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Quotes: NCAA Tournament Second Round Press Conferences
2015 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Second Round • No. 5 Mississippi State vs. No. 4 Duke
Cameron Indoor Stadium • Durham, N.C.
Saturday, March 21
Second Round Quotes – No . 4 Duke
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“We are excited to get ready today. I think we learned some great lessons from yesterday’s game. And I think that’s good for us, that’s really, really good. A sign of a good team is a team that moves on quickly but takes on lessons and applies it to the next game. So we’re looking forward to playing.”
On where Duke basketball stands in the national conversation:
“The kids said it pretty well. For me, I was recruited by Duke back in the day. It’s just a very special place. Not only basketball-wise but the treatment of the student-athletes and the education that kids get – small classrooms, it’s a real intimate situation for learning. This day and age, when kids can be a social security number at huge schools, Duke provides so many great things. In terms of women’s basketball, I was attracted to being here because we’ve never won a national championship. That’s something that is obviously very motivating. You see on the guys’ side the four banners up. Obviously I learned a lot reading about Coach K back in the day. For me, after being at Michigan State and playing for a national championship, that was a special place. But I just wanted the very best and to see what we can do and what we can do together. Eight years later, it’s been a great ride so far. We’ve made some great progress. We would have been in Final Fours if we didn’t keep hitting Connecticut in the regional final. But that’s a compliment to their program and their success. There’s a ranking out for best academics in basketball, and we were third. Not that rankings matter, because I don’t think rankings put a personal touch to things, but we’re very proud of being a very well-balanced place, and with that comes challenges. Kids that are well-rounded, getting them focused on just basketball, appropriately so, and winning six games in the NCAA Tournament all when they’re in class. Classes here are pretty demanding. It’s a different kind of challenge. It’s an ultimate challenge and one that we embrace.”
On the team’s toughness and how it has evolved during the season:
“We would’ve had no ability to do that [yesterday’s win] earlier in the year. People like to take every Duke team and put it up on a pedestal. But the reality is we start literally two real freshmen. Amber Henson is a freshman. Ka’lia Johnson is like a sophomore in experience. So we have a very inexperienced team. For what they’ve done with the schedule we had, given the injuries and the situations that occurred, it’s been remarkable ... Mississippi State is very well-coached and they’re a great team. It’s a lot to think about because you know the energy you have to harness for that kind of game. It’s pretty amazing.”
On how her experience building basketball programs compares to where Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer is at with his program:
“Definitely similarities. The reality is to build something from the ground up is the easy thing. To join something that is top in the country and try to top it is the hardest thing. So any coach that is in the mode of building – I know where Vic and his team are. That’s a very innocent, exciting time, no expectation kind of time. And they’re certainly making the most of it, I would say. I can definitely see similarities with [Albany head coach] Katie [Abramson-Henderson] yesterday. She’s in that phase in her career at Albany where she’s making NCAA Tournaments and doing so well. The thing I try to tell coaches, being in the business for a fairly long time now, that’s a great joy and don’t ever look past that joy – of building from the bottom up. Some of the other stuff is a lot harder.”
On preparing for tomorrow’s matchup:
“That’s a great team they’ve got there. 10 [Martha Alwal] is super. She takes out Elizabeth [Williams]’s size, wipes that out. Number 3 [Breanna Richardson] plays like she’s 6-3. 35 [Victoria Vivians] plays like she’s 6-2. They have all the size they need. They’re a very good team. They’re so deep. It’s interesting how deep they go, and how they just keep bringing players at you. Vic was responsible for the defense at [Texas] A&M. I’m sure he’ll be motivated. Last time he was here, we won in that ridiculously ugly game. He is a defensive mastermind and he knows that we don’t have any point guards. I think he’s in a good seat, so to speak. But I’m excited for our kids to meet that challenge. He’s one of the best defensive coaches in the country. Mississippi State is trending in a beautiful way. They’ve got great players and you’ve just got to play the game. We’ve just got to figure some things out.”
Duke Forward Elizabeth Williams
On what Duke basketball means:
“There’s a lot of history and tradition here. I think there’s a lot of pride in our name, that’s kind of what we talked about. We’re expected to uphold standards on and off the court. I think that’s kind of why you love Duke basketball, because we’re not just basketball players. We’re in the community, we’re in the classroom.”
