BATON ROUGE – LSU women’s basketball coach Nikki Caldwell along with Sheila Boykin and Raigyne Moncrief met with the media on Tuesday leading into this week’s SEC Tournament.
The Lady Tigers (16-12, 10-6 SEC) secured the No. 4 seed and a double bye into Friday’s quarterfinal round. LSU has won six of its last nine, eight of its last 12 games and wrapped up the regular season with an 80-63 victory over No. 12 Texas A&M.
The Lady Tigers will either square off Texas A&M, Florida or Auburn on Friday at 2:30 p.m. from Verizon Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas. The game will be televised by the SEC Network along with www.WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
The LSU Sports Radio Network will carry the game on its flagship station Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge and online for Geaux Zone subscribers at www.LSUsports.net/live. Patrick Wright, the voice of the Lady Tigers, will call the action.
For all of the latest news and information on Lady Tiger basketball, visit www.LSUsports.net.womensbasketball. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/LSUwbkb, @LSUwbkb and @NikkiCaldwell on Twitter, @LSUwbkb and @LSUNikkiCaldwell on Instagram.
| SEC Standings, Schedule, Tournament | |||
| Seed | Team | SEC | Overall |
| 1 | South Carolina | 15-1 | 27-2 |
| 2 | Tennessee | 15-1 | 28-4 |
| 3 | Mississippi St. | 11-5 | 25-6 |
| 4 | LSU | 10-6 | 16-12 |
| 5. | Texas A&M | 10-6 | 22-8 |
| 6. | Kentucky | 10-6 | 21-8 |
| 7. | Missouri | 7-9 | 17-12 |
| 8. | Ole Miss | 7-9 | 17-12 |
| 9. | Arkansas | 6-10 | 16-12 |
| 10. | Georgia | 6-10 | 18-11 |
| 11. | Vanderbilt | 5-11 | 14-15 |
| 12. | Florida | 5-11 | 13-16 |
| 13. | Auburn | 3-13 | 12-17 |
| 14. | Alabama | 2-14 | 13-18 |
| All times Central SEC Tournament Schedule | Home Little Rock, Ark. Wed., March 4 |
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LSU Women’s Basketball Media Session
March 3, 2015
HEAD COACH NIKKI CALDWELL
Opening statement …
“This has been a very interesting past few months when you look at the path this team have had to take to get to this place. They have really shown that they are resilient, and they play with a lot of courage. They have the passion and the determination to be one of the best teams in the country. They have proven that through their play and through their record. We’ve got to continue to take this momentum that we have into the SEC tournament. Our goal is to really maximize our potential not only offensively but obviously defensively. We’ve been very good at disrupting our opponents so when you are on the road I always stress that you have to bring your defensive A game and your board play. That’s what we are going to have to have for this stretch.”
On if it is more important to scout other teams or yourself with having the double bye …
“This time of year, we want to really focus in on ourselves and focus in on how we are going to defend certain play action. There are only so many things you can do against a zone – screening it, overloading it, screening the top or screening the bottom. We just making sure that we are very consistent in our game play defensively. Offensively, we are going to really spend these next couple of days on skill development. We are going to go back to the fundamentals of making layups, making free throws and making wide open jump shots. We are really just going to work on honing in and focusing in on what we do best. On Thursday night, we will know what our next opponent is but our game plan will not change. We still want to play this game with great pressure when we can for 94 feet, and we want to run our matchup zone.”
On Danielle Ballard‘s All-SEC First-Team selection …
“I feel as though Danielle deserves the accolades. I am glad that the other coaches recognize what she has meant, not only to LSU, but the SEC. You have a player that not only scores the basketball but she also defends. She’s a great helper on defense, and she’s one of the best rebounding guards in the country. With that being said and when you look at Danielle’s SEC and NCAA tournament play, she’s putting up all American type of numbers. She’s somebody that we hope to continue to go far in NCAA play so she can be on that national stage to be recognized as one of the best players in the county.”
On the other players feeding off of Danielle Ballard on the floor …
“I know that (Raigyne) Moncreif feels less pressure when she has Ballard on the floor with her. She gives her that comfort where if Ray (Moncrief) gets the hot hand, she knows that Danielle can step up and relieve some of that pressure from her. They can go back and forth, kind of like (Scottie) Pippen and (Michael) Jordan or Batman and Robin is what we call them. She’s the player that allows players to really let her do the work, and you can kind of sit back. Once she finds you, you can just knock down the shot. Her teammates feed off of her energy. Just being on the court, she has a presence of confidence and strength and that tapers into our team.”
On the SEC Tournament and on LSU’s chances of winning the tournament …
“I do. I feel like this is a tournament for anyone when you look at the wins and the losses and who has beaten who and how close the games have been. It’s going to be a great tournament. It’s been a great season for our fans to just watch SEC women’s basketball. I know we don’t underestimate anybody in our league. When you look at the teams that are playing on Thursday, you have to understand those are teams that very well could have been playing on Friday. They may have been one game off or one basket away. We appreciate the competiveness, but it also gives it a little bit of a fun flare to it when you see that Kentucky has beaten South Carolina and that Kentucky has been beaten by us. All of that, you think about it But when that ball is thrown up in that SEC tournament play, the regular season is over. You focus in on that opponent because you tend to feel one and done so to speak. There is a different level of urgency at the tournament.”
On the team’s NCAA Tournament resume heading into the SEC Tournament …
“I know that, and I’ve said this before, 10 wins in the SEC, that’s a huge milestone to reach. We’ve done that. I know that the only thing we can’t do is go out and try to improve our seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Obviously through the SEC Tournament, you make a lot of noise there. If you can get to that championship game, and if you win that championship game, you’re definitely in.”