Spokane notebook: Day 1 of the Sweet 16

The comfort she has in this typically high-pressure environment was evident as she spoke with media ahead of her team’s Sweet 16 match-up against LSU. Rivers sat on the dais with fellow seniors Madison Hayes and Aziaha James, a consistent smile on her face as she cracked jokes and elicited laughs from the assembled media.

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The Wolfpack talked about how they feel they’re benefiting from the experience of playing in the Pacific Northwest during last year’s Portland, Ore. NCAA Tournament regional.

“We were out here last year, so it’s not something that we’re not used to,” Rivers said. “We’ve gotten some rest and I think we’re adjusting and I think we’ll be definitely ready for tomorrow.

Head coach Wes Moore shared his senior point guard’s sentiment while smiling and commending Spokane and Portland as host sites.

“Hey, most people probably say, ‘Oh, wow, that’s a long trip.’ We think, ‘Hey, man, we did this last year, so we know what’s going on.’ … I thought Portland was unbelievable a year ago. So hopefully, we can keep that same mojo and you guys maybe will adopt us as your team,” Moore joked.

With a combination of youth and seniority on their team, Hayes and James explained how they support the younger players on the team with less experience.

“I feel like for the freshmen, we always try to keep in mind that this is their first time being here,” Hayes said. “And obviously giving them that experience to be here because not a lot of people can say they have been here before … But at the end of the day, when you go out there, you just got to be ready for when your number is called because everybody brings different things to the table for us.”

The group identified recovery as particularly important down this stretch of the tournament with lots of games close together against really tough teams.

“We know the steps, we know the key,” James said. “So it’s just a matter of them following behind us and us leading the way as captains and for them to be ready when their number’s called.”

Rivers joked that “they said it all, don’t need to repeat nothing.”

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Moore praised his seniors for their role in the team’s improvement this year.

“We got some leadership out there that knows our culture, knows how we want to do things, know how we want to handle things. So I think that they make a big difference, bringing those young players along,” Moore said. “We’re really young interior-wise, so I think that’s been a challenge. But I think that’s also a big reason we’ve taken some leaps in our success and our ability to play well. So no doubt when you have veterans it’s like having extra assistant coaches when they’re out there on the court.”

NC State-LSU rematch

Friday’s Sweet 16 battle will be the second time LSU plays against NC State this season. On Nov. 27, 2024, the Tigers defeated the Wolfpack in the Bahamas 82-65. Both teams emphasized that they didn’t want to put too much weight on that previous result for different reasons.

“I think we’re a much different team,” Rivers said. “At the beginning of the season we were still trying to get a feel of each other, get a grasp. Obviously, we had a lot of returners, but I feel like with the freshmen coming in and people playing out of position, we just weren’t very comfortable and confident. So as the season went along, and we started putting pieces together, I would say we’re a much different team.”

NC State started the season with just four wins to their three losses. Since then, they have lost another three games, but won 24.

LSU head coach Kim Mulkey is adamant her team isn’t putting weight on having won the previous meeting, her players agreed.

“We don’t look past nobody,” guard Flau’Jae Johnson said. “We just go in there with the mindset of just being the most prepared team.”

“When we played in the Bahamas we were a brand new team,” forward Aneesah Morrow said. “We didn’t really know how each other played, we didn’t have that connection. Now seeing us click in March Madness right now it’s like, it could be scary. But of course never take anybody for granted. Never come in and just think that you’re going to win a game. You have to come in and put the work in.”

As much as both teams have improved since November, neither has changed the core philosophy of their team. A notable statistic pointed out by NC State head coach Wes Moore is that LSU out-rebounded his team 44-24. Rebounding is likely to be a major factor in this re-match.

“LSU is a different animal,” Moore said. “They’re a great offensive rebounding team, and that’s what concerns you going into this game, is can we limit them to one shot a possession. I think rebounds are the most important factor in the game because no matter how bad of a shooting day you have, if you’re getting second and third chances and the other team’s one and done, you got a really good chance of winning.”

NC State typically play with four guards and generally have outstanding guard play. Those guards will need to rebound, but on the interior they will be relying on very young post players.

Swedish freshman Tilda Trygger is likely to get the start at the five position because of her 6’6 height, but this season has featured a massive learning curve for her. As tall as she is, she was coming from European teams that played a lot of five-out with less inside presence, so playing center was like playing a new position for her. Moore remarked that sometimes she is “a little too Swedish” when banging around in the post so they have “to make sure she understands she’s going to have to be physical and battle in there.”

Lorena Awou is another freshman post player, standing at 6’5 tall, who has seen increasing minutes this season and will be an important piece for NC State. Moore said she has the physicality and strength to get in there and play physically, but whether she can stop a rebounding machine in Morrow is another matter. The senior Tiger averaged 13.5 rebounds per game this season.

Moore also pointed out LSU’s overall strength on both ends of the court.

“I mean, as I like to say, they’re dogs. They’re going to get after you and play, and you got to be ready,” Moore said. “You have got to try to slow down their transition, you got to try to keep ’em off the boards. They have got great scorers … I think probably offensively they’re more efficient than they were early in the year. 

