NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - JAMES MADISON VS OHIO STATE

March 17, 2023

Sean O'Regan

Kiki Jefferson

Caroline Germond

Peyton McDaniel

Value City Arena

James Madison Dukes

Media Conference

Q. You had a journey getting here coming from France, various stops in Texas before coming here. Was this kind of what you had pictured for your last year of college basketball when you came to JMU?

CAROLINE GERMOND: Yeah, obviously that was my goal since coming to the U.S., to go to the March Madness and to win a conference championship. And when I decided to go to James Madison, I had a vision with Coach, and that was our vision for this team and we made it, and we're here and I'm very happy. So that's very good.

Q. And for the other two, playing with her at point guard, the shots that you've been able to get in the offense, just how big a difference has she made to what you guys have been able to do offensively this year and the improvements you've seen?

PEYTON McDANIEL: She's made a huge difference. I think offensively but defensively, too, you know, she's one of our best defenders. So just having her on both sides of the floor has been great.

KIKI JEFFERSON: Along with that, I think she just gives us the confidence, knowing we are getting a pass from here that she's giving up her shots so that me and Peyton can get them or Kseniia can get them or Jamia can get them. It just gives us confidence that we know our shot is going in because she gave us a good pass or she's getting stops on defense.

Q. One thing Ohio State has struggled with is rebounding. They are usually behind in the rebounding game. What have you seen that you were able to exploit with a strong rebounding side?

KIKI JEFFERSON: We just want to be able to rebound and go. So if they are not that good, we don't know until the game comes, but just being able to do what we can do.

PEYTON McDANIEL: I think just sticking with being us.

Q. And also this year, playing in the Sunbelt, moving into a different conference, how does that prepare you differently? JMU has a lot of history with March Madness, but how does that help playing in the new conference?

CAROLINE GERMOND: I think being the underdog, like we got picked sixth in the Sunbelt. So that was our motivation for the whole year. And just winning the conference, showing our name, James Madison can do it, too. So yeah, that was our motivation for the whole year.

PEYTON McDANIEL: With the conference being competitive, too, there wasn't a game in the conference where it was like, oh, this is an easy game, we've got this. I think that really prepared us to be where we are now.

Q. You guys are coming off an unbelievable shooting performance in the last game. If the threes are not falling this time, what do you do to spark the offense? You've played many different styles, like, this season, what are you trying to do if threes are not following?

KIKI JEFFERSON: I think just adjusting to the game. She's a shooter but she's way more than a shooter. She can attack the rim. I'm a shooter, but I'm way more than a shooter. It's just knowing or playing what the defense gives us. So we are more than shooters as a whole team.

Q. The Buckeyes turnover margin is among the Top-10 in the country, turnovers forced, top 20. Their pressure is significant. What do you know about that and how do you believe that you guys have prepared for it?

KIKI JEFFERSON: I think it's all props to our coaches. They are getting us ready. All practice we have been working on their press and how to limit lob ball turnovers. So travel or something is better than a lob ball turnover because we know they can run the ball but as far as being prepared, I think our coaches have got us really, really ready.

SEAN O'REGAN: Excited to be here. We're pumped. We worked really hard to get here. Been through a lot of different things, and I'm really excited for the players to be here and get this experience and for our administration, too, to get here without the six-hour bus ride is awesome, too. We've been enjoying it, and you know, we'll be ready to go, excited to practice and then we'll get things started.

Q. Ohio State is tenth in the country in steals. What do you know about their pressure? Your players said the coaching staff has done a good job of preparing for this.

SEAN O'REGAN: Yeah, they are dangerous. Watching what they did to Indiana in the semis; having this much prep time is rare for us. I've watched probably too many games, if you know what I mean.

But no, what they have done, they can turn a game just like that (snapping fingers). They have in my estimation, two different presses. It's all the same content. They are trying to get you trapped and put you under pressure. I couldn't help but have some of that feeling watching Virginia's men just yesterday, right. It's like, where are your outlets. You have to have your outlets.

So right from the start, that's what I wanted to prepare us for, not to say, their halfcourt defense or halfcourt offense can't beat you. But if we can't handle their press and their pressure, it won't put us in a good position.

He's done a great job. Obviously my only experience coaching against Coach McGuff was in 2015, I think it was, down at North Carolina, which is weird, right.

But no, we have to be ready for that, and I think no matter what we do, it's going to be bigger and better than what we planned for, just because we don't have the bodies and athleticism to replicate that in practice. Especially a shoutout to our practice guys who are usually awesome for us, but we had spring break this week, so they weren't here. So our white team has done a good job trying to duplicate it or replicate it but it's a challenge one.

You can't let them get going into that way.

Q. Last year, if Kiki wasn't scoring going to the basket, you guys struggled offensively. Seems like you have a variety of different ways to score this year, and they took that away from you in the conference tournament and you were hitting threes. How much does bringing in a point guard like Caroline contribute to that different dynamic on offense?

