from the perimeter. We started it the same way. You say it's a lack of confidence. It's interesting that we're both saying what we're saying because it's kind of a source of my frustration. We know what happened at Columbia. We talked about it. We said, Let's not make these mistakes again. Yet the team that I coach allowed the exact same mistakes to occur again. It had nothing to do with size advantage or any of the other things that impress you about South Carolina. It was about transitioning, get back on defense, get under the ball, get it stopped, know where their shooters are. We didn't know where Mitchell was the first 10 minutes of the game, and she got 25 on us last time. Q. You find yourself in unfamiliar territory. You have to sit back and wait to see if your season is extended. Do you feel like it should be with a good win yesterday? And for the young ladies, obviously Georgia has a strong tradition here, you're supposed to play in the NCAA tournament every year. Your thoughts on that? COACH LANDERS: I think we should be in, but I'm smart enough to understand that as we go through this piece that we're involved in now, conference tournaments, et cetera, we don't want a lot of teams that aren't supposed to win from this point on win. When teams whose conference is only going to have one team normally in the tournament, when the best team gets upset, now they might have two. All of a sudden the at‑larges start to erode. You could stand a chance of missing out. Do I think we should be in? Yes. Are we one of the 64 best teams in the country? Absolutely. Are we in unfamiliar territory? Yes. I don't think our players understand that. Most of our team wasn't born the last time we didn't play in the NCAA tournament. Now, this is either 20 in a row or we've set a new streak for not going. Q. Can you talk about what your coach already said, what your expectations are at this point? KRISTA DONALD: It's very hopeful. Yes, we deserve to be in the tournament. It's just reality. You have to accept it. Yeah, we're back on our heels, but there's still a chance. ERIKA FORD: I would say it's definitely hopeful. We're on the back of our heels like Krista says. We have to hope for the best and see what happens. COACH LANDERS: Let me just say this for the benefit of my players, not for the benefit of the media. You know, hopefulness is what occurs when you don't take care of your business, then you got to hope somebody else takes care of you, that things fall your way. I want our players to understand that. Every team in the NCAA has the ability to create the opportunity and take the hope out of the hands of those who will decide. We didn't do that. So now we are hopeful. And hopeful isn't where you want to be day in and day out. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|