“They’re still a great defensive team. That’s a big thing. You got to take care of the ball because if you turn it over, it’s defense to offense really, really quick. And then trying to also handle their pressure in the half court and take care of the ball, get looks. They make it hard for you to do that. Our eyes are wide open. We know we’ve got a big challenge.”

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Mulkey was very complimentary of the Wolfpack’s guard play, but thinks her team has the better balance.

“They’ve played together awhile. Those guards just have unbelievable range, those guards can dribble penetrate,” Mulkey said. “hey have won games on the road that were tough games, they were in tight games, they made the plays to win those games. They shoot the ball 15 threes in a game … but we have great post play.”

“I don’t know that it’s an advantage when you reach the playoffs. A lot of people tend to think the team that advances has great guard play, and we feel like we have a balance of great guard play and post play,” she continued.

Moore echoed this sentiment and the issues it poses for his team. The 12-year head coach of the Wolfpack sees Morrow as the lead or king “dog” but there is so much talent on the team, Johnson and Mikaylah Williams in particular, that NC State can’t afford to get caught up on just one player. Because the Tigers have so many players that can hurt them, the gameplan heavily involves in-game, on-the-fly adjustments.

“We’re just going to have to see how the game unfolds,” Moore said. “They kept wanting to ask me, ‘How you going to do this? How you going to do that?’ We’re going to see how the game goes, see who is hot and, hopefully, they don’t get hot. But, you know, just you’re going to have to make adjustments and you’re going to have to give attention to who is hurting you at the time.”

The Wolfpack also hope to ride the momentum of their Round 2 83-49 win over No. 7 Michigan State. Moore thinks his team is coming off of one of the best games of the season where defense was strong and offensively “we shot the heck out of it.” He’ll wait to see if his team can carry they forward and show how they have improved since the last meeting against LSU.

“We’ll see if we have evolved tomorrow,” Moore said.

Hungry Tigers bring the best out of each other

Beyond top-in-the-nation talent this LSU team also has multiple levels of motivation pushing them to compete for a National Championship.

“I would say we’re like a team-coached team,” Morrow explained. “Flau’jae can get on me, Mikaylah can get on me, and I can get on them, and nobody take it personal. We hold each other accountable, and we accept the challenges that we have for one another, and we set a standard, and we don’t lower that for each other.”

The 6’1 senior forward lovingly praised the energy that Johnson brings to everything.

“Sometimes I see her and I’m like, ‘Dang, she’s got a lot of energy. It’s 8 o’clock in the morning,’” Morrow said laughing. “But it’s great to be around that positive energy. She comes in, she has this bubbly spirit. She’s one of the most genuine persons that I’ve came across in my life and she’s just a great person.”

That bubbly personality is what Williams thinks speaks to who Johnson is at her core.

“The person that motivates you, the person that also keeps it real, but the person that’s going to love on you at the end of the day,” Williams said. “So that’s just something that I really love about her is the person she is outside of basketball.”

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Johnson appreciated the praise and gave it right back, talking about how playing with two other All-Americans is uniquely motivating.

“They make you want to be better,” Johnson said. “That’s why I feel like this dynamic is so different because you really get a challenge every day in practice … and we don’t have egos. Like, we all pull for each other. Like, we all on the same thing. Like, we all want to win … If we have three players that can buy in, everybody else buys in, so it’s just up to us.”

Johnson specifically pointed out Williams’ passing ability as underrated and what has motivated her to improve that aspect of her own game. Seeing her do it so much in practice made her “want to pass like Magic” too.

Williams also pointed to the experience the rest of LSU’s terrifying trio have in the NCAA tournament.

“I think just the work, their work ethic alone wants you to — it gives you that extra drive to be like, Okay, I’m not going to be the one left behind,” Williams said. “Because they’re working hard, they’re doing everything that they can … why not listen to them, they have done it, they have done it on the biggest stage, they have been here, so who am I to not listen to the people that’s been in my same shoes.”

Williams and Johnson are also very aware that this is Morrow’s last season. They don’t want her to graduate without a National Championship to add to her long list of individual accolades.

The big three don’t just motivate each other but their teammates as well. Recently that focus has been on 6’2 freshman forward Sa’Myah Smith, who had a massive performance in their last game, a 101-71 victory over Florida State. Smith scored 20 points on a perfect 9-for-9 shooting night, pulled down 12 rebounds, dished out 6 assists, and recorded 3 steals and 1 block.

“I think she understand how much we need her,” Johnson said. “But we know this is what she’s capable of. We know we can throw the ball up above the backboard, she going to go get it. I think she now feels more confident, and that’s where we need her. We don’t have to say nothing else to her for real, for real. She knows what she can do.”

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The other level of LSU’s motivation comes from their head coach Kim Mulkey. Both Johnson and Morrow appreciate how “real” she is most of all.

