NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - SOUTH DAKOTA VS OLE MISS

March 17, 2022

Dawn Plitzuweit

Liv Korngable

Hannah Sjerven

Chloe Lamb

South Dakota Coyotes

Media Conference

Q. Does the reality change once you set foot in the building you're going to play in? How does the mentality, kind of change?

CHLOE LAMB: I think a little bit. Being in the facility that you're going to play in, definitely brings focus in itself, I think. For the type of group that, when it's time to have fun, we'll have fun and when it's time to work hard, we'll do just that. We've done a really good job of that, not only in the past, but leading up to this game and this whole season.

HANNAH SJERVEN: I'd agree with what Chloe said. We had a fun week celebrating our victory. And then, when we got to practice, it was time to lock in and focus on the tournament and I think we did a good job of that.

LIV KORNGABLE: I think there's a lot of fun that surrounds the NCAA tournament, but we do a good job balancing, when it's time to play and when it's time to have fun.

Q. This is for Hannah, either of you, if you want to comment, preparing for Austin, one of the better Bigs in the country, what have you guys focused to slow her down, if you can?

HANNAH SJERVEN: Continuing to play team defense, that's something we've been doing all year. We faced some good talent inside in South Carolina, in Pitt, in Texas A&M and I think we can take those games and learn from them. And keep preparing for that kind of talent inside.

Q. How much film did you watch of the match ups with South Carolina, Old Miss and how helpful was that, sort of being the only component you had?

LIV KORNGABLE: We watched quite a bit of film so far on the two and kind of seeing where we could improve against South Carolina and our successes as well, against them. Very applicable for this game.

Q. Chloe, they've talked a lot this morning about their defense and the numbers speak for themselves, but they said you might be shocked by what they do, in their defense, given what you have played, would you agree that there's anything that's going to shock you at this point defensively?

CHLOE LAMB: It is a team we haven't seen before, so, there's a little unfamiliarity there, I think. What we can do to control that is watch film and as you guys have mentioned, watch like opponents from the year, so, we're doing our best and I trust our coaches will set us up to be as successful as we can be. As we've said, had a good week in practice, preparing, so, I think we're going to be prepared. I hope so, anyway.

Q. With how good Shakira's been all season long, could you expect some doubles in the game or are you just going to trust your match up on defense?

HANNAH SJERVEN: That's up to the coaches still, we have a few options defensively and we want to keep that to ourselves a little bit until the game comes. We're going to work on some stuff in practice and ultimately, it's up to Coach P what we do inside.

Q. For Chloe or Liv, we have talked about all season, how the goal is to win at the NCAA tournament, now that you know your opponent and have prepared for them a few days, how do you guys feel about that going into tomorrow's game?

CHLOE LAMB: We feel good about it. We've got a great opportunity here and what am I going to tell you, we feel bad about it? Yeah, we've got a great opportunity ahead of us. Had a great week of practice. It'll be good to get some finishing touches here, beyond the court and you know, kind of get comfortable with that too, we're excited. It'd be a lot of fun.

LIV KORNGABLE: I'd agree. It's exciting to finally be at Baylor and get to shoot around here and be a bit more comfortable and continue to practice and see what will happen.

Q. Chloe, they're obviously good at taking away the three, how big an impact will three pointers be in this game?

CHLOE LAMB: I don't know yet. We'll figure it out, we've been preparing to be successful at all levels of the court. To be able to score at all levels. And I think that has been something that we have done a good job throughout the season with. But just taking advantage of what the defense gives us, I think is going to be key for us.

Q. Ladies, what is it like now that you're there? What is it going to be like? What's going to be the big key, offensively, for you ladies, like I asked you Sunday, what's going to be the big key to kind of not repeat what happened last year, especially in the first half against Oregon?

LIV KORNGABLE: I think just staying together, throughout the game, someone's going to go on a run, there'll be a lull, something's going to break down, but staying together and maintaining confidence and communication is usually what helps us out and brings us together.

Q. Coach, would you like to provide an opening statement or just get to questions?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: Let's just go to questions.

Q. Dawn, we talked a little about your familiarity with Old Miss head coach and we talked to her this morning about that too. How advantageous is that to at least have that in these scenarios where you're placed against a team you haven't seen before?

COAH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: She's always done a tremendous job no matter where she's been. Has a great team at Old Miss right now, they play aggressively on both ends of the court, they're very disciplined. The familiarity piece is great to have. Certainly, what we understand is really their level of toughness and competitiveness.

Q. Coach, Shakira Austin, obviously, is someone that had a lot of success this year, one of the best Bigs in the country, how do you try to slow down someone of her capital number?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: That certainly is a challenge, she's someone who is among the best players in the country and someone who can find ways to score over the top of you, to get around you, to kind of hang and score, she's such a great offensive rebounder, a great shot blocker, so, I think certainly, we're going to have to be very aware and we're going to have to, you know, find ways to commit more than one player to try to slow her down to the best of our ability, without putting us in a position where we're giving too much else up, because their guards are very dynamic, Scott's very dynamic. They find a lot of ways to put you in tough spots and she's certainly a leader in that for them.

Q. You've obviously played very guard heavy line ups all season long with the amount of size they have with their forward spots, could you potentially change that at all in this game or trust what you've had?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: I think we have to do what we do to the best of our ability, at the same time, I understand I do believe that our young ladies are capable of making adjustments when we have to make adjustments. I really believe that, that our young ladies have, have awareness of having to guard different positions and different ways we have to put ourselves in the best possible situation. If we have to play bigger line ups than normal, I do believe our players are accustomed to being able to make changes.

