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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONALS SEMIFINALS & FINALS: LOUISVILLEMarch 29, 2014Danielle BallardNikki CaldwellShanece McKinneyTheresa PlaisanceLOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY NIKKI CALDWELL: They had a really nice crowd the last time we were here, and I know they had a beer promotion going on, too, during that time. But I know we're not going to have any this time. I think the one thing about playing a team like Louisville, they're an exciting team to watch. Their transition game is very explosive. Schimmel is a fun player to watch. I've followed her career for a long time, and they do a very nice job of distributing the basketball and having a balanced attack. Yes, we are familiar with playing them earlier on in the season, and this team has grown from that experience and we've gone on to play other difficult teams, as well. And we're just going to make sure that we come in prepared and stick to our game plan. Q. Coach Walz was talking about Danielle and he said that the fact that you'll have fewer numbers allowed her to be a little freer, allowed her to have a little more feeling of I need to take over this game because there's no one else to do that. Do you feel that's helped her with her progression because clearly she's playing some of her best basketball of the season? NIKKI CALDWELL: We were joking about the fact that our numbers are low and they can do pretty much whatever they want. What am I going to do, sub them out? They're in a good spot right now, and Ballard has really elevated her play as of late. But Ballard has been that player all along for us. I can recall playing at Tennessee and her really taking that responsibility of putting the team on her back and being aggressive, so she's had numerous games where she's done that for us, so just proud of her play and proud of the play of all of our players at this point. Our freshmen came in and gave us valuable minutes. Shanece McKinney is playing bigger, stronger, more dominant than ever, and Theresa Plaisance has just been very, very solid for us. Again, we're in a good place even with our numbers being as low as they are. Q. What lessons did you guys learn from the first time you all played them? I guess it ended up being a loss for you guys. Do you put that out of your mind? Does that have an impact on this game at all, that outcome? Anything that you took away from the game the first time? NIKKI CALDWELL: You take a lot away from the game as a coach. I think players take‑‑ it's a little different for the players because they know they have another game, and so they move on and they continue their season. But as a coach you go back and you watch the play action that you ran and you watch what they did, and then obviously you're watching what they're doing now because they're not the same team that they were when we played them early in the season, and neither are we. We know that there were areas that challenged us, and obviously taking care of the basketball was one of them. They did a nice job of capitalizing off our turnovers. So have many teams. So we know that that is an area that we've got to be solid in, and then obviously I'm a firm believer that you've got to get on the boards and you've got to control the boards. You control the boards, you control the tempo of the game. Q. How do you view them as being different since that first meeting? What's been something that stood out about their team. NIKKI CALDWELL: Well, I think the one thing that when you watch, they've had different looks thrown at them where people have tried to really tried to disrupt Shoni Schimmel, and I think she's been exposed to a lot of different defensive looks, and she's figured them out. I think early in the year, your team is a team that, as far as Louisville and a lot of teams, everybody's role is being defined and everybody knows exactly at this time of year what's expected of them when you get late in the season. There's a difference in urgency that you're playing with, and that's what you're seeing with a lot of these teams. Q. You're giving up 72 points a game, so I don't know if you're ever truly pleased with your defense, but it seems like‑‑ are you more pleased with the commitment they've made to defense in the tournament? Seems like you're pursuing more, rotating more to the ball, you're showing a little more intensity on that end compared to the regular season. NIKKI CALDWELL: Well, we're not the best defensive team in the country as far as statistics. We're just finding our way to get it done. As long as they're playing hard and they're supporting their teammates, whether it's rotating over, taking a charge or dropping down to help on the weak side for board play, that's all we can ask of our team. We've got a group of young ladies that have made the commitment to really play together and lay it on the line, and that's all you can ask for in your team is for them to go out and give you those effort plays. We had a lot of effort plays, positive‑effort plays, if you will, over the last two games in the tournament, and the plays that you make may be unspoken and they may not show up on the stat sheet, and you may not be written about. But there are plays that you know as a competitor that you've played to help your team win. Q. How much does this help that it to some degree is old hat? You faced limited numbers last game out but also last year, so this team has some experience with dealing with that. NIKKI CALDWELL: We've got some experience with it. No coach wants to go into the season or go into postseason play with a limited roster. It is what it is, and our team, their attitude towards it has been very, very positive and very focused. They know we've got to play extremely smart but we've also got to play as a unit. No one can hide. Your numbers is going to be called, and it's just a matter of going in there and answering the call. And the way that they're going to do it and the way that they have prepared for this weekend has been very, I would say, focused, and that's what you want this time of year. No matter if you've got eight, nine, 10, 11 kids on your roster, you want them to have a sense of focus about them. Q. The first meeting Asia Taylor who had missed all of last year for them had kind of a breakout game. What have you made of her, and is that something you guys are now maybe focusing on more as sort of being more