NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR - MISSOURI STATE VS FLORIDA STATE

March 17, 2022

Sue Semrau

Morgan Jones

Makayla Timpson

Florida State Seminoles

Media Conference

Missouri State 61, Florida State 50

COACH SEMRAU: Obviously really disappointed . But give all the credit to Missouri State. I thought they played really hard defensively, and they were really good offensive rebounding team. And we held them to five in the first half and then the third quarter they came out and they really flexed some muscle, and we didn't respond. That's what happens when it's the team that can really go to work. And I didn't think that we had that kind of game today.

Q. Morgan and Makayla,it seemed in that same quarter you were really dominant getting to the free-throw line, clamping down on defense, huge run. What did you kind of see shift at the half on them or your defense that saw them take that lead back?

MORGAN JONES: We have to maintain that intensity the whole game. When people come in, they have to match the same intensity, everybody has to be on one page. And think that's where we fell short. We should have kept our intensity up the whole game, but we just kind of let it slip away.

MAKAYLA TIMPSON: Same thing as Morgan said. The intensity, it just went downhill. And you seen in the first quarter, we got the lead and then we went back down and then it led downhill from there.

Q. Question for either of you. I know they were able to put up 16 second-chance points. You knew they were a good rebound team, you knew they had good post play. Just what was so difficult about defending them when they were just getting board after board there at times?

MORGAN JONES: I think we just have to want it as a team. We knew that's what we had to do going into the game. Actually during it we didn't do a great job of it. I think it comes down to just wanting it, and they wanted it more.

MAKAYLA TIMPSON: Yeah, and keeping our eyes open on our man and stuff, being able to box out. Instaed of just losing our back to the ball and them just out-hustling us and want it more.

Q. Second quarter, you start red hot. You come out guns ablazing, after getting a little momentum in the first quarter. What was working for you throughout that time when they really just couldn't seem to buy a bucket?

MORGAN JONES: I think we build momentum off of getting stops and buckets. I think we went on a 20-4 run, I believe. That's when we were really getting going. But I think that we have to remember that the other team is playing just as hard as we are and they want it too and we can't let it up. I think a couple of times they capitalized off of our mistakes and mental lapses.

MAKAYLA TIMPSON: Yeah, our guards were getting on the free-throw line pretty well. They was in a bonus the first quarter and they were attacking them. They couldn't really defend our guards face up, but then we just lost the momentum and weren't attacking and being aggressive. And then like Morgan said, just capitalize off our mistakes.

Q. I know this obviously isn't the ending you guys would have wanted. But just the way you guys ended the season with all the adversity you faced, COVID, people being banged up, and to end the season on the run you had to even get here. I know that's not the goal. What has the season shown you about this team, this program, and what did it mean to you to get here and have that opportunity?

MORGAN JONES: I think just fighting through adversity through all the injuries and things we had to work through. I think we did a great job to even be in this position says a lot about the season that we had. And just what we had to face. I think we're fighters, and we're tough, and I'm really proud of the group.

MAKAYLA TIMPSON: Yeah, with me as a freshman, it's just learning every time I get on the court. Every game is something knew I have to learn and new opportunities. Either I have to step up. All the time I have to step up, and my coaches wanted me to be aggressive on the low block and stuff. Our team, we did well with all the trials and tribulations we faced. As a freshman, just learning and continue to learn throughout college and the program.

Q. You and O'Mariah ended up being the top two scorers for the game today, what does it say to your confidence going forward that two of the younger players on the team were able to lead the team today?

MAKAYLA TIMPSON: For me coach yells at me on the sideline, "post up, post up!" Just want it and scoring. She believes in me, and you can see I'm capable of doing it. Just moving that forward and keep being aggressive.

Q. My question is for both of the student athletes. Just how will you use this motivation to fuel you for something greater?

MORGAN JONES: Just fighting through adversity when things get hard, not giving up and just playing for each other.

MAKAYLA TIMPSON: For me it's just keep on learning. I'm just going to continue to learn throughout every season, every opportunity on the floor, I will keep learning, and won't ever stop. Never settle for how I am as a freshman.

