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NCAA WOMEN'S 1ST & 2ND ROUNDS: BATON ROUGEMarch 22, 2014Danielle BallardNikki CaldwellJeanne KenneyTheresa PlaisanceBATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA NIKKI CALDWELL: Extremely excited to be a participant in the NCAA Tournament. This team has done a great job of positioning ourselves to compete. Very happy for the other teams that are here in Baton Rouge, obviously West Virginia, Albany and Georgia Tech. We wish them luck, as well. Again, when you think about our team and you look at what this team has accomplished this year, for the better part of the year, having the toughest schedule in the country, playing in a very competitive conference in the SEC with the highest RPI rating, it takes a tremendous athlete to be in this position, and we have a tremendous team this year. Q. Theresa, they're such a good offensive rebounding team, and obviously that's been a point of emphasis for you guys and a challenge for you this season. Talk about what you tried to do in preparing for this game to be better at that, and what do you think in terms of what makes them good at being a rebounding team? THERESA PLAISANCE: Well, our two points of emphasis for the past week have been taking care of the ball and offensive rebounding especially. Coming from their guard position, their guards do a great job of getting to the rim and grabbing a lot of open boards for them. In practice we've been doing a lot of drills that involved boxing out and also matching up out of the box‑out. Ty does a great job of getting to the rim and so does 'Kilah, and we need to do a better job of crashing defensively and snagging rebounds and finishing our defense with a rebound because that ultimately will help us on the offensive end. Q. Jeanne, can you draw on the experience of last year being at home and going two for two and getting to the Sweet 16? JEANNE KENNEY: I love when people ask me that because I don't really remember most of it. I do remember especially in the first game just the energy that the crowd brought. It's like we have a sixth man on the court with us. I mean, our fans have been with us for four years now for Theresa and I, and it's an amazing feeling when you have that type of energy that they can bring, and it gets me pumped up. I'm an emotional player, so I feed off that very easily? The second game Theresa might want to touch on that, but it was just an amazing experience, and I'm really very honored that we got to leave here on our home court. THERESA PLAISANCE: Well, that second‑round match‑up against Penn State was a tough one. We went in, one player less of the less players that we had, and that game was all about determination and heart. We've been together, for our seniors, and we just didn't want our seniors to go out on that note, and with that crowd, with the fans, with the boosters, the people that stuck around with us through our four years here, they really want the best for us, and they really pulled us through that game. I honestly can't tell you how we won that game. It was just a big blur. But I know we just scrapped until the finish, and we definitely couldn't have done it without that crowd there. I had the chills for like 20 minutes after that game just because I just couldn't‑‑ that experience was just so unreal to me. But being able to come back and play on our home court is definitely a blessing. We were unsure that we were going to be able to get this home court in the tournament, and I was a little upset after hearing that last year because it was such a great experience for our seniors to go out like that last year. It was a blessing when we found out that we got the bid and we could play on our home court again. Q. Jeanne, maybe for those who weren't here last year, remind them why you may not remember much of the second game last year. JEANNE KENNEY: Well, not to dwell in the past but I had a bit of a concussion. That's the reason I don't really remember. Q. Danielle, obviously defense is important, but you're going to have to score some points to win this game. They're a very good offensive team. You stepped up your game in the SEC Tournament. How do you take it upon yourself to produce offensively like you did in the SEC Tournament? DANIELLE BALLARD: Well, you know, I'm going to come in ready to play. I know that our post players are going to have some good shots, so I'm going to be a play maker and I'm going to be a scorer, too. That's what my mindset is coming into the game, giving my teammates different options. If I get a stop I kick it out to the shooter, if not I lay‑up it up and/or I feed to the post players because we try to get to the paint. Q. Knowing the injuries and everything that y'all went into the tournament with last season and comparing it to this year, the health of this team, obviously you've been fairly healthy throughout the season, does that give you more confidence going into the tournament for you guys? THERESA PLAISANCE: Going into the tournament this year with a full roster of healthy bodies is a huge step in the right direction when it comes to where we were last year. I just feel like with our roster we just have so many weapons, and with everyone