aware that she's come on as one of their premier players? NIKKI CALDWELL: Well, she's done a really nice job of being just everywhere. You can watch film and her name is going to be called. But you can't just focus in on one player on their roster. They have so many different weapons and so many players have stepped up at different times of the year for their team, and that's a mature team. There's times where a lot of the notoriety and the recognition goes to Schimmel, but you can't lose where Slaughter is. When Jude comes in she makes positive plays. You've just got to have a team balanced ‑‑ a sense of effort against their team, because you can't just focus in on one player. Q. Do you plan on starting Hill in place of Kenney? NIKKI CALDWELL: No, we're going to go with Jasmine Rhodes, and a lot of times when you look at your potential starters, Rina Hill has started for us, she's going to see valuable time, and so is Sheila Boykin and Anne Pederson. Q. Has Coach Kenney made her contribution yet so far? Are there ways she's tried to school the other players, or you, in what they should do strategy‑wise in this game? NIKKI CALDWELL: Well, she's definitely aware. She knows the scout. She's always been a student of the game, and she's been very helpful to her teammates, and that's what we need from her. Her voice still will be heard and her leadership is still going to be needed, although she's going to be sidelined. Q. Your last presser you talked about the drama that is inherent with a team like yours, I guess. Do you want them to feed on that? Do you want them to play to that emotion of maybe not having Jeanne, or is that something you would prefer them to be very businesslike with? NIKKI CALDWELL: No, you want your kids to feel whatever it is, and there's a different relationship that each of the kids have with Jeanne, and obviously Theresa Plaisance and Jeanne Kenney have been playing ball for a long, long time, so Theresa is going to have a different feeling toward not having Jeanne out there. Danielle Ballard and Jeanne have been a great combination so they have a different relationship. But I know that the upperclassmen have developed unique relationships with all of our underclassmen, so there's this feeling of we don't want it to end for them, and so that's a positive thing. If we can continue to just be of service to each other in that way, then it takes a lot of pressure off of you as the individual to have to go out there and perform when you're saying I'm doing this for someone else or something bigger than myself. Q. Danielle, Louisville has been playing very good defense in the NCAA Tournament. I think they're leading the tournament in points allowed. Obviously you'll be a key for their defense tomorrow. Do you feel like you have to try to do some things differently from what you've been doing or just try to do those things better? DANIELLE BALLARD: No, we're just going to do what Coach has planned for us, just run plays, do everything right and don't force anything, don't try to do too much, just play our game and play the way how we've been playing. Q. Danielle, what are your thoughts about their pressure and how much pressure will be on you with Jeanne out of the game? DANIELLE BALLARD: We have other guards that can handle the ball, too, just not me that can handle the ball. We have other guards that are good at handling the ball, so if I get pressure I have a way to kick it out to one of my other players, or even the post players, they can handle the ball, too. We have a lot of guards that can handle the ball, too. Q. For all three of the girls, could you talk about your previous experience with this team, does that help or hinder in any way? SHANECE McKINNEY: Playing this team before, we definitely know what they're going to bring to the game on Sunday. We just use that past experience as motivation to go out there and play harder. We're definitely not the team that we were before when we played them. We just try to think of the ways to play a lot better than we did before and what were our weaknesses in that game and our strengths, and we just try to play into those. THERESA PLAISANCE: Yeah, just to piggyback off of what Shanece said, we're not the same team that we were in November. We've matured so much and we've grown so much since we last played them, I really don't think it's going to be a similar game. We're familiar with each other in that sense, but as far as knowing what each other is going to do, I feel like both teams have grown, and we've had a lot more experience, have a lot more games under our belt now at this point. I feel like the game is going to be a pretty good game, and it's unexpected what's going to happen. DANIELLE BALLARD: Yeah, exactly what they were saying. We're a better team, being in the gym, putting in work, just improving on our game and on our defense, too, and we've just been studying Louisville for this past week, so we're just prepared for this team. We know they're going to bring it, but we just have been preparing for this team. What happened in November, that's not the team that y'all are seeing now. We're a way better team than we were in November. We've got a better IQ now than we did in November. We're just going to play harder. We're going to play hard this game. Q. Theresa, from the first game, basically the game was tied and very close and they had a 20‑0 run or something along those lines. What do you recall about that? What does that kind of tell you about the ability that they have to go on a run like that, what you guys need to do to stop a run like that? Just kind of reflect on that a little bit and anything that you learned from it. THERESA PLAISANCE: Louisville has a great team, and they have great pressure defense. At halftime we came in the locker room, came back out, and they went on that 20‑0 run. We had a lot of trouble with their pressure and we were coughing up the ball, turning it over left and right. Now we're a little more prepared. I feel like in the tournament we experienced teams that bring the same kind of pressure defense. Georgia Tech did a great job with their pressure defense, and same with West Virginia. So I think we've done a better job of settling and really staying patient with the ball in our hands, and I feel like now we're better prepared for the pressure defense that they're going to bring. Hopefully that won't happen again, that 20‑0 run, because once that happened we really had no