Q. Morgan, I know the same player 11, Calip, was on you a lot of the game. I don't know if it was something she did versus what you didn't do. I guess that limited what you were able to do defensively. I don't know if you have given any thought to -- I know you have the COVID year if you wanted to use it, or if you are thinking -- I don't want to put you on the spot now. If you have an idea of what your future may hold.

MORGAN JONES: Right now, I'm trying to enjoy the rest of the semester with my teammates and we're going to keep building.

Q. Coach Sue, I'll start by asking, you know, you said it before the game. You are going to have to rebound with this team, you are going to have to deal with their post presence. How difficult did they make life on you trying to shoot the basketball?

COACH SEMRAU: It was so many things. I wish I could just say, oh it was we didn't rebound the ball. It's been difficult to -- again, the two weeks and Morgan rolled an ankle, and trying to prepare for a long time for a team. But it was just so much more than that. We turned the ball over, we ran something wrong, we didn't dive on the floor for the loose ball. It was those types of things that when I see that then I worry. And I'll take full responsibility. I obviously didn't do a good job preparing them.

Q. Coach, I know I asked Mo and KK, but you guys get down early, shots aren't falling. That second quarter you guys really dug in and you had to be proud of your team's resiliency to tie it up, clamp down on defense, get to the free throw line 20 times in the first half and a different story in the second half. What was the shift that you saw?

COACH SEMRAU: We have to score to get into a press. So when we weren't scoring the ball we didn't have the same intensity. And again, I just think that a lot of things have to go right to win NCAA tournament games. And in the second quarter a few things went right. And the rest of the time we didn't shoot the ball well at all. And you can probably expect that when you get on the road in March Madness and all that. But you have to do other things and we just didn't do them.

Q. You know, coach, the rebounds are pretty close in this game, 45-41.

COACH SEMRAU: Lots of them.

Q. And yet they get you in second chance points, 16-4. What did you really see was the difference there?

COACH SEMRAU: You know, we did rebound the ball well at first. But we are not the kind of team that's going to, except for KK, just turn around and jump up and score it. We're just not the most athletic post group. And they were a very athletic post group. So when they would get the second chance points, they would jump back up and score it. We needed to do some different things with it: Kick it out, reverse the ball, attack, we just didn't do a good job at it.

Q. Coach, congrats on this season. I was wondering if I could ask you now that you have been through the First Four, and we have been through the First Four in women's basketball, how important do you think it is to have these extra teams, and with your history of leadership with the WCBA, what are the things you are going to be looking at through the rest of the tournament to indicate some of the things that happened last year that real progress has been made on them?

COACH SEMRAU: I appreciate all of our coverage and everything that you are saying. You're so right on. It's been way too long that this hasn't been part of the women's tournament. And it's a learning process, but it was so vital I think to -- you think about what happened with UCLA men and BCU men that have been to the First Four and just the exciting runs that can be made. And if this is all about, you know, the madness and the entertainment, then I think it's extremely important. I think that there's a lot of eyes right now on the equity piece, and I think for very good reason. But I do think that some people are making some comments already to the NCAA. I know some senators and some people have written a six-page letter to them just about how yes, this is a step. But again we have to keep striving. Because it's student athletes that are amateurs. And if it were a revenue issue with professionals, I don't need to be paid as much as our men's basketball coach is paid. But Morgan Jones needs to be treated the same way as Caleb Mills is treated. And that happens at Florida State. I'm very thankful for that. It needs to happen throughout the NCAA.

Q. Coach Sue, just how difficult of a game was it when they were able to have four players scoring in double figures?

COACH SEMRAU: You know, it was more difficult not that so much, Josh, it was watching shots not go in. I felt like when we shot the ball so poorly it didn't give us much of a chance. So I wasn't even that worried about as far as it wasn't like one of their players was going to take off. They are very balanced. They just outworked us and they shot the ball better.

Q. Sue, I don't know if that was Morgan's last game at SFU, if it was what can you say about her impact on this program? The last few years especially a lot of the success has been on her shoulders.

COACH SEMRAU: She's really grown as a player. And if you were here, you would have seen the tears that were coming out. She's such an all-around person. And it's not just about her as a basketball player. She's involved in so many things at Florida State. And that speaks as much as just what's on the court. The things that she does for her community, for her school, those are the things that will live on beyond her impact on our program.