Sue Semrau Quotations

We're a much better basketball team when she stays on the floor, obviously. She's just so well-rounded at both ends of the floor. I think she's one of the top players in the conference. It's exciting to see her numbers reflect that.

She just really came up big. I thought our guards did a great job of getting her the basketball, and she just really responded. I thought that was the best game that we've seen out of her. For a freshman, she really stepped up and did a great job.

Monday will be a big, big game for us but we are going to continue to take it one game at a time and stay with the routine that we know and trust right now.

I am really proud of our players because there has been a lot of hard work on their part. The thing I'm really excited about is we will be playing on neutral courts. It was a tough route going up to Connecticut last season. We can deal with altitude but it's a lot more difficult to go out and play on a home court. Louisiana Tech is a great team. I know Chris Long well and he has done a great job as a first-year coach. It will be a tough one out there but it's something we will look forward to. We know we have to go out to Denver and take care of business. We can only take it one game at a time and we won't look past anything.

Carolina has a lot of great athletes. They're a very versatile team. They press extremely well. They're versatile on the offensive end. A lot of players can shoot the three ball and they hit the glass hard.

For us to be right behind them, I think is a testimony to the heart and character of our basketball team.

For us having a December that was scheduled on the road so much already and then to have January on the road makes it a little bit more difficult. Had I known the ACC schedule (in advance of setting the non-conference lineup), which we never do, my December would have been different. That's just the way everything falls. ... Ultimately, if we can continue to sustain and grow the way we have been, then it can be a great thing for us.

Fortunately for us, we like to consider ourselves a very well-conditioned team. I don't have a team where one player is the superstar. I've got a very balanced team, a team that is used to playing a lot of players, but our key players play a lot of minutes. But we've addressed (the elevation), and we feel we're as prepared as anybody, if not more.

Having her take that last shot was really almost poetic. I just wish she would have hit it.

I absolutely loved our team effort when we got down early in the second half. Our fight was tremendous.

I think it is really important if you have any kind of vision for going to the championship game of the tournament because four days, four games is a very difficult task. It's been done, but at the same time, it's a lot easier if you have the chance to play three back-to-back games instead so I'm very proud of my team for finishing in the top four in the ACC.

I think it's just the growth of the program. Last year, we finished in the top four and took Virginia on in the first round and fell in overtime and we were really good in overtime games last season. I think it's just going in relaxed, having the mentality that if we do what we do, we're going to win basketball games. We're not going in with the pressure of having to win to get an NCAA Tournament bid. We just need to go in and play our best.

I thought Christie played with great tempo tonight. She had four offensive boards in the first half. She played like a dominant post player.

I thought Carrie Mason was the best I've ever seen her. Obviously, she missed just one shot. Her shot selection was tremendous. She hit big shots when she need to. She hit all of her free throws. She ran the team and she did a great job. Virginia Tech did a good job of making the extra pass which is shown by the 18 assists. That's what you've got to do against a defense that's going to come at you. That's to penetrate and then find the next one. They did a tremendous job of that.

It is so important for our program to develop awareness that there is life outside of basketball. We want to continue to connect with young people and others in need.

I thought we had an outstanding practice yesterday. Our players made a commitment to the defensive system and it seemed as though we were clicking on all cylinders...especially in the first half.

I thought we got a good look too. We will go back to the drawing board. We're really not just going to focus on this. We will focus on the things that we've done to be able to be better and go into the NCAA tournament with a lot of confidence.

I think we continue to get better and better with our road play. It's almost like it's our home away from home now since we don't have very many home games, the next two again are on the road and one team we've faced before (Virginia) and one team we don't have to travel as far to face (Georgia Tech). We've been intentional in preparing for it and we're going to be our best come Sunday.

I think it's the place that we always hoped that it would be with the solid foundation, fundamentals, mind-set and work ethic.

I think this will be one of the best tournaments that we've seen in the ACC.

It is interesting having two weeks off in one month, especially a month where we've had very few home games. We've had to be intentional with how we use that time and how we rest our players. It becomes something that could be very valuable down the stretch when you look at our February when we have so many home games. Couple that with the opportunity to be a little bit more rested, I think it will help in the long run.