completely healthy, everyone is capable of playing to their fullest potential. That's going to be hard for our opponents to guard because we just have so many different things that are tough to guard. We have shooters that can knock down shots, contested shots. We have guards that can get to the basket by themselves. They don't really need any screens to get them open. We have post players down low that clean up those shots and can put those buckets in two feet in the paint real easy. Coming in I just feel like it's definitely a confidence booster that we're all healthy, and it's definitely going to help us continue out the tournament. Q. Danielle, Tyaunna Marshall, she has a playing style that's similar to yours. How exciting is it to go against a player like that who's a two‑ first‑team All‑ACC and leading scorer in Georgia Tech history? DANIELLE BALLARD: Yeah, she's a great player. I know it's going to be tough defending her. In my mind I'm going to say I'm better than her, you know. I'm just going to try my best to stop her and my teammates stop her. I know she is a great player. She can score. She can get offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, and that's it. Q. Danielle, Jeanne and Theresa, they're seniors, you're a sophomore. What have you learned going into the SEC season, now you're going into your second NCAA Tournament. What do you take with you into that tournament, like how to prepare and how you get ready? Is it different than the SEC season in your mind or how do you approach the NCAA Tournament? DANIELLE BALLARD: Well, I know the NCAA is like the end, like win or go home. But I learned a lot just from the upperclassmen, like leadership and about having heart and just fighting. I'd say, yeah, the NCAA is different than SEC, but SEC is important, too. NIKKI CALDWELL: Talk about the SEC. DANIELLE BALLARD: I learned a lot, though. I improved on leadership and my game, my shots and my team. Q. Coach, you played the tough schedule to get you ready for this moment, this part of the year. Shah niece said last week that there's no offensive action you haven't seen, you play lots of different styles and lots of tough teams. Elaborate what you will deal with with Georgia Tech. NIKKI CALDWELL: Well, we've had a tough schedule, and we had a tough non‑conference schedule, as well, playing teams like Rutgers and obviously Louisville and NC State. We schedule that to help prepare for the SEC, and then obviously when you get into your SEC Conference play, playing two No.1 seeds with Tennessee three s and South Carolina, you can keep going with Texas A&M and what Kentucky has been able to do, obviously Georgia has always been solid, Vanderbilt. You look at the NIT play now with Auburn continuing post‑season play as well as Mississippi State. There's a lot of great teams in the SEC, and the teams that typically play that type of schedule, you hope that it helps you for the NCAAs, and that's the rationale behind it. I think the one thing about this group is that they have stayed the course, although our record may not reflect that, every game that we have competed in, we've been in the game, and we know that there's some areas that have challenged us, and we know there's areas that we can be better in. And Plaisance touched on those areas earlier with us taking care of the basketball is one, and if we can eliminate teams from getting those second and third opportunities. So if we can focus in on that going into the tournament, which has been our primary focus, then we're going to have a better shot, a better chance at winning basketball games. Georgia Tech is a very relentless rebounding team. We understand that their full‑court pressure, they will try to turn you over. They want you to make the mistake, and they do a nice job out of their buzz defense, as well. They've got phenomenal players that can create scoring opportunities not only for themselves but for their teammates, so we're going to have to really be cohesive in our defensive attack and making sure that we don't enable teams like Georgia Tech to have those clear looks at the basket. We want to make sure that we're guarding the basketball at all s with all five people. This is a team sport, so it's going to require a tremendous amount of team effort. We're going to win‑‑ if you're going to win this of the year, I do believe and am a firm believer that you have to control the boards. If you control the boards, you control the tempo of the game, and if we can master that area, that will give us a lot better shot at coming away with a win. Q. Jeanne, you guys have had to earn it this year, a lot of ups, a lot of downs. I guess people are wondering what kind of team is LSU at this point? What kind of team do you think you guys can be leading into the NCAA Tournament? JEANNE KENNEY: Well, it's a great slogan, and I feel that that phrase has just been our motto for the past four years, really, if you really think about it. I mean, we've had to earn everything that we've gotten. We had to dig deep last year to get that in, and this year was kind of how I've seen it, last year in reverse. But still, we earned the right to be here, and that's something to be noted for. We earned the right to get