On how the toughness the team has developed helped in yesterday’s game:
“I think part of that is just the teams we’ve played throughout the year. We’ve seen all types of games, been in all types of positions, good and bad. I think that’s something that’s helped us. We’ve all kind of had to come within each other and trust each other.”
On the challenges that come with having a “target” on your back:
“I think we all came here expecting that. Like we said before, just the name Duke brings a lot of respect. We obviously have to work hard and know that nothing is going to be guaranteed. Regardless of who we play, they’re going to come as hard as they possibly can. For us it’s just a matter of doing things that we need to do to consistently get better.”
On the match-up with Mississippi State’s Martha Alwal:
“I think it will be a really good match-up. She’s just a big body, you know, she does a good job of ducking in and getting those rebounds. Similar to yesterday it’s going to be important to keep their posts off the boards and stay really active on defense. So it’ll be a really good match-up.”
Duke Guard Ka'lia Johnson
On what Duke basketball means:
“I think whether we have 20-1 season or a 10-1 season, teams are always looking to knock us off. I think just the name; teams are always going to bring their best at you. So we have to be ready for that at all times. That comes with being a part of Duke basketball.”
On how the toughness the team has developed helped them in yesterday’s game:
“I think the toughness aspect that you were asking …These practices, especially after the ACC Tournament and into the NCAA Tournament have been tough. They can speak to it, it’s been really, really tough. We really push each other. We all know we can get more out of each other. So we push each other and the coaches kind of add on to that. But, you know, if they have to do everything, then it kind of questions our leadership. It starts from us, and we push each other really hard.”
On executing the offense without turnovers:
“We need to play our game at our tempo and pass the ball more. Teams are going to throw their best at us and try to pressure us because we’re a big team and they think we can’t handle the ball. But I trust everybody to handle the ball. We’re better when we’re throwing past the ball, keeping the ball high, out of teams’ reach. Just be smart. I got on Azurá [Stevens] and Becca [Greenwell] about dribbling straight to corners. We’ve got to be a smart team. Twenty-seven turnovers, I think we hopefully learned a lesson.”
On the current impact of the memory of last year’s season:
“I haven’t thought about last year. We’ve got a whole new team. And we need to focus on the task at hand - tomorrow’s game, and how we’re going to get better as a team. How we’re going to execute the stuff that we’ve worked on. So I haven’t thought about last year until you mentioned it.”
Duke Forward Amber Henson
On what Duke basketball means:
“It’s a great school, a prestigious school. I know our team has standards. They have very high standards that we are expected to meet every time we step on the court. We expect to be excellent, not perfect, but we work hard and practice. We work hard in the game. So, I mean, Duke, like I said, the school speaks for itself. We work for everything, it’s not just handed to us. We’ve been working very hard this year and we’ll continue to work hard.”
On how the toughness the team has developed helped in yesterday’s game:
“I think we’re just so well-prepared. We’ve been in every situation you can think of. I think that’s really important this time of year, because you really never know what you’re going to get. Obviously you don’t want to be in a situation where it comes down to the last second, but it happens, and we feel confident that in that situation we’ll come out on top.”
On examples of teams treating them differently because of their reputation:
“Pretty much any game we’ve lost this year you see the teams celebrate like it was their Final Four or championship game. That says’ a lot of about what the players before us have built at Duke, what this program has become. We’re just going to have to uphold that standard. Come ready to play every game.”
Second Round Quotes – No. 5 Mississippi State
Mississippi State Head Coach Vic Schaefer
Opening Statement:
“Well we’re glad to be here. It’s a great day to be a Bulldog. We’re excited about the opportunity and obviously excited to get the win yesterday against a really good team—a well-coached team—Tulane. It was good for our kids to get back in, and I thought we played well defensively. I think that’s something we’ve hung our hat on, and Mississippi State since we got there. I thought we were really, really good from a field goal percentage defensive perspective. Obviously, going forward there’s going to be some similarities in that Duke plays a lot of zone and we saw a lot of zone yesterday [against Tulane], but that’s probably about where it ends. They’re [Duke] so big and long, and physical. I think those are really the three things that jump out at you about Duke right now. Coach has been here a long time and does a tremendous job, and they’re a well-coached, very disciplined team. Just their length, their physical nature, especially inside can create problems for you if you’re not going to attack in a certain way. I’ll be anxious to see our practice today and go through some things that will hopefully allow us to have some success. Again, I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I’m proud of my girls. I’m really proud of my team. Martha [Alwal] didn’t play well yesterday. She knows it, I know it, and everybody knows it. We’re not going to win tomorrow if she doesn’t play well, so she’s got to play better. I’m obviously proud of these two: Breanna [Richardson] and Dominique [Dillingham]. They did play well yesterday, and again, we don’t usually win if these two don’t play well. These are three really important pieces to our puzzle up here today, and I’m anxious to see them play again, as always.”
