BATON ROUGE – LSU women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell along with Ann Jones and Anne Pedersen met with the media Wednesday leading into the 2014-15 season opener later this week.
The Lady Tigers will play five home games over an eight-day stretch to begin the season and face off with Arkansas-Little Rock Friday morning during the program’s annual “Field Trip Game” for East Baton Rouge schools.
Tip time is scheduled for 11:32 a.m., and the game will be carried online only by SEC Network Plus via http://www.watchespn.com/ and the Watch ESPN app. Lyn Rollins and Victor Howell will serve as the announcing team.
The LSU Sports Radio Network also will broadcast the game on its flagship station Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge and inside at the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net/live. Patrick Wright, the voice of the Lady Tigers, will call the action.
Season tickets are on sale for $75 online at http://www.LSUtix.net/. The LSU Athletics Ticket Office can be reached at (800) 960-8587 or (225) 578-2184 and is located on the first floor of the Moran Family Center for Athletics Administration Building. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
For all of the latest news and information on Lady Tiger basketball, visit www.LSUsports.net/womensbasketball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/LSUwbkb, @lsuwbkb and @NikkiCaldwell on Twitter, @LSUwbkb and @LSUNikkiCaldwell on Instagram.
Below is a transcript of Caldwell’s media session.
LSU Women’s Basketball Media Session
November 12, 2014
HEAD COACH NIKKI CALDWELL
Opening statement
“We’re looking forward to Friday’s competition for not only the fact that we’re going to be playing a quality opponent in Arkansas-Little Rock, but the fact that we’re going to have a lot of students here. We’re probably going to have over 3,000 elementary kids here in the stands coming to support our team. I’m really excited about the connection that our marketing team has made with our community to allow them to come in and watch a very quality basketball game. The game is going to be fast paced. UALR is a very explosive team in their transition attack. They have plyers that play extremely well off the bounce, and they’re very capable of making shots. Defensively, they will get after you. They did a nice job last year of really disrupting our defensive flow so we’re going to have to key in on taking care of the basketball and obviously getting open and being a big target for our teammates. It’s going to a fun game, and we’re excited.”
On UALR’s Taylor Gault …
“She’s another year seasoned, and last year she set the tone. I think that when you play a player like Gault you’re going to have to limit her touches. Awareness is going to be key and knowing where she’s at at all times on the floor. She’s a player too that can get the hot hand. She can get one shot up and make that one and then you come right back to her. She can make consecutive baskets and really start a run for them. Just awareness and again, knowing where she’s at at all times is going to be key.”
On the up-tempo style of play expected for Friday’s game …
“It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a fast paced game. It’s going to be a game battled by our guard play. Whoever guard play comes out and really performs, probably will have a direct indication of the outcome. Their guard play is their strength. Their interior game, they understand their responsibilities whether its setting great screens for them, or really trying to occupy the middle of the zone, or posting really hard on the low block although maybe the shots are not coming to them. They work well together as a team. They’re very cohesive. It’s going to be a great battle on Friday, and it’s definitely going to be a game of who establishes their running game, who establishes their transition and really gets out there and scores. When it’s all said and done, you have to have paint points. We’ve got to make sure that we execute in the paint and obviously make layups and not leave those easy baskets out there.”
On Ann Jones and her play on the interior …
“Ann Jones is the player that can really go to her face-up game. We have got to be more creative in our strategy in getting her more touches. She does a nice job of really countering people especially in a one-on-one situation. She understands patience with the basketball. She’s not going to be the black hole. When the ball goes in there, she’s going to check and see what the defense gives her. She’s one of those players that are very unselfish, and she will kick it back out to those guards. I think her play in the trail post can be beneficial to us because she does have a nice face-up game.”
On Anne Pedersen and her style of play …
“I think for Anne her success is the fact that she can put the ball in the hole. Catching-and-shooting is your number one move and then you have your counters. That’s a great move for her is the catch-and-shoot. She’s also smart so there will be times when there’s bad close outs, and she’ll go to her one dribble pull up. I think there’s a lot that Anne brings to our team with her international background, and it’s a lot of things that she brings to our team too that are off the court. Her just being humble and grateful and an extremely great student. She is someone who appreciates the opportunities that LSU has afforded her. She’s a really special person, and I’m a huge fan of Anne Pedersen‘s. She’s been someone who has accepted the roles that have been placed on her whether it was not playing a lot last year to now starting for us. Her leadership has really blossomed, and we’re just really excited to see how she progresses.”
On the difference between last year’s team and this year’s team …
“I like the mobility of our team. I like the versatility that our bigs present. I like the fact that we’re able to do a lot of different things in our defensive scheme – 94 feet from the basket, we’re going to be able to press more, we’re going to be able to trap more because we’re going to have quickness out of the rotation. Our backline defense is going to be stronger because we’ve got players that can guard the ball one-on-one. Obviously as a coach if you had more time, I would definitely want to have more time in teaching and moving us and progressing us with not only our offensive execution but really just stay with the skill development working our passing. I wish you could just devote an hour a day on just passing alone because that to me would eliminate a lot of those turnovers that we have. Again, that’s going to come with time. This group has shown in a short period of time that they are able to execute, and they are able to get after people defensively.”
On what stood out to her and the coaching staff from the exhibition games …
“You see glimpses of things that arrive, or you see them in practice and you say, ‘Oh let me jot that down in my notes, and maybe that’s something we can get to.’ But I saw a team that took a stretch there of two or three minutes and really changed the complexion of the game through their defensive pressure. I saw a team go on the stretch of nine possessions, and we were 7-for-9 in possessions. We really opened up the game. When you’re talking about execution, that’s a high percentage for any team to be operating at as far as either foul or scores the basket at almost 75 percent. That’s what we saw on film. We were like, ‘Look, we can really do something with this here,’ but we’ve got to figure out how to string it along for 40 minutes. If we can get to that point, this team can really go on and do great things.”
On if there’s an update on Danielle Ballard …
“There’s no update on (Danielle) Ballard. It’s still the same, but I’ll tell you that this group has really done a nice job of focusing in on the task at hand. We go back to one of our leadership traits that we had taken from the Marines, and that’s one of them – just keeping our team focused on the task at hand.”
On going towards the player with the hot hand …
“Oh yeah, we want to feed the hot hand for sure. You think back to last year when we were able to advance against Georgia Tech, and we put up over 90 points. That was done by people getting the hot hand and us feeding them and not feeling as though, oh it’s my turn. That was just really smart basketball on our team’s part. That’s definitely something that you have to be aware of in the course of a game, where’s the mismatch? Who is the most efficient player on the floor for us at that time, and you just ride them. Then, you find that next person. That’s what this team has shown in these last two exhibition games. Everybody can contribute at any time whether it’s (Jenna) Deemer getting a hot hand or (DaShawn) Harden nailing off some shots. I think when you look at what Alliyah (Fareo) did in the first game, coming in and really scoring in on the low block. We’re getting a lot of help from a lot of different people, and we’re doing all of this by committing.”