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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2014Nikki CaldwellDaShawn HardenJeanne KenneyTheresa PlaisanceDULUTH, GEORGIA Tennessee – 77 THE MODERATOR: Coach, if you'd make an opening comment, then we'll take questions. COACH CALDWELL: I'm extremely proud to be the coach of these young ladies. This group has come a long way and they have shown that they are capable. I thought that it takes a lot of courage. I think it does take a lot of courage to come into an environment like this and be able to come out and display what they did, especially in the first half, and play this game very tough against a very good opponent. A lot of credit to Tennessee for executing their game plan, which is to get transition baskets, which they did that. Then obviously their ability to get on the offensive glass. We will move forward from this game. But again, I'm extremely proud of this group. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. What worked to help you get the 15‑point lead? What changed in the second half? JEANNE KENNEY: I think in the beginning what worked was they were one‑and‑done. We boxed out. Even if we didn't box out, the ball went our way. Theresa started off hitting threes. I hit a couple. But then we established inside. I thought that our defense generated that offense. It always comes back to defense. In the second half, we couldn't stop Isabelle Harrison. We couldn't get Cierra off the boards. Boxing out was key for us in the second half, and we didn't execute that. I think shot selection and turnovers always create transition offense for the other team. I know looking at my stats, I can't have seven turnovers. We had too many turnovers. Q. Coach Warlick had high praise for you, Theresa. From your perspective, could you describe what the battle was like in the paint. How were they getting inside on you? THERESA PLAISANCE: They were just doing a great job taking away basically everything from me. After I hit those first couple of shots, they denied me really hard. I got a back door. After that, it was almost impossible to get the ball inside. My teammates kept trying to get me the ball. Graves and Harrison did a great job of taking that away and denying me at very crucial times. I really couldn't do anything to get the ball back. When that goes away, I have to do other things. I have to rebound and set better screens. I didn't do that. I felt like I kind of let my team down when it comes to that, so... Q. DaShawn, you were on Meighan Simmons a lot. DaSHAWN HARDEN: The plan was to limit her touches, and hopefully that would give us a better chance of winning. I think towards the end of the game she got going a little bit too much in transition, and that hurt us. Before that, I mean, I denied her the ball, but when she got it, I had great help. Shanece got a great block on her. No matter what, there was great help there, so... Q. Coach, you spoke a little bit yesterday about the leadership that your seniors have offered here. In the last couple minutes of the game when you pulled your starters, the referees pulled them, I was noticing both Theresa and Jeanne standing up and cheering their teammates on. Talk about that. COACH CALDWELL: We talk about even when adversity hits, your true character will be revealed. Our kids have been great teammates. They've invested in each other. Theresa and Jeanne and Shanece, they know it's their last go‑around. They're living in the moment. You can tell. I respect them tremendously when they're cheering for their teammates when they're on the bench or maybe they don't have a good game or when they're in foul trouble. It doesn't stop them being involved in this team. They're going to carry this with them. I know Jeanne is going to be a coach one day, and Theresa. I just hope they cultivate that within their group when they're able to be their coaches. As a coach, you want your kids to really become people of great integrity. It takes a true champion to stand there in the midst of adversity and still be supportive of their teammates. Q. Looks like y'all huddled before you left the court. What was said? COACH CALDWELL: I just told them, I said, Don't hold your head down. Shanece had tears in her eyes. We wiped those away. I said, there's nothing to hold your head down for. You have to hold your head up and walk off this court. We have more basketball in us. This is not over. We know what we have to do. We're going to go back and we're going to work extremely hard over the next couple of weeks. We're going to see where we are seeded. We're just going to do everything in our power to be ready. I just told them to keep their heads up. Q. Your staff and many of your fans were in the stands tonight wearing purple shirts supporting LSU, but at the same time, We back Pat. Talk about how you can have the rivalry but there's more than that. COACH CALDWELL: I think Coach Summitt, I always said this, she was a movement for our game. The opportunities that these young ladies are receiving are from a great lady who made a huge sacrifice. Obviously her legacy will live on through not only who played for her but those who played against her and her teams. We're fortunate. We get to get up every morning. We know exactly where our classes are. We know exactly what we're taking. We know what we're going to eat. We remember it. That's a tough thing to live with. Whatever we can do to bring awareness and raise money to help find a cure for dementia and obviously Alzheimer's, we'll do it. If people can wear the purple, which represents Alzheimer's, then they should do it. It's not about the purple and gold, it's about bringing that type of appreciation for a lady who gave so much to our game. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. COACH CALDWELL: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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