On feeling like an upstart team playing Duke:
“Well I think there’s two pieces to our puzzle: number one my staff is not an upstart staff and hopefully after 30 years I’m not considered an upstart guy. I’ve had a little bit of success as a coach, and I’ve been in these games a bunch. I think what we’ve tried to impart on them the last night at film and this morning in film is our feelings about tomorrow’s game—giving them the confidence that we have, and sure, from their perspective there’s not an NCAA Tournament experience won up and down my roster. I knew I was going to have some nerves yesterday, and I think we did. Martha was probably a little bit nervous, she won’t admit it, but at the end of the day they’re kids at heart. You can see them. They’re just as happy go-lucky as anyone you’ve ever seen, and great kids. They’re just fun. At the same time, we’ve talked about flipping the switch. When you walk out of that locker room, you’ve got to leave the little girl in there and you better walk out because you’re fixing to play some pretty big women, and we’ve done that all year. In our league, we see that every night. Tomorrow won’t be any different from that standpoint, and they’re absolutely correct from that viewpoint. From a team’s perspective, sure, they haven’t been there. It’s been a while since our program has been to the NCAA Tournament, and certainly in this big of a ballgame, but I think hopefully our staff and the twice that we’ve met with them and again tonight they’ll get a sense and a feeling from us that ‘Hey, this is what we need to get done. This is what we’ve got to do. You’ve got to do this, this and this for us to have a chance at being successful,’ and they’ll get some comfort in that. At the end of the day I think they’ve got to have a level of confidence—a level of comfort—knowing going into any ballgame that they can be successful. Lord knows we’ve been in some knock-outs against some really good teams. Again, I’ll be anxious to see us play tomorrow.”
On playing against Duke’s size:
“I think number one, Martha is going to be down there going against four-time defensive player of the year in the ACC, I mean, Elizabeth [Williams] is really good. She had nine blocks, I think, yesterday. I think she’s a very talented defensive player, so Martha knows what she’s got to do from her standpoint, but again, I think Martha is capable. Martha’s capable of handling her business on both ends of the floor. It’s not just about scoring. She’s got to do a good job defensively, and we’ve got to have a game plan defensively on just how to deal with them. They run so many plays there’s not enough time in practice for me to get through every set they run. I think that’s where your defensive fundamentals really come into play. What you’ve worked on every day from a fundamental standpoint, the first 20 minutes of your practice are defense, and that’s when that pays off. You can’t get through everything. You can’t get through every out-of-bounds play. Albany plays 2-3 zone yesterday and jammed up the paint, and you go ‘Hey that’s a good defense.’ Yeah, but we don’t play it. We’ve played a little bit of zone this year, but we’ve got two hours, so I think we’ve got to hang our hat on what we do, and be convicted on what we do. We’ll probably tweak a couple of things today, and I think we’ve got a team that will be able to handle that in one practice, but at the same time you’ve got to play and it’s Mississippi State doing what we do playing against Duke doing what they do.”
On motivation from winning against Tulane:
“Certainly I think it’s a good sign, and we’ve said it a lot this year—it’s funny. We’ve said it a lot after wins, you know we didn’t play our best but we were still good enough to win on that night, so I think it’s a good sign when your team doesn’t play its best, and you still find a way to win. You’ve heard me say this in a bunch of press conferences. I’m still waiting for us to have everything click on one night for 40 minutes. Offense, defense, everything. For this team I’m hoping it’s this year. I’m hoping we don’t have to wait until next year to see it. We had three kids in foul trouble first half yesterday. I played Sherise Williams who hasn’t played a lick in two months and she comes in and does a phenomenal job. Ketara Chapel comes in and does a great job with the floor force in the first half. Victoria Vivians is 2-for-12, and ends up we play Kendra Grant for a lot of minutes. I just think that at the end of the day, you’re right. There is something positive to take from that and our kids certainly know it. I think we all believe if we can finally get it all together, that night will be special when we can play our very, very best. The good news is that’s still out there.”