Q. Coach, you've been hearing a lot about the Old Miss defense, one of the calling cards of their team, their athleticness and aggressiveness they have, when you watch tape on how this team defends, when you evaluate that, what challenges does it present that maybe, you don't see from the average team? What's going to be more difficult against this team?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: First of all, I think the word athleticness is a word I'll use more often. I love that word, I've never heard it before. Their athleticness, yeah, I think their defense is a defense that can give you some different looks and some different press scenarios. They certainly have the ability to lock individual players down, they have the ability to help early, get back to players, they think the ability to block a lot of shots, limit offensive opportunities in terms of rebound.

So, they can provide challenges in a lot of different ways, so, certainly, our players are going to have to play aggressively and also, as intelligently as possible and play disciplined basketball and try to get as many good shots as we can get.

Q. Some Old Miss players were talking this morning about they might be a team that you guys have never seen before, but obviously with all the scheduling you do in the beginning of the season, I guess, what are some of the teams that, maybe that Old Miss reminds you of that were on your schedule in this season?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: We had a chance to play against two other SEC teams that I think are very good programs, great teams, you know, South Carolina is a great defensive team, as well as great offensive team. So is Old Miss, I think there's a lot of similarities in those types of teams. Texas A&M was a great match up for us, Pitt had great athletes we had to compete with.

I think there's different components of a lot of different players we've played against and teams we've played against, we can kind of, maybe it's not the whole team is similar, but there are similarities between this player that we played against and the player we're playing in Old Miss.

We look at some of those types of things and make comparisons that way for some of our players, if we haven't seen the whole team in that type of way.

Q. One thing your players have that theirs don't is tournament experience. Is that relevant here?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: We hope it is, certainly. That would be advantageous to us. You know, I think our players understand what they need to and do want to accomplish and we know that it's going to be a toughness battle on both ends of the court.

So, I think our players are approaching this with an enthusiasm, but also, the right mindset of just getting to work and getting back to work. We have another opportunity to play and we'll do our best to take advantage of that and play to the best of our ability.

Q. Does getting here just kind of help click into place the size of this stage? I know you talk so much about the excitement of getting here and this selection process and all that, but to actually get here, get out on that floor for the first time, is that a key moment when you get into these settings?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: I think it definitely is. There's no question, when you get to see the arena for the first time, you walk in and see all the March Madness, the logos, you see all the signage. It's a neat aspect for our young ladies. They get to take it all in at the same time. You know, I think what our players have done a really good job of is being in the precious present, being in the moment.

That's a really fun moment. We want our players to celebrate that and take their selfies and do all those things and then put yourself in the locker room and then let's go out on the court. And yeah, it'd be kind of fun, but when we're on the court and after we're warmed up, it's time to go.

I think they're really more aware than we've been in the past to separate and be in the moment and there are different times during the course of just being here in this facility that we have to be in different modes.

Q. Old Miss forces percentage from three and teams don't really take a lot of threes against them either, I guess, what are some of the things you've seen on film about how they take away the three on defense?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: I think they do a really good job of guarding the ball one on one to the best of their ability so they don't have to overhelp and give up opportunities that are kickout three opportunities.

They make it really challenging. They're very good at guarding you in positions where you're not able to really screen to just get a wide open shot. You're not able to penetrate kick to get wide open shots.

You have to find other ways to break them down and maximize the opportunities you do get.

Q. Talking about your defense, I mean you guys, statistically, have one of the best in the country as well, so how is that something you can use to your advantage to it slow them down if their defense is doing the same?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: The great part for our young ladies, they've seen different styles of play, they've been in different environments and so, hopefully that, at least allows us to be aware of how we have to guard either different players on their team or different actions or what our counters are to some of the things they're doing and having potential success with what can we do? What changes can we make?

Q. What's been easier about just getting here and getting prepared and getting settled in compared to last time around? When the COVID measures were so strict and everybody was so separated the whole time?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: It was a very different experience last year. Absolutely, you know, you we're able to get there, but weren't able to spend time together and that's a huge part of the fun, the memories that you make, you're not typically making memories hanging out by yourself.

That's what last year was about. Outside of your practice time, and you know, or your game time, so this has been, certainly, a much better experience in that regard for our young ladies. There's a togetherness piece, there's a bonding piece that takes place during it.

Q. Dawn, what's it been like, you talked about (?) presence, how much have you taught that to the younger girls about just, that balance that the guys have talked about, about when you're off the court, you can have fun, but on the court, it's time to work. How much have you talked about that type of (?) presence with the younger girls?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: I think our upperclassmen have done a good job modeling what that looks like. This is our time now, this is our time we're in film or getting ready, you know, during the course of the week, and this is time to be locked in. This is time we're hanging out, we're going to have some fun together and we're going to enjoy those moments together.

I think the younger players in our program have a chance to see that being modeled and lived out. I think that's probably where you learn it the best, is being able to see them.

Q. How much for the younger girls, how important is it going to be if Old Miss defense try to lock down the big three? How much, like, for Grace, for example, how is it going for Grace to have to step up tomorrow?

COACH DAWN PLITZUWEIT: Well certainly, Old Miss is a team that forces you into situations where you have to be able to score in whichever way that is in terms of what they're giving you and they don't give you a whole lot. When you have a good opportunity, you have to be able to recognize it and take the shot or the score opportunity and that may be one of the big three and it may not be. For us, it'll have to be a situation where it's equal opportunity and whoever has that opportunity needs to maximize that.