Our team played really well at Miami. I keep talking about how much better we're getting and I think a lot of that is just developing confidence and the consistency we have on the defensive end of the floor. We're beginning now to not only defend like we can, but also rebound the basketball extremely well and because of those two things, we're coming up with some easy transition buckets on the other end.

Our ball pressure was very good, and it made it hard for her teammates to find her.

Rebounding was our emphasis the whole game, especially in the second half when we came out and held them off of the offensive boards. We limited them to four offensive boards in the second half and quite frankly, I thought that was the difference in the basketball game.

It feels good to be at home because it's so rare.

I think our rebounding effort against Clemson is going to help us. This is what we're going to have to put together up there. We don't have anything to lose. If we can play with that sustained level throughout the game, it's a 2:00 in the afternoon game and we'll have a bunch of energy. It will be fun to go up there and take our best shot at them.

The altitude is going to be a factor in the sense that physiologically it will affect but it's going to affect all of the teams. The way you handle that is what's important. We're going to go out and we're going to play hard. We're going to do what we can to prepare for the altitude but then we're going to go out and play the ball game and not even think about it.

Winning in the ACC Tournament always helps your seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Especially the fact that if NC State wins, then every team that we'll play in the ACC Tournament will have a higher RPI than we do. That can only help us in our cause for the NCAA Tournament.

We're certainly not where we want to be at.

We gave the team the Clemson scouting report tonight. Obviously we'll be somewhat familiar since we've played them before but that was a long time ago. I really trust my team to study that and be prepared for Saturday where we'll have a very light practice but we'll be going through Clemson's sets and get mentally prepared and try to take care of their bodies before we play a 3:00 game on Sunday.

We do believe we can go on a run. We feel like the Georgia Tech game is going to be really important for us in sustaining that. The win at Virginia can be a great start to that run if we can continue to take advantage of the momentum we have, at Georgia Tech. In essence, though, coming home and playing all but two games at home in the month of February is huge for us. We've built character and we're on solid ground. We feel like we have as much confidence as we've ever had.

Those seniors characterize the growth of our program.

This was a disappointing loss for us. I felt like we were not who we are on the defensive end of the floor. We don't give up 76 points. We don't allow teams to shoot 52 percent and that's what happened tonight and anytime we allow that to happen, we can expect to get beat.

We were obviously thrilled when we were approached with the opportunity to light the spear. Obviously we have so much respect for our football program and to be the first team to experience that lighting of the torch for a special occasion is really awesome.

We had some folks step up for us who weren't necessarily big for us all year. That's what you've got to have this time of year.

Boston College coming in is just the kind of game you just want to play. You have a Top 20-ranked team coming to your place and it's their first time ever in Tallahassee. There the team that will probably finish fifth or sixth in the conference and we just really want to lock in and go to work with that. We're not going to hold anything back, we're going to go after it and try to get this game with everything we've got.

The thing I love most about Florida State is the people who support us. It's unbelievable to be at an FSU football game with 80,000 awesome fans. I want my players, who have done so much to elevate our women's basketball program, to experience that special atmosphere...and I'll camp out to rally those same fans to join us on Sunday at 1 p.m.!

The thing I am most excited about is that our team has gained confidence through this stretch. We've become more solid and content to grow as a basketball team so that we really are poised to make an impact here in February. It could have gone the other way. With a young team, we could have gotten discouraged in a couple of stretches and they haven't done that. They've stayed strong and I'm excited about what that means for this team.

Quite frankly, it's what Holly (Johnson) told them during that timeout. Holly is a very strong leader for our team, and when Holly says, 'We've got this, you guys,' they believe her.

Our seniors have been able to do so much.

Defensively, we are playing our best basketball and when we use our defense to generate our offense, that's when we're exciting. Tournament-time, no matter who we play, the way we match up if going to come down to how we defend and how we rebound.

That's just uncharacteristic. We don't turn it over like this. Credit Florida for the pressure that they put on us.

Alicia has really come into her own now in this part of the season. She played great for us in Italy and that was when she was with people she was very familiar with. With our new players, she had to get familiar and you can see now that familiarity is coming in and she's really stepped up her game. She's a special player.