Mississippi State Center Martha Alwal
On Duke’s presence as a top NCAA team:
“Duke is a really talented program year in and year out. They’re always in the NCAA tournament and I look at them as a Tennessee or a South Carolina. They’re one of the powerhouse schools, so we have to respect them and their game. They’re really good and they’re really big, so tomorrow defense is going to be key in stopping them.”
On game-day nerves:
“Well, for me, I wasn’t nervous at all. I was just kind of chill. That was how I went into yesterday’s game.”
On playing physical against All-American Elizabeth Williams:
“I’m not really nervous about going against Elizabeth. Elizabeth Williams is a great player, but I’ve been going up against great players all year round in the [Southeastern Conference] so I’m not really nervous about going up against her. Also, they’re all so huge. We have a few teams in the SEC that are big, but most of the time they’re not, so I kind of get away with not playing as physical as I should. I guess tomorrow I’ll just have to go out there and do all I can.”
Mississippi State Guard Dominique Dillingham
On Duke’s presence as a top NCAA team:
“I agree with Martha. Tomorrow we’re going to have to really key in on defense, and they want to play pretty ball. We have to get in the passing lanes. We have to deny the wing. We don’t want them getting into the wing. We don’t want them getting into the point guard. We want them to have to run their offense to the post, so we can muck up their offense.”
On game-day nerves:
“I was kind of nervous, this being our first NCAA tournament for everybody. I think once we got into the game a little bit we were like ‘okay we need to win now.’ I think the nerves go away after the first five or ten minutes.”
Mississippi State Forward Breanna Richardson
On offensive execution:
“I think Martha has been working pretty hard in the post, we’ve just been missing opportunities. Like coach said, we didn’t get as many touches as we should have, so I think just trying to feed her more and trying to give her more opportunities. I think most of the time, Victoria has more opportunities, and she just had an off day yesterday. She will just come back knocking down shots and she’ll be back into her flow.”
On game-day nerves:
“Same thing as Dom said. Once the ball goes up, we get to the flow of the game and it’s all about coming out with a victory.”
Second Round • No. 5 Mississippi State vs. No. 4 Duke
Cameron Indoor Stadium • Durham, N.C.
Saturday, March 21
Second Round Quotes – No . 4 Duke
Duke Head Coach Joanne P. McCallie
Opening Statement:
“We are excited to get ready today. I think we learned some great lessons from yesterday’s game. And I think that’s good for us, that’s really, really good. A sign of a good team is a team that moves on quickly but takes on lessons and applies it to the next game. So we’re looking forward to playing.”
On where Duke basketball stands in the national conversation:
“The kids said it pretty well. For me, I was recruited by Duke back in the day. It’s just a very special place. Not only basketball-wise but the treatment of the student-athletes and the education that kids get – small classrooms, it’s a real intimate situation for learning. This day and age, when kids can be a social security number at huge schools, Duke provides so many great things. In terms of women’s basketball, I was attracted to being here because we’ve never won a national championship. That’s something that is obviously very motivating. You see on the guys’ side the four banners up. Obviously I learned a lot reading about Coach K back in the day. For me, after being at Michigan State and playing for a national championship, that was a special place. But I just wanted the very best and to see what we can do and what we can do together. Eight years later, it’s been a great ride so far. We’ve made some great progress. We would have been in Final Fours if we didn’t keep hitting Connecticut in the regional final. But that’s a compliment to their program and their success. There’s a ranking out for best academics in basketball, and we were third. Not that rankings matter, because I don’t think rankings put a personal touch to things, but we’re very proud of being a very well-balanced place, and with that comes challenges. Kids that are well-rounded, getting them focused on just basketball, appropriately so, and winning six games in the NCAA Tournament all when they’re in class. Classes here are pretty demanding. It’s a different kind of challenge. It’s an ultimate challenge and one that we embrace.”
On the team’s toughness and how it has evolved during the season:
“We would’ve had no ability to do that [yesterday’s win] earlier in the year. People like to take every Duke team and put it up on a pedestal. But the reality is we start literally two real freshmen. Amber Henson is a freshman. Ka’lia Johnson is like a sophomore in experience. So we have a very inexperienced team. For what they’ve done with the schedule we had, given the injuries and the situations that occurred, it’s been remarkable ... Mississippi State is very well-coached and they’re a great team. It’s a lot to think about because you know the energy you have to harness for that kind of game. It’s pretty amazing.”
