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NCAA WOMEN'S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS AND FINALS: DALLAS

March 26, 2016

Dallas, Texas

Baylor - 78, Florida State - 58

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Florida State Sue Semrau and her two student-athletes, Ivey Slaughter and Brittany Brown. Coach, your comments?

SUE SEMRAU: We got beat by a great team today. They did a great job of getting our and running their break. We are very familiar with Alexis when she was at Duke and she made a lot of great things happen. She's a tough guard.

I think, too, that I'm proud of what this team was able to accomplish. I think we really had to find ourselves and, you know, I thought we were able to put together a pretty good run down the stretch. Really proud of these two. I thought Brittany played extremely hard. I thought Ivey played extremely hard. I wish we could have stayed out of foul trouble. That's definitely something we will get into the gym and work on as we move forward.

Q. Coach, could you talk about the impact that -- on the game of picking up those early fouls and Adut having to sit?
SUE SEMRAU: I thought our -- not only Adut but Emiah Bingley picking up those falls early in the second half and it changes us, and we didn't expect it in the NCAA Tournament to be called that tight, but it was and very didn't adjust.

Q. You guys were up 12-9 early and then they called a time-out. Things changed during the first quarter. What was different about this game after that?
SUE SEMRAU: I think it was definitely our foul trouble. We had to make some substitutions and we did not do a good job of adjusting, and that's something that I don't really expect them to understand.

Q. For both players, Ivey, then Brittany, what were they doing to you defensively? Because you're a much better shooting team than this box score reflects, and in most other statistical categories you were closer that the final score reflects. So what was happening that was affecting your shooting?
IVEY SLAUGHTER: I think we were just knocking down shots. They're a really good defensive team but we had a lot of open looks and I think we just did not knock 'em down.

BRITTANY BROWN: I kind of went off what Ivey said, we had open looks. We just didn't knock 'em down, and I think at some point in the game we kinda let our offense dictate our defense and we're a much better team when our defense turns over to our offense.

Q. Sue, kinda on that note what was the message at halftime and what was able to change in that third quarter to get back in it?
SUE SEMRAU: Well, we're a great team when we can fight and when things don't go well this year, that's where we've lost our fight. Things didn't go well, and we tried to just blow the wind back into them that anything can happen, let's go, be who we are and I thought they came out and really did that. I thought fatigue maybe set in. We had to really go put on the gas, and, you know, I didn't play as many players as a result of how well the other ones were playing and I think they got really tired.

Q. Ivey and then Coach, just the problems presented by Nina Davis, especially working in the lane inside, the spin moves, what kind of -- how hard to guard is she for you?
IVEY SLAUGHTER: She is a great player, but, again, like Brittany said, our offense dictated our defense. I think that's what service.

SUE SEMRAU: And I felt like maybe we keyed in on some other kids just because of their size, and we did not do a good job of helping off of the post. I felt like, you know, she's a great one-on-one player. She can get free, and then you've got great guards that can pass her the ball. So you put them together and they're really dangerous. They've got a lot of outside weapons.

Q. Coach, for the most part there weren't too many open shots that you guys gave defensively. I think you guys had a lot of steals, charges. Is this one of these games that Baylor was hitting a lot of contested shots?
SUE SEMRAU: Yeah and we weren't. That's kinda the game and sometimes how it goes, and I think if we had been able to shoot the ball a little bit better it would have been a better game. But credit their defense. Certainly they've been holding teams in the 50s and they did it again here this afternoon.

Q. Sue, when Adut's not able to get into a rhythm, whether it be fouls or whatever the case may be, how does that impact what you were trying to do and how did that process going trying to adjust on the fly?
SUE SEMRAU: I think both Adut and Shakayla are two that we really count on and when Adut's in foul trouble and she didn't get an opportunity for a lot of open looks, again, I felt like they did a great job of coming out and covering, and she is really not a catch and put it on the floor player. Shakayla is on the other hand more of a catch and put it on the floor player. She got some looks but I didn't think that we were ever in an offensive flow. There may be two runs that I felt really, really good about and third quarter I thought we played really well, then we just ran out of gas in the fourth.