Alicia has been so steady for us this season, especially in ACC play. Already a great defender, she really stepped up her offensive game this season and has become a real go-to player for us.

You stop a player like that if you don't have (to stop) all the other players around her. She picks her moments, she lets the game come to her and she's just very seasoned.

This campaign was not about money. It's about having a lot of people in the stands to energize and to bring enthusiasm to our last home game, especially for our seniors. It's exciting to finish in the top four in the ACC back-to-back years and we've put ourselves in great position to go to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years as well. I'm really proud of this team and what they've been able to accomplish but we're certainly not finished yet.

It's all about the game. Game, game, game. They know the big-picture stuff. ... I don't think I've had a team as determined to move forward as this one.

It's going to be something she has to fight through.

It's really going to be about getting to know each other. Initially, it has to be off the court. The way that our team was so successful last year was that they played hard for each other. We want to create that dynamic where you know and care about one another off the court.

Even with Fordham and Lipscomb, we've been talking about taking it one game at a time. We've got a stretch here now that we really need to lock in to every single game with preparation. I just like the mentality of our team right now and I like the demeanor.

The best thing about them is they didn't let us go to the offensive boards. We've been first or second in the conference the whole year. We don't pride ourselves on being a great shooting. We pride ourselves in getting extra possessions, and I thought Maryland kept us from those extra possessions.

It was a heartbreaker. I thought we had a good look (on Neely's shot). I thought my team stepped up, and I am looking forward to moving on into the NCAA tournament.

They haven't tried to step out and be stars on their own. They've committed to complementing one another with their strengths and their weaknesses. Even Hannah, who made a choice to say, 'I want to give to this team in other ways, and I can't do it physically.' That selflessness, I think, has been prevalent through this group.

Not only can she penetrate and score around the basket, but she can shoot the deep three. There are not a lot of players out there who have both elements like that. We've really got to find her (tonight).

Against Lipscomb, we were able to sustain our defensive intensity and show some different looks which I thought was really important for our preparation for a much-improved Florida team since the time we saw them last.

I like the fact that they took hold of that second chance. We're not finished, though. Clemson played N.C. State really tough.

I'm proud of this team who, I think, early in the season, had every right to question whether or not we could finish in the top four of the conference. They set their minds to it, even as a young team, and said 'we're going to do what it takes in order to gel into a team that has strong chemistry and a team that has a solid worth ethic and a team that defends. And boy, they did that tonight.

I'm just really impressed with the growth of our team ... The toughness that seems to be developing. The last two games down the stretch is when we've been our best.

Individually, none of them could have done it. But collectively they've been fabulous. They want to leave a legacy and that's what makes them special.

I like the way that we match up with them. We're a very athletic team as well. We can defend and we can handle pressure.

I may regret sleeping in a tent come Sunday, but it's all being done in good spirits and I'm thrilled to do anything to help us fill the Tucker Center for this very special game.

In the stages of growing and developing that teamwork and trust for each other on the defensive end of the floor, you have to help them believe that you're going to get there. It's not just the (wins). They can see the results in different possessions. And as they gain confidence possession by possession, they see themselves beating good teams.

In the games we've lost lately, foul trouble has been our problem.

I guess we've given them the second-best challenge of anybody.

Being able to do this shows a lot of growth in our program. This is a very historic program at Virginia. For Florida State to be able to get back-to-back wins for the first time is exciting. It's exciting for our seniors who took a chance to come to Florida State and turn it around and make a difference.

Georgia Tech is playing great basketball right now. They, on the road, are going to be a real difficult match up for us. They've got great size and really do a good job on the defensive end of the floor. They are the number one rebounding team in our conference. We're just going to have to have a great rebounding effort against them and go in with the mindset that we're going to attack on the offensive end.

How our upperclassmen bring them along and teach them is going to be critical.

The growth is what we anticipated. We knew that it was going to take some time to get to this point.

The important thing for us, we are not playing the program, but a basketball team. We will work on the types of things we need to do to match up with a very good team.

The Georgia Tech game was physical but I think the rest of our conference schedule is going to be the same way. NC State comes in a very physical basketball team. We're going to have to really work to get to the point of screens even and make our cuts like we want to be able to do. Obviously the ACC is a conference that really does prepare you for March.