Some quotes from the locker room before the Elite Eight game, including some stuff from Dawn Staley herself in an off-podium interview.
Dawn Staley:
On Bree Hall's growth:
"She's confident. I'm confident in her. She has put in a lot of work to gain trust from us and our coaching staff, and we don't question whether or not she's going to be ready to play. Anywhere we put her in the game, whether it's the end of the first quarter, the beginning of the first quarter, if she sits for the first quarter and gets in the second quarter, she always bring the same energy. And now she's bringing her ability to space the floor and get to the rim. Her career is just developing really nicely."
On defending Maryland's 5-out offense:
"Our bigs are used to guarding on the perimeter, probably not for 40 minutes. And the way that Maryland plays they spread you out, they downhill drive, they kick you out for 3-point shooters that are spacing the floor, and they pressure you full court when they're able to get into their three quarter court press.
They can turn you over. I looked at our stats, and we had 20 turnovers against them. We can't have 20 turnovers tomorrow and think we're going to win this basketball game. You give and take when you play that game. The give is you may hit some 3s, the take is they may miss some, we rebound and we push it right back at them. A lot of times when teams play that way they're not very good at defending the way that we play, so we have to attack that tomorrow."
Jokingly asked if Aliyah Boston could play point guard:
"I'm never going to doubt Aliyah Boston, ever (laughing). If she thinks she can be a Dawn Staley point guard, we might try her tomorrow."
On defending Diamond Miller:
"We definitely have to mix up the looks. They start a smaller lineup, so V [Victaria] will be challenged in trying to guard her. Obviously Brea Beal is going to be challenged in trying to guard him. I think the beauty in what we've been able to do all season long is give people like Diamond different looks. Hopefully we can put Raven on her and Raven can play underneath her a little bit, we can put LA on her and LA can be long on her. V can use her fifth-year savvy and understand beating Diamond to the spot. We're going to have to play different people."
Zia Cooke:
On the Elite Eight:
"Both teams are trying to get to the Final Four, and that's very hard to do. We're going against a great opponent as well, so I think we're both going to be very prepared for the moment, and there's going to be a lot of energy in the gym."
On what's different between Maryland in November vs. now:
"Diamond [Miller] being back is very, very key. I think she's the glue to their team. She's the reason why they win a lot of games because of the experience that she has and how much of a good player that she is."
On facing a team that runs a 5-out offense:
"I don't think it's too much of a challenge, because we've seen so much. I think we're prepared for whatever they bring us. But it kind of helps us in a way, because we can kind of play defense the way we want to play.
Victaria Saxton:
"They're a great team. Like I said before they're aggressive, they're going to look to get to the basket, they're going to make 3, so we just have to be aware and know what's going on out on the court."
On if they play more like an SEC team than a Big Ten team (as Dawn aluded to at the podium):
"I mean hey, I think SEC teams are pretty up there, and I think that's where they are."
Said Maryland doesn't remind her of anyone the played this year "off the top of her head."
On a late tip-off and waiting around all day:
"I mean, I just kind of relax. I might get some schoolwork done, just not worrying or anything like that. I'm pretty chill, honestly."
Laeticia Amihere:
On the Elite Eight:
"That's to get to the next level, that's to get to Dallas. Everybody is gunning for the Final Four. Obviously everyone is gunning for the championship, but I feel like this is goign to be the toughest game.
On if she is thinking about how close the team is to the Final Four:
"I definitely will when we get to the game the game tomorrow. I'm really trying to be in the moment and take everything by bits and pieces."
On the differences between Maryland now and November:
"Diamond Miller, obviously. She's a big piece of their puzzle, and it's going to be a different ballgame when she's in. We just have to limit her production. She's very tall, she's lengthy, she has guard skills, so that's a good bag to have."
On if they've faced someone similar to Maryland:
"They run a lot of similar plays like UCLA, so we're definitely looking at that and trying to have a read on what they did back at the beginning of the season and use those adjustments."
Bree Hall:
On the Elite Eight:
"Both teams are really fighting to go to Dallas, so I think that is definitely the hardest game."
On what's different about Maryland:
"I think they've gelled together a lot better. It's the postseason, so eveyone has cleaned up their mistakes or adjusted what they didn't like earlier in the season. And then also having Diamond is a very big difference."
On what makes Maryland unique:
"I think the most unique thing is probably their 5-out. They don't really have any true post players, so they're all pretty much guards."
Olivia Thompson:
On the Elite Eight:
She was talking about the Texas game in 2021 in the bubble as such a hard game, and then went on to say:
"I think the reason why it's such a difficult game is because everyone is bringing that extra little push to get to the Final Four. We just have to bring it. They're definitely going to bring it and throw everything at us, so we have to be ready to take that and bring it back. You can definitely feel the excitement. It has a little bit of a different feel to it, but we're still just being true to ourselves and staying on track."
On what's different about Maryland:
"They've grown a lot within their offense. When we played them they didn't have Diamond Miller who is such a key player for them. She's a force on offense, so we have to be ready for them. Their shooting ability is outstanding, so we have to be ready for that."
On the 5-out offense:
"I know UCLA definitely can do that, they're shooters one through five. But Maryland is different when it comes to that shooting, they're definitely an exceptional team in that area. We have to be ready to defend that, but I think we're ready for that."
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