chance of coming back. Q. Shanece, it seems like you guys are playing better defense in these first two games, but how important is it for you and Theresa to play without fouling because the only person you can go to is Sheila can come off the bench and that's it. Everyone saw against West Virginia it was her and four guards for a long time in the second half. SHANECE McKINNEY: Well, I mean, it's definitely important that we don't get in foul trouble this game because they do have decent‑size post players, and we wouldn't want to put our guards or Sheila in that situation of having to guard their post players, and it would be a disadvantage. I think if we can try to be sweet to the refs a little bit, maybe we can get a couple bumps (laughing), because definitely against West Virginia we couldn't do anything right as far as trying to block the shots without getting fouls. We've just got to play a little bit smarter. Q. Theresa, last year when they played Baylor, very similar spot to where you guys are, no one thought they had much of a chance. Baylor was this huge favorite not only to win the game but to win the tournament, and they pulled the upset of the tournament really. You guys are in a similar spot this year. Do you take some encouragement or inspiration from what they did last year? THERESA PLAISANCE: I really haven't thought about that much. Louisville is a great team led by Shoni Schimmel, a good friend of mine. I know they have a lot of weapons. I feel like we match up well against them, because we also have a lot of weapons. We're down a few players, but we have other players that can step up and fill their spots and do a great job for us. I don't think anybody really expected us to actually come in the tournament and win our first two games. A lot of people were counting us out in the first round, and right now I feel like our hope is alive and we're feeling extremely proud of ourselves for making it this far, and I think we like playing against the odds. When you don't have anybody on your side, then there's not much that can go wrong, like what do you have to lose kind of thing. But we're going to fight tooth and nail for this, and we want this more than anything. We believe in each other, and that's all that really matters. We're just looking to come out here and play our game and stick to our game plan, and if that happens, then I feel like the odds are in our favor. Q. Theresa, can you talk about your friendship with Shoni from playing with her over in Russia and just kind of being a teammate with her and getting to know her over the summer? Do you guys stay in touch and anything about y'all's relationship? THERESA PLAISANCE: Well, Shoni was super shy at first, and I was a more outgoing personality on the team. But once we got to Russia, we had a great time. Shoni is one of my closest friends on that team, and yeah, we still keep in touch. We have a lot of inside stories, a lot of inside jokes, and just playing with her, she's an amazing, amazing player, just her ability to score and her passing ability. I remember this one play, I spun and I knew I was about to be wide open, and I missed the pass because she already saw it like two seconds before I did, the ball went right by my head and I was sitting there waiting for the ball and she already passed it. She's just a great player, and she's an even better person. I really enjoyed spending the time with her in Russia. There's so many stories that I probably shouldn't even share. We just had a great time. We just had a great time. Q. Just going back there to the locker room at LSU and talking to some of the girls, just about the last time that you all played Louisville here, what do you feel like coming back here? Do you feel intimidated by the crowd at all or are you used to that? I heard some of the girls talking about Tennessee and being in that crowd situation. Does that not intimidate you at all, the crowd? THERESA PLAISANCE: You know, the crowd here the first time we came, the support, the fan base here is outstanding. Louisville has great fan turnout, and I don't expect anything less for a tournament game. But we've been up against crowds like this, and we have to do what we can to control what we can control. We can't control the crowd, we can't control the refs. We can't control a lot of things. If we just stick with each other and not let other things, outside things affect us, then we should be fine. That crowd is roaring at times, and we need to do the best we can to try to keep the crowd out of it because they really have a great turnout here. Q. Shanece, Nikki mentioned what am I going to do, take them out if they make a mistake? Kidding aside, is there a little freedom to that, knowing that, hey, I just have to keep playing and just got to make it work whatever the situation is? SHANECE McKINNEY: Yeah, we were even talking about that off the court. In the beginning of the season we weren't allowed‑‑ like we're not allowed on social media until the season is over, so at this point she was like, well, y'all can probably post on Instagram or Twitter or something. What am I going to do, suspend you guys? It's definitely a little more freedom, I guess, but we wouldn't take advantage of it in a bad way. THERESA PLAISANCE: Yeah, I wouldn't try it. SHANECE McKINNEY: Because you never know. THERESA PLAISANCE: We can read Tweets, just no actual Tweets. Q. Theresa, one more question about Shoni. Did you know that she had kind of gained this fame in the Native American community or have you learned about that since and read about that? THERESA PLAISANCE: Well, when we were up there, Coach Coale talked a lot about our podium, and the podium that we're on right now is probably the biggest podium that we're going to be on in our entire lives. Even if you go pro, your podium really isn't as big, the fan base of pro leagues aren't as strong as women's college basketball, and she was just like using Shoni as an example, like not only is she on the podium for women's college basketball but she's also on the podium for Native Americans, and everything that she's done and the support that she has, and I think that's great. Her and her sister do a great job, and they earned it. They came out and they showed what they can do, and they made believers out of everyone. I feel like they deserve everything that they're getting. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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