Chattanooga 68, Furman 55
Southern Conference Tournament Semifinal
Asheville, N.C. - U.S. Cellular Center
Friday, March 6, 2015
Chattanooga Mocs
Head Coach Jim Foster
On Jasmine Joyner's 26-point, 20-rebound performance
“She's Jasmine. She is a terrific player and very coachable. When she learns how to front the post, she will be great. She just does good things out there.”
On his defensive strategy against Furman
“This team makes more 3s than anyone in the league. We wanted to make every 3 they got difficult, and we did that for the most part. We wanted to jam up on them when they tried to isolate Jasmine. We did better at that as we went along. For the most part, we did exactly what we wanted to.”
On the tempo of the game
“I thought we controlled the tempo. We changed a little bit and got off denial full court to make it a little bit harder for the point guard to get a full head of steam. I thought we did a pretty good job of paying attention, for the most part. We had a couple of miscommunications and misunderstandings, but we will address that as we go along.”
Sophomore forward Jasmine Joyner
On how transitioning from Kimmel Arena to the U.S. Cellular Center had an effect on her game
“I try not to let the different gym and different ball get in the way of my game. I just think about Chattanooga. I'm playing with the same girls, running the same plays and playing for the same coaches. I just have to get everything out of my head and not make excuses, make my free throws and play well.”
On her rebounding strategy
“I just want to crash the boards. We missed early in the game, so I tried to take advantage. My strategy is when my teammates shoot the ball, I try to think it is a miss. So I go crash the boards no matter if it is a miss or a make. I am kind of quicker than their post players, so I also used that advantage since Brittany Hodges is stronger than me. I just try to use my advantage and be quicker than her to get to rebounds.”
Freshman guard/forward Keiana Gilbert
On watching Jasmine play at a high level
“It's been good. We depend on her a lot in the post. When we aren't shooting well, we can depend on Jasmine to score in the post. If the guards get past us on defense, we can depend on her to give help in the paint.”
Furman Paladins
Coach Jackie Carson
Opening statement
“Obviously, we're disappointed, but we knew Chattanooga was a good team. We did a lot of things defensively that we were happy with. It was the additional shots and turnovers that doomed us in. It was the same thing that happened when we played them at their place. I thought our girls had the right mindset to come in and challenge for a spot in the finals. I'm extremely proud of our program for continuing to fight. Hats off to Chattanooga, they are outstanding and they are well-coached. Coach (Jim) Foster is an outstanding coach. We gave it our best shot but came up short in some areas. I appreciate our teams' effort.”
On Furman's seniors
“When you have four young ladies that buy into everything you said before you've coached one day, that's pretty special. I'm mostly upset because I couldn't get them a championship, which is what I wanted to promise them as they came to Furman. What they've done for this program and university is outstanding. That's a credit to my assistant coaches that I've had over the years and to these young ladies and how hard they've worked. They are all very special in their own right. They mean a lot to me. They are my first recruiting class. They've done everything I've asked them to do. They've worked hard for me. They mean everything to me, and they've built this program.”
Senior forward Brittany Hodges
On her career at Furman
“Overall, I've definitely enjoyed the experience. The people I've been around, players and coach, have made it a true journey for me. While I wish we could have come further and gotten a SoCon championship, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world.”