Q. They had two of their centers -- and Brown get into early foul trouble but then they bring in Khadijiah Cave, she ends the game with 6 points and 10 rebounds. Seems like they can cycle in one post after another. How hard is it to slow them down in the paint?
SUE SEMRAU: I think that's the strength we have as well. We got in early foul trouble and we were able to cycle through. I don't know that that is the difference. I think the difference was the ability for Davis and Alexis Jones to score and I think it's their passing. That's something that is really special about this team is that they can pass the ball, and, you know, there is not a lot of teams out there that are as good at that as they are.

Q. Sue, you've played the two remaining No. 1 seeds left, and UConn is in a class by itself. But is there any way you can compare Baylor and UConn?
SUE SEMRAU: I can't. We played UConn so early, I think that they're -- all teams grow so much during the season. I don't know.

Q. Coach, I know it's not the result you wanted but still a great season, what was your message to the team after the game?
SUE SEMRAU: I thought we were a good NCAA team. I thought after the ACC Tournament and our disappointment there, it's hard to turn it and to really become a tournament team, and I thought this team did a great job, came together and really they were extremely selfless at A&M and you saw what we were able to do on their home court. There is a lot to be said about that. I think we needed to do it earlier in the year and then it would have been something that was much deeper of a habit and that's something we will work on going forward.

Q. You saw Alexis when she was at Duke. I wonder if you could put into perspective how you've seen her game grow after sitting out a year and now playing in this system?
SUE SEMRAU: I also saw Alexis when I coached her with the USA Team. She has always been a great player. She is just older. She is more mature and she understands her role, and she's just a special player.

She can score. She can pass it. She rebounded it. She can defend. She is a nice player. They've got a lot of good players around her, I think, and that makes them a special team.

Q. Two-part question: I'm sure you saw two of the top seeds in the tournament go down yesterday. That inspired confidence for you guys going into the game but also your players, starting with Brittany and maybe next, Ivey, could you speak to that as well? But also to what you learned out of this experience. You're a young team and you will be coming back next year. What concrete things do you take away from this?
SUE SEMRAU: From this game or what happened yesterday?

Q. This game and the tournament.
BRITTANY BROWN: I think from this tournament experience -- I mean, anybody can be beat, NCAA, like she said, after we lost in the ACC tournament to Miami, we knew what we were capable of and we fell short, and moving into the NCAA Tournament we turned it around. We were playing together and just moving forward. I don't know, just understanding that anybody can be beat.

As you saw those 1 seeds go down yesterday even on the boys side, somebody like Syracuse in the ACC their men's team, they didn't have a great season, but they're playing well throughout the NCAA tournament, same with Notre Dame.

IVEY SLAUGHTER: Basically what Brittany said, anything can happen in March and really after losing our first game to Miami. That didn't sit well with us and we knew we had a chance to do bigger and better things and I think that kinda -- that was a concrete for us.

SUE SEMRAU: I think for us, going to back-to-back Sweet 16's is an accomplishment for a lot of programs, and I think it's important as we continue to build our program. Somebody from ESPN shared that had we won this game and gone to the Elite. We would have been one of eight teams that have gone to the Elite Eight and that's something we're striving to do in building a top-10 program at Florida State.

Q. Sue, you've seen Baylor twice. You saw them when they were coming off a National Championship a few years ago. Where do you see them different or how do you see this team compared to what you saw a few years ago?
SUE SEMRAU: There was this big girl in the middle. I forget her name. They're just really different and they're very balanced and -- but they're very different.

Q. (No microphone.)
SUE SEMRAU: No, they were good then. I can't -- I just can't say that they weren't good then, they're really good and obviously they've lost, what, one game all year? So they're an extremely talented basketball team. I think they pass it better and I think that's important.

THE MODERATOR: Ladies, thank you for your comments and congratulations on a great season.

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