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LSU Women's Basketball News Conference Quotes
2012 NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
HEAD COACH NIKKI CALDWELL
Opening Statement…
“We
are glad to be here and able to practice today and prepare for another
round of games. We are going against a very good team in Penn State.
They are another team that is guard oriented. San Diego State did a
great of testing us in our defensive scheme and I know that Penn State
will be doing the same. I feel very confident in this team getting out
the jitters from being off for two (weeks) and being ready to come out
and compete tomorrow night.”
On coaching against Penn State head coach Coquese Washington…
“I
do not recall how many times we played each other but I am sure that we
went at each other pretty tough. The thing I will say about Coquese
(Washington) is that I have had an opportunity to know her more on the
professional level then I did as a student-athlete. Coming from a
program like Tennessee you play against some of the best competition in
the country. It is like our generations coming into play as far as
coaches. It is exciting to go against people that you have played
against. I have had that experience in the SEC, having played against
Amanda Butler and Pokey Chatman when she was around, players that you
respect. You can see the evolution of the game changing a little bit.”
On past NCAA tournament losses…
“The
thing we talk about is what you can control right now. We don’t put a
lot of emphasis on the past. Even during the regular season when we
lose a game we move on and when we win a game we move on. The one thing
that we talked about is its one game at a time. Coach (Pat) Summitt
really is the master at that. Having been exposed to her philosophy
during postseason you do have to take that mentality. You cannot jump
ahead one possession, you can’t jump ahead one opponent and you can’t
look further then the play in front of you. That is how the mentality
has been set here all season. They have carried it on. I didn’t think
about this being their last home game here at the PMAC for those
seniors. That is how focused we have been in this tournament on taking
it one game at a time and not looking at it that way.”
On controlling the tempo of the game…
“Pace
is going to be controlled through our board play. Penn State does a
great job of running the basketball with their guards. We are going to
have to be aware of where they are at all times. We did a much better
job of taking care of the basketball which didn’t lead to too many
turnovers in our game last night. I do see transition defense being key
for us. If you control to boards you control the tempo of the game. We
have to make sure that offensively we are making those easy baskets so
we can set our defense. I thought last night we had to work more in our
transition defense than we did in our half court setting. We want to
control the tempo throughout defense and our board play.”
On defending Maggie Lucas…
“We
are going to have to defend by committee. We are going to throw
different looks at her and different size players at her. She is one of
those guards that is very explosive with or without the basketball. Her
ability to score and get herself in scoring position is going to be
key. We are going to mix it up defensively on our scheme. You can’t
just shut down a player like her with just one defender. You have to
make sure you are doing different things to make it difficult for her
to receive the basketball. Another thing is making sure we make her
work on the other end of the floor. That is a key for us as well,
making sure offensively we are just as much of a threat on that end of
the floor as we can be and imposing our defensive will.
On playing at home…
“Our
fan base has grown from last year. For the regular season we were third
in the SEC for fans. This is a great atmosphere and there were a lot of
people who came out the other night to support us and to watch the game
before ours. We are going to challenge our fans to come out. I know
it’s a late tip off at 8:40 p.m. but we would like to have a lot of our
fans out here supporting and seeing these seniors, it will be their
last home game. We need to get our student body out here as well.
Having the opportunity to play at home, obviously we are rested and we
didn’t have to travel. The players still have to go to class. It’s
great to keep them in their rythem where they don’t feel like they have
to be spread all over the place and traveling. We are taking advantage
of the fact we didn’t have to travel.”
SENIOR FORWARD LASONDRA BARRETT
On slowing down Penn State…
“We
want to dictate our tempo and just keeping them in the 50s or 60s if we
can. They are a high scoring team. They have a lot of guards that who
love to score the basketball. I think that is going to be very
important in tomorrow’s game is us dictating the tempo on how we want
to play.”
On preparing for Penn State…
“We
are going to have a game plan and they are going to come out ready to
play. Their players are going to play well. It all comes down to who is
the toughest team, who wins the board play, who has the hustle plays
and things like that down the stretch. Whatever game plan is made by
either team, I think that the toughness and bringing the effort and
intensity will determine the game.”
On her place in LSU history…
“It
is always an honor to be mentioned with a player like Sylvia (Fowles)
or the greats that have come through LSU. They can never be replaced.
They set tremendous milestones here. Just to be mentioned with them is
an honor to me. They were always someone I looked up to when I came
here. They were the reason why I came to LSU, just to continue their
legacy. They are great people. It is an honor not just for me but my
teammates and everyone that has helped me achieved everything I have
here at LSU from the previous coaching staff to Coach Caldwell and her
staff and all my teammates who have been there with me through ups and
downs. It is an all-around blessing. It is an honor not just for me but
for everyone.”
On playing the last home game…
“I
just approach it as another game and try not to think about it being
our last game. In the back of my mind I just think that on our home
court is a special place to be. We are LSU. We bleed purple and gold
and we will be back.”
On playing after a concussion…
“That
is something I tested after practice. I don’t want to change my game
just because of a hit I had previously. I felt that if I’m going to
play timid I might as well not be out there. The game is a physical
game and that is a part of it. I just have to be ready to take those
hits and bumps. I don’t want to sell my teammates or myself short. I
will continue to play aggressive.”
SENIOR FORWARD COURTNEY JONES
On trying to make it to the Sweet 16…
“We
are just taking it game by game. We are not really concentrating on
getting to the Sweet 16 or the Elite Eight. We are just playing our
game and doing what we have to do for the moment. Of course we know in
the past we have not been able to get past this little dead patch right
here. Hopefully we come out tomorrow ready to compete.”
On Penn State Head Coach Coquese Washington.
“I
have watched a couple of Penn State games. Just seeing her (Coach
Washington) interact with her players I can tell that she is very
respected. They listen to her and admire her just as much as we do with
our coach.”
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