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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTMarch 6, 2020Joni TaylorJenna StaitiGreenville, South Carolina South Carolina 89, Georgia 56 THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Georgia. We will start with an opening statement from coach. JONI TAYLOR: First of all, give South Carolina credit. They came out and played really hard. Every time we were able to make a run or keep it close, they would turn up their defense, just force us into a lot of turnovers today. Made it really difficult for us to get into our offense. It remained that way for quite some time. I thought we had moments and spurts with some of our younger players. Jenna had a good first half, carried us. Didn't have enough offensive firepower today to match them. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Jenna. Q. Jenna, is that how you saw it, too, as Coach said, that South Carolina's pressure kind of kept you from getting into your offense? JENNA STAITI: Yeah, they pressured our guards pretty heavily. I wouldn't even say just them. Even me, I didn't go and get the ball like I'm supposed to. Quick tips just led to turnovers and scoring on the other end. Q. Talk a little bit about your play down the stretch. Really solid. Also yesterday you were really active, one foul, only two today. Is that something you focused on? JENNA STAITI: Yeah, I think that comes with the conditioning part of it all. Our coaches and trainers, do a good job of keeping us in shape. Last year I think I struggled a lot with being in the game for 10 minutes. I think I fouled out one time in that stretch. It's just the conditioning part of the game. I just think that's something important so I can be out there for longer stretches of time. THE MODERATOR: Jenna, thank you for your time today. We'll continue with questions for coach. Q. So much is made of the three great starting freshmen that South Carolina has. How much of a difference does it make for them to have Harris and Herbert Harrigan, that veteran presence? JONI TAYLOR: Yeah, they're the anchors for the team. As freshmen, they want it all. They know what it feels like to have a taste of it. Any time they're struggling or just need an extra push, Harrigan gets a bucket, Harris gets a bucket. She's their floor general. Yes, the freshmen are outstanding. They're going to be really good for the remaining of their time at South Carolina. Those are the two that make it run. I don't think they would be the same if they didn't have them on the floor. Q. How confident do you feel about your team's chances now for the NCAA tournament? JONI TAYLOR: I mean, obviously that's what we want to do, is play in the tournament. We have tried to control what we could. Obviously a win today would have really helped us tremendously. I think if you look at our body of work over the month of February, we've really come on strong. That's with having an injury to Que Morrison, a starter we have had to replace. For us to still compete and win, put ourselves in that position, I think it's something we should consider. That's not my decision to make. I wish it was. Q. The schedule you played this year, what does that do for your players moving forward? JONI TAYLOR: We grew up this year. I'll throw UCLA in the mix, as well. We had a really tough non-conference schedule. We learned a lot from that. We knew we had two returning starters from last year's team. We thrust a lot of people into a starting role. Maya Caldwell, Jenna Staiti, they weren't starters for us last year, and they grew up as the season progressed. I think what happened is that we became consistent. Then our younger players came along, Chloe Chapman Javyn Nicholson, Malury Bates, Caitlin Hose. They're all different players now than they were at the beginning of the year. Hopefully it's something we continue to build on and grow from. Whether that's postseason play for us now or next year, it's something that I think will propel us for next season. Q. You talked about South Carolina's starters. What does it say about them that they have the depth and the players that have come off the bench? JONI TAYLOR: I've said it, this is, in my mind, Dawn's most complete team she's put on the floor since she's been at South Carolina. Really good at every position. Honestly, since we played them, their subs have sometimes hurt us more than their starters. Let's be frank, everybody springing off the bench could be starting somewhere else. It shows the camaraderie they have, that she's got them all playing well, no matter if they start, don't start. In the minutes they play they're productive when they're on the floor. You just never can get a break because they just come in and they keep coming at you, coming at you, because of their skill set and how good they are on both ends of the floor. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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