On how her experience building basketball programs compares to where Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer is at with his program:
“Definitely similarities. The reality is to build something from the ground up is the easy thing. To join something that is top in the country and try to top it is the hardest thing. So any coach that is in the mode of building – I know where Vic and his team are. That’s a very innocent, exciting time, no expectation kind of time. And they’re certainly making the most of it, I would say. I can definitely see similarities with [Albany head coach] Katie [Abramson-Henderson] yesterday. She’s in that phase in her career at Albany where she’s making NCAA Tournaments and doing so well. The thing I try to tell coaches, being in the business for a fairly long time now, that’s a great joy and don’t ever look past that joy – of building from the bottom up. Some of the other stuff is a lot harder.”
On preparing for tomorrow’s matchup:
“That’s a great team they’ve got there. 10 [Martha Alwal] is super. She takes out Elizabeth [Williams]’s size, wipes that out. Number 3 [Breanna Richardson] plays like she’s 6-3. 35 [Victoria Vivians] plays like she’s 6-2. They have all the size they need. They’re a very good team. They’re so deep. It’s interesting how deep they go, and how they just keep bringing players at you. Vic was responsible for the defense at [Texas] A&M. I’m sure he’ll be motivated. Last time he was here, we won in that ridiculously ugly game. He is a defensive mastermind and he knows that we don’t have any point guards. I think he’s in a good seat, so to speak. But I’m excited for our kids to meet that challenge. He’s one of the best defensive coaches in the country. Mississippi State is trending in a beautiful way. They’ve got great players and you’ve just got to play the game. We’ve just got to figure some things out.”
Duke Forward Elizabeth Williams
On what Duke basketball means:
“There’s a lot of history and tradition here. I think there’s a lot of pride in our name, that’s kind of what we talked about. We’re expected to uphold standards on and off the court. I think that’s kind of why you love Duke basketball, because we’re not just basketball players. We’re in the community, we’re in the classroom.”
On how the toughness the team has developed helped in yesterday’s game:
“I think part of that is just the teams we’ve played throughout the year. We’ve seen all types of games, been in all types of positions, good and bad. I think that’s something that’s helped us. We’ve all kind of had to come within each other and trust each other.”
On the challenges that come with having a “target” on your back:
“I think we all came here expecting that. Like we said before, just the name Duke brings a lot of respect. We obviously have to work hard and know that nothing is going to be guaranteed. Regardless of who we play, they’re going to come as hard as they possibly can. For us it’s just a matter of doing things that we need to do to consistently get better.”
On the match-up with Mississippi State’s Martha Alwal:
“I think it will be a really good match-up. She’s just a big body, you know, she does a good job of ducking in and getting those rebounds. Similar to yesterday it’s going to be important to keep their posts off the boards and stay really active on defense. So it’ll be a really good match-up.”
Duke Guard Ka'lia Johnson
On what Duke basketball means:
“I think whether we have 20-1 season or a 10-1 season, teams are always looking to knock us off. I think just the name; teams are always going to bring their best at you. So we have to be ready for that at all times. That comes with being a part of Duke basketball.”
On how the toughness the team has developed helped them in yesterday’s game:
“I think the toughness aspect that you were asking …These practices, especially after the ACC Tournament and into the NCAA Tournament have been tough. They can speak to it, it’s been really, really tough. We really push each other. We all know we can get more out of each other. So we push each other and the coaches kind of add on to that. But, you know, if they have to do everything, then it kind of questions our leadership. It starts from us, and we push each other really hard.”
On executing the offense without turnovers:
“We need to play our game at our tempo and pass the ball more. Teams are going to throw their best at us and try to pressure us because we’re a big team and they think we can’t handle the ball. But I trust everybody to handle the ball. We’re better when we’re throwing past the ball, keeping the ball high, out of teams’ reach. Just be smart. I got on Azurá [Stevens] and Becca [Greenwell] about dribbling straight to corners. We’ve got to be a smart team. Twenty-seven turnovers, I think we hopefully learned a lesson.”