SEAN O'REGAN: There's a couple things and I'm glad you asked about Caroline. I think she's probably maybe our biggest unsung hero. Just because she doesn't have the point numbers to get up there, the points per game and all that. But she's our engine and she makes everything easier. You've heard me say that, I don't know, 30 times.

But yeah, last year, we were, I don't want to say a one-trick pony because there were some others that could score, but much better in that sense this year. Has a lot to do with Caroline. Has a lot to do with Kseniia Kozlova and Peyton McDaniel, especially. But even if you throw in Kobe King-Hawea, right.

So I think we have developed a much deeper, much more balanced scoring attack while keeping Kiki's numbers where they were last year. So she scored just about the same, but Caroline just helps everything. We wouldn't be where we are right now without Caroline Germond, and that's a fact.

But I really am excited that, you know, there's been games, and even the first two rounds of the Sunbelt, you know, Kseniia got going. Kseniia was a big presence for us. Throwing the ball inside is a huge positive to have, and as a head coach, I don't know if I've ever had -- the only person in the conversations is maybe Kelly Koshuta where we've been able to throw the ball inside and get a basket out of it pretty consistently with Kseniia.

And so all those factors, right, all those factors play into not being a one-trick pony just with Kiki, but at the same time she leads us in everything and you can't leave her alone either, right. Kiki will get to her spots, too.

So I think Caroline is a huge -- just an absolutely huge factor for us being successful, and she's been that way all year.

Q. Your players were talking about how playing in the Sunbelt this year, being predicted to finish sixth was a huge motivation. As a coach, how has playing in a new conference really propelled this team this season?

SEAN O'REGAN: Yeah, it's a good question. I think the fresh start was as important as anything. You know, the sixth, I thought it was great. We used it as motivation quite a bit.

This team of all the teams that I've coached, they actually, they used that disrespect for motivation. Whereas a lot of the teams that I've had, we always had the target on our back right from the beginning, and so this particular team likes -- gets them going.

So don't worry, I've tried to disrespect them the whole trip up here with different things to get them going. But the fresh start was really it for me, and it allowed me to look at everything through a new lens.

Being 15 years in the CAA, you just -- you know -- you know teams too well. You know that you've never been swept by such and such or you've never lost at such and such, right.

Sunbelt, it's brand new. It's brand new. Other than that series with ODU from a long time ago, it's really brand new. Even the OU series was brand new. That was kind of the theme for our year. We made a ton of changes staff-wise and even -- this was not my changes but our support staff rolled over a lot.

So it was fresh all around. A ton of newcomers. You know, so we had five people, five players transfer or stop playing so it was a fresh start completely. I think the Sunbelt kind of idea, the freshness of it really helped us, and so it allowed us to attack each -- each game or each weekend just -- just with a fresh lens, and I do think that was helpful for us.

I think the six thing really helped us in our motivation and you know, I've been really, really impressed with the Sunbelt throughout and actually you know what a lot of the support from the Sunbelt coaches as we -- as we made, as we made the NCAA Tournament, we heard from a lot of them and I think that's a testament to the league and what they are about and trying to grow the league to a little bit higher level.

Q. One of the weapons for Ohio State, Taylor Mikesell over the last few months, without Jacy Sheldon, there's been a lot of one-on-one; don't let Taylor get in space. I know you won't give away all the tactics today.

SEAN O'REGAN: No.

Q. How does it look for Jamia going against a player like Taylor Mikesell?

SEAN O'REGAN: Yeah, I've known Taylor a long time, her days at Maryland, we got to coach against her a couple times. Just a supreme talent. And even if you think you're there, you're not close enough. And so just like anybody, right. Even anybody on their team, you know, we're going to study, I think eight or nine of them where we have to know exactly what they want to do.

And generally in my coaching style, it's not like, hey, we are going to do this crazy defense. No, we are going to play our defense but you guys need to be educated on what Taylor wants to do.

Cotie McMahon is playing amazing. Again, too many films under my belt. Earlier in the year she didn't have the same bounce as she's got right now. She's playing at an unbelievable level. But do down the line. Even Jacy's reemergence for them I thought helped them play better and their depth, you can go on and on.

So as far as Taylor, you just -- you've got to respect the game, right. You can't let her get going. You can't let her have ten open looks at -- at the three.

And so if she's going to shoot ten threes, eight -- eight to nine of them better be really, really difficult threes. You can still make them, right. You can still make them but they have got to be really, really difficult threes. She's leading scorer. It's hard not to -- I don't want to give away my game plan but she's the leading scorer. Yeah, you can't let her do that.

But different than some of the players we play against. She's so multifaceted. So even if you do really high-hand and run at her, she's got floater game in there. She can score in there. We just have to do our thing and have the same kind of wherewithal with where she is and what she's doing whether we are in zone, whether we are in man. You've got to know where she is and you can't give her ten open looks from three.