Florida State Quotes
2014 NCAA Tournament 1st Round
(7) Iowa St. vs. (10) Florida St.
(Sat., 3 p.m.)
Quotes taken Friday, March 21, 2014
Hilton Coliseum | Ames, Iowa
Florida State head coach Sue Semrau:
On preparing team for hostile environment: “I hope that all of the teams very soon are
like Iowa State; their fan support that they get here is phenomenal. They have more than
earned the right to host this type of event. Thirteen years ago, my first NCAA
tournament with Florida State was here in Ames and it was a phenomenal experience.
And I think it will be a tremendous NCAA environment for these student-athletes.”
On coming back to Ames: “It’s really fun, because I’ve got a boss now that played in
that game, I’ve got an assistant coach that played in that game and you see that things
come full circle. I remember the first game we played and just the joy that came with
being in this type of environment. We’ve kept things rolling here at Florida State, and
there is a satisfaction that comes 13 years later.”
On having 15 days off: “More than that we are just trying to stay focused and
entertained in practice. We had an exceptional week of practice after the ACC
tournament. We have a young team, and we have a long way to go to be a great
basketball team. I really felt like the young players grew a tremendous amount in that
time. Cheetah and Tash did a great job of keeping them focused.”
On Iowa State’s 3-point shooting: “They’re tremendous. I’ve known Bill and his
philosophy for a long time. Not only can the guard shoot it, but the center can shoot it.
We decided early on with only an eight-player rotation that we need to be really diligent
and be good at something and we’ve been pretty good at our zone and it will be a great
match up on both ends. Us offensively and them offensively I think it is going to be a
really fun game.”
On changing the tournament format to have the top 16 host next year: “I’ve been
coaching now for a long time, and if you would have asked me this as a young coach I
would have been like, ‘No way.’ But I do think that, in the game of women’s basketball,
you can’t just think about having a neutral site. You have got to think about the
experience for student-athletes. I remember going to the Sweet 16 in Fresno and there
were only 500 people there. Here we are from Florida, playing in California – it didn’t
make much sense. It doesn’t make much sense financially; it doesn’t make much sense
for the student-athlete experience. I really like looking more towards a baseball model. I
think we as women’s basketball, as an organization, as coaches, need to look more at
being fiscally responsible and giving the athletes the best experience they can possibly
have.”
Florida State guard Cheetah Delgado:
On what it will take for FSU to win: “We are going to stick to our 2-3 zone. That’s what
we have been playing all season. We’ve got a new rotation; we are starting all new
players. We’ve really got to communicate. We know that every single person out there
on their team can shoot a three, so we are just getting prepared for that.”
Florida State forward Natasha Howard:
On the matchup with Iowa State: “Yeah, it’s a good match up for me, Cheetah, and all
the other players.”
On her advice to the team: “One game at a time, we’ve got to focus on Iowa State.
We’ve got to focus on today and what we need to do.”
On playing against Iowa State on its home court: “We just played against Maryland on
their home court. It doesn’t matter where we play; we’ve got to make sure we come out
and focus and be ready and play Florida State basketball.”
Florida State guard Brittany Brown:
Does she approach an NCAA game differently than a regular season game?: “Yes. It’s
win or go home, so we have to play as hard as we can. ‘Tash’ and Cheetah [Natasha
Howard and Cheetah Delgado] are seniors, and they mean so much to us, so we will
play really hard for them.”
On what the seniors told her prior to her first NCAA game: “They told us that
anything can happen, so play as hard as you can.”
On playing in her first NCAA game: “I’m excited to have an opportunity to play in the
NCAA tournament against really good teams and competing for a national
championship.”
On playing a non-ACC team after a long conference schedule: “It will be different to
play against a team other than an ACC team.”
Florida State guard Emiah Bingley:
On playing in her first NCAA game: “It’s exciting. The coaches explained to us about
how much fun of an experience this will be, and I can’t wait to get started. We have a lot
to prove, and we’re going to go out and take care of business.”
On beating Iowa State: “We just have to play smart and play our game. We have to
continue to get up and down the floor and just make sure we stay within what we do.”
On playing a non-ACC team after a long conference schedule: “It feels good to play
someone different. It’s nice to get to play some different competition because our
conference is so strong.”
Florida State forward Lauren Coleman:
On talking to the younger players on the team about the NCAAs: “Over the year I
have stepped into more of a leadership role, so I am approaching it by trying to get our
younger teammates to realize it is just another game, and that there is no need to stress
out. We know what we need to do.”
On what Florida State needs to do to win the game: “We have to play our game and
stick to what we do and what we know. We have to make sure we get rebounds because
that’s what we do well.”
On stopping Iowa State: “They’re a shooting team, so we have to make sure we know
where their shooters are all the time and get up in their face and put a lot of pressure on
them.”