On the current impact of the memory of last year’s season:
“I haven’t thought about last year. We’ve got a whole new team. And we need to focus on the task at hand - tomorrow’s game, and how we’re going to get better as a team. How we’re going to execute the stuff that we’ve worked on. So I haven’t thought about last year until you mentioned it.”
Duke Forward Amber Henson
On what Duke basketball means:
“It’s a great school, a prestigious school. I know our team has standards. They have very high standards that we are expected to meet every time we step on the court. We expect to be excellent, not perfect, but we work hard and practice. We work hard in the game. So, I mean, Duke, like I said, the school speaks for itself. We work for everything, it’s not just handed to us. We’ve been working very hard this year and we’ll continue to work hard.”
On how the toughness the team has developed helped in yesterday’s game:
“I think we’re just so well-prepared. We’ve been in every situation you can think of. I think that’s really important this time of year, because you really never know what you’re going to get. Obviously you don’t want to be in a situation where it comes down to the last second, but it happens, and we feel confident that in that situation we’ll come out on top.”
On examples of teams treating them differently because of their reputation:
“Pretty much any game we’ve lost this year you see the teams celebrate like it was their Final Four or championship game. That says’ a lot of about what the players before us have built at Duke, what this program has become. We’re just going to have to uphold that standard. Come ready to play every game.”
Second Round Quotes – No. 5 Mississippi State
Mississippi State Head Coach Vic Schaefer
Opening Statement:
“Well we’re glad to be here. It’s a great day to be a Bulldog. We’re excited about the opportunity and obviously excited to get the win yesterday against a really good team—a well-coached team—Tulane. It was good for our kids to get back in, and I thought we played well defensively. I think that’s something we’ve hung our hat on, and Mississippi State since we got there. I thought we were really, really good from a field goal percentage defensive perspective. Obviously, going forward there’s going to be some similarities in that Duke plays a lot of zone and we saw a lot of zone yesterday [against Tulane], but that’s probably about where it ends. They’re [Duke] so big and long, and physical. I think those are really the three things that jump out at you about Duke right now. Coach has been here a long time and does a tremendous job, and they’re a well-coached, very disciplined team. Just their length, their physical nature, especially inside can create problems for you if you’re not going to attack in a certain way. I’ll be anxious to see our practice today and go through some things that will hopefully allow us to have some success. Again, I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I’m proud of my girls. I’m really proud of my team. Martha [Alwal] didn’t play well yesterday. She knows it, I know it, and everybody knows it. We’re not going to win tomorrow if she doesn’t play well, so she’s got to play better. I’m obviously proud of these two: Breanna [Richardson] and Dominique [Dillingham]. They did play well yesterday, and again, we don’t usually win if these two don’t play well. These are three really important pieces to our puzzle up here today, and I’m anxious to see them play again, as always.”
On feeling like an upstart team playing Duke:
“Well I think there’s two pieces to our puzzle: number one my staff is not an upstart staff and hopefully after 30 years I’m not considered an upstart guy. I’ve had a little bit of success as a coach, and I’ve been in these games a bunch. I think what we’ve tried to impart on them the last night at film and this morning in film is our feelings about tomorrow’s game—giving them the confidence that we have, and sure, from their perspective there’s not an NCAA Tournament experience won up and down my roster. I knew I was going to have some nerves yesterday, and I think we did. Martha was probably a little bit nervous, she won’t admit it, but at the end of the day they’re kids at heart. You can see them. They’re just as happy go-lucky as anyone you’ve ever seen, and great kids. They’re just fun. At the same time, we’ve talked about flipping the switch. When you walk out of that locker room, you’ve got to leave the little girl in there and you better walk out because you’re fixing to play some pretty big women, and we’ve done that all year. In our league, we see that every night. Tomorrow won’t be any different from that standpoint, and they’re absolutely correct from that viewpoint. From a team’s perspective, sure, they haven’t been there. It’s been a while since our program has been to the NCAA Tournament, and certainly in this big of a ballgame, but I think hopefully our staff and the twice that we’ve met with them and again tonight they’ll get a sense and a feeling from us that ‘Hey, this is what we need to get done. This is what we’ve got to do. You’ve got to do this, this and this for us to have a chance at being successful,’ and they’ll get some comfort in that. At the end of the day I think they’ve got to have a level of confidence—a level of comfort—knowing going into any ballgame that they can be successful. Lord knows we’ve been in some knock-outs against some really good teams. Again, I’ll be anxious to see us play tomorrow.”