that bid, and so did 63 other teams. So just coming away with that is a great accomplishment and a testament to everyone involved in the LSU program. This program is so special to me personally, and I just want to give everything I can to keep the name and keep the program alive, and that's kind of how I've taken it this year. I think our identity is that it's going to be a fight. Even if we're down, we're going to come back, and we proved that and again. And if we're up, we have to maintain that lead. But any you're going to play as if it's going to be a fight, and I firmly believe that. Q. For both of the seniors, if you could give me a word or a phrase that you think really appropriately describes this year's version of LSU basketball, and whoever has got it first just go ahead and start. THERESA PLAISANCE: A phrase that could just put this year into one word? Q. It can be a couple. JEANNE KENNEY: I've got you. We got this quote, coach Tony Perotti found this quote, and it was basically you have two types of players: One that's going to try hard and practice and try hard and do what they can do, and then there's the other one that said, over my dead body. And that's the mentality that we have right now. Like it's all business right now. There's‑‑ I mean, it's March Madness. Anything can happen, and we've seen that and again. But I mean, it's literally win or go home, and it's that over my dead body mentality that I'm sticking to. THERESA PLAISANCE: I would say something like‑‑ maybe like a unified roller coaster ride, okay. We've had our ups and our downs, and we've beaten a top 10 team and then we've had losses that we don't even really know how it happened, but they ended up in the L column. Through it all, the team, the people on the team, really stuck together as a family. We never bickered. We never splintered. At the end of the day we all stuck together and we all love each other and we all care about each other and we all want what's best for the girl sitting next to us. That's what it all came down to. We care a lot about every single person in that locker room, and we wouldn't want to see the person next to us hurt in any way. So I think that's what keeps us fighting is that we don't want to see the disappointment or like the upset on people's faces after a loss. You know, that's really kept us in a lot of games, and just the will and the determination from everybody is just going to raise in this tournament. I just feel like we have great team camaraderie, and that's really going to help us pull ourselves through this tournament. Q. Coach, this is kind of an early start for you Sunday 11:30 in the morning. What message could you send to your fans saying, hey, we need you out here? NIKKI CALDWELL: Well, you know, there's 8:00, 9:00 services, so after services you can rush over here to the P‑MAC. We've got an 11:50 tip. So we're excited about the fact that we have such a tremendous community here, and obviously our student‑athletes have done a nice job of just being in the community and giving back. We would appreciate our fans coming out and supporting all the games that are here because the West Virginia game will follow against Albany, and the other thing that they will see, they're going to see four teams that have different styles of play, but it's going to be competitive, it's going to‑‑ you're going to see a lot of what we call positive‑energy plays. You're going to see teams diving on the floor. You're going to see great shooting. You're going to see tremendous athletes. So it's going to be a great environment to bring your family and friends out to, and then obviously I want to say ticket prices are $27 for the entire tournament, so it's very affordable, and obviously we would love for our community to come out and support women's basketball. Q. You've proven before against Penn State last year and you've proven before against Tennessee in January that you can beat strong teams. Does that give you confidence coming into this tournament? NIKKI CALDWELL: Well, I have it. My playing career is over, been over, but they have. No, this group has proven that they have a sense of urgency about them late in the season, and obviously we caught fire last year, but this is a new team, and this is a team that I think Theresa touched on, there's a lot of different weapons, but more importantly this team has grown a lot. Since the SEC Tournament, they have been in what I call boot camp, and it's been tough, and we're in better shape, much better shape. But this group has‑‑ they have what it takes. It's just a matter of can we put it out there for 40 minutes, and they're very capable. When they put their mind to accomplishing a task, they can do it, but they've got to be in sync with one another. So that's the beauty of having so many different personalities on our team. But with that being said, the leadership is a major component of why we are here and sitting here today, because we've had great leaders step up and take the reins of this team, and we've had eager followers, so if you can have that combination then you can pretty much accomplish anything. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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