On playing against Duke’s size:
“I think number one, Martha is going to be down there going against four-time defensive player of the year in the ACC, I mean, Elizabeth [Williams] is really good. She had nine blocks, I think, yesterday. I think she’s a very talented defensive player, so Martha knows what she’s got to do from her standpoint, but again, I think Martha is capable. Martha’s capable of handling her business on both ends of the floor. It’s not just about scoring. She’s got to do a good job defensively, and we’ve got to have a game plan defensively on just how to deal with them. They run so many plays there’s not enough time in practice for me to get through every set they run. I think that’s where your defensive fundamentals really come into play. What you’ve worked on every day from a fundamental standpoint, the first 20 minutes of your practice are defense, and that’s when that pays off. You can’t get through everything. You can’t get through every out-of-bounds play. Albany plays 2-3 zone yesterday and jammed up the paint, and you go ‘Hey that’s a good defense.’ Yeah, but we don’t play it. We’ve played a little bit of zone this year, but we’ve got two hours, so I think we’ve got to hang our hat on what we do, and be convicted on what we do. We’ll probably tweak a couple of things today, and I think we’ve got a team that will be able to handle that in one practice, but at the same time you’ve got to play and it’s Mississippi State doing what we do playing against Duke doing what they do.”
On motivation from winning against Tulane:
“Certainly I think it’s a good sign, and we’ve said it a lot this year—it’s funny. We’ve said it a lot after wins, you know we didn’t play our best but we were still good enough to win on that night, so I think it’s a good sign when your team doesn’t play its best, and you still find a way to win. You’ve heard me say this in a bunch of press conferences. I’m still waiting for us to have everything click on one night for 40 minutes. Offense, defense, everything. For this team I’m hoping it’s this year. I’m hoping we don’t have to wait until next year to see it. We had three kids in foul trouble first half yesterday. I played Sherise Williams who hasn’t played a lick in two months and she comes in and does a phenomenal job. Ketara Chapel comes in and does a great job with the floor force in the first half. Victoria Vivians is 2-for-12, and ends up we play Kendra Grant for a lot of minutes. I just think that at the end of the day, you’re right. There is something positive to take from that and our kids certainly know it. I think we all believe if we can finally get it all together, that night will be special when we can play our very, very best. The good news is that’s still out there.”
Mississippi State Center Martha Alwal
On Duke’s presence as a top NCAA team:
“Duke is a really talented program year in and year out. They’re always in the NCAA tournament and I look at them as a Tennessee or a South Carolina. They’re one of the powerhouse schools, so we have to respect them and their game. They’re really good and they’re really big, so tomorrow defense is going to be key in stopping them.”
On game-day nerves:
“Well, for me, I wasn’t nervous at all. I was just kind of chill. That was how I went into yesterday’s game.”
On playing physical against All-American Elizabeth Williams:
“I’m not really nervous about going against Elizabeth. Elizabeth Williams is a great player, but I’ve been going up against great players all year round in the [Southeastern Conference] so I’m not really nervous about going up against her. Also, they’re all so huge. We have a few teams in the SEC that are big, but most of the time they’re not, so I kind of get away with not playing as physical as I should. I guess tomorrow I’ll just have to go out there and do all I can.”
Mississippi State Guard Dominique Dillingham
On Duke’s presence as a top NCAA team:
“I agree with Martha. Tomorrow we’re going to have to really key in on defense, and they want to play pretty ball. We have to get in the passing lanes. We have to deny the wing. We don’t want them getting into the wing. We don’t want them getting into the point guard. We want them to have to run their offense to the post, so we can muck up their offense.”
On game-day nerves:
“I was kind of nervous, this being our first NCAA tournament for everybody. I think once we got into the game a little bit we were like ‘okay we need to win now.’ I think the nerves go away after the first five or ten minutes.”
Mississippi State Forward Breanna Richardson
On offensive execution:
“I think Martha has been working pretty hard in the post, we’ve just been missing opportunities. Like coach said, we didn’t get as many touches as we should have, so I think just trying to feed her more and trying to give her more opportunities. I think most of the time, Victoria has more opportunities, and she just had an off day yesterday. She will just come back knocking down shots and she’ll be back into her flow.”
On game-day nerves:
“Same thing as Dom said. Once the ball goes up, we get to the flow of the game and it’s all about coming out with a victory.”