“Whether you like it or not, she going to say what’s on her mind. She going to stand on that. I think that’s the realest thing. Because when you look at it at the end of the day everybody just want to be pushed to they best abilities,” Johnson said. “I think she just teach you to hold yourself accountable and you can take that throughout life, not just on the basketball court. So I think if you really sit down and really take it in and reflect and not be bitter about what she says, you will be like, ‘wow it’s going to help me in life.’”

Morrow pointed to a point last season when Mulkey took her out of the starting lineup and how that move and the subsequent conversations about her underperforming really humbled her in a good way. 

“She have a standard for me and she know what I’m capable of,” Morrow said “So that’s why every night I step on the floor I tell her I got you. Like I got your back, you got my back. And that’s how it always been with Coach Mulkey. 

“I feel like coming here I got to see a different part of myself. She makes you feel more confident, continue to push who you are, and just be as dominant as you could be on the floor. But overall Mulkey is a great person. I know media might portray her to be something else, but she is an amazing person.”

Mississippi is not afraid of anyone

It’s easy to look at No. 1 overall seed UCLA taking on No. 5 seeded Mississippi and say UCLA are the favorites, but the Rebels thrive as underdogs.

“We could care less what anybody is ranked,” head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin told media on Thursday ahead of her team’s Sweet 16 matchup. “We always go into games as underdogs … I think we have a lot of experience and the pressure’s not on us.”

Mississippi have also had their confidence boosted by their impressive strength of schedule so far. They opened their season against USC in Paris, played UConn, took on NC State in Raleigh and during SEC play they faced five of the teams in the Sweet 16 — South Carolina, LSU, Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma.

Graduate forward Madison Scott commended her coaches for setting up the tough schedule.

“We have seen great players, great teams. We’re prepared for this moment,” Scott said. “So that’s what gives us the belief, the confidence — knowing that we’ve been battle-tested so we’re ready for whatever comes our way.”

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From that experience playing against great teams senior guard Kennedy Todd-Williams knows how important it is that senior leaders like herself and Scott lead the team’s mentality.

“Keeping our composure is the biggest thing and having that belief that we are hear for a reason. I think that’s the biggest thing for us,” Todd-Williams said. “So just reassuring them and keeping that confidence and belief, it’s the biggest thing.”

Mississippi also have the benefit of NCAA Tournament experience this year. In 2023, the Rebels appeared in their first Sweet 16 since 2007 and they upset the No. 1 seed Stanford. They were satisfied with making that program history and “were just partying like rockstars” McPhee-McCuin said.

“We beat Stanford and we went crazy. But this time around we beat Baylor [in the second round] and we celebrated, but it was short-term memory, it was back to work … we completely changed our mindset to UCLA,” Scott explained. “We want to give our all every time we step out on the floor, and we plan to give our all when we step out on the floor tomorrow.”

Now, they are more mature and understand what’s at stake. They are not satisfied. They are all business.

“This Sweet 16 run has been amazing just like the one was before but we’re — the difference is, I think, we’re hungry. If I’m being completely honest, back then we were just happy to do something that hadn’t been done in a very long time,” Scott said. “But now we’ve done that again, so we’re not complacent, we’re not satisfied. We want to keep going. We want to keep dancing. We want to keep making our Oxford community proud. So we plan to do just that.”

Rebel assistant coaches

McPhee-McCuin said she was glad when a member of the Mississippi media asked her about her assistant coaches and their role in developing the players on her team.

“Last year I was under a lot of scrutiny because I had made changes on my coaching staff,” McPhee-McCuin said. “And the whole thing was, we had just went to the NCAA tournament, why would I do such a thing? But I’ve never really been a traditional-type coach and I’ve always been pretty open and clear with my staff.

“The reason why I made a change is because I felt like for me, at the end of the day, I want to win a National Championship. So in order to do that, since I hadn’t done it, I thought it was important to have people around that had … There’s no coach that’s out here doing it by themselves. My staff is elite. They understand what’s at stake. They have been great for me, and I’ve really been able to do my best job as a coach because of them — the things that they handle for me, the things that they take off of my plate. I’ll put my staff up against anybody.”

The Rebels head coach praised the experience of assistant coach Quentin Hillsman, formerly the head coach at Syracuse. McPhee-McCuin pointed to his success leading the Orange to eight NCAA Tournament appearances, most notably the first appearances in school history in the Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final Four and national championship game in 2016. Syracuse lost 82-51 in the championship game as UConn won their fourth-straight national title.

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Hillsman came to Oxford in August 2021, after his 15th year at the helm in Syracuse ended with a resignation amidst a university review into allegations of threats, bullying and inappropriate behavior directed towards former staff and players.

In June of 2021, The Athletic released a report containing information obtained from interviews with nine former players, as well as 19 others, including team managers and staff members, alleging Hillsman, as head coach, created a “pernicious culture” which contributed to staff and player retention issues. 

Allegations included the use of threatening language, unwanted physical contact and refusal to provide water breaks during conditioning exercises. Former players also pointed to condescending treatment of female coaches compared to male coaches. Team managers reported mistreatment, including the inability to leave the hotel without permission during team trips. The coach also allegedly created and filled a staff position for a friend, Ronnie Enoch, following their dismissal from a previous coaching job after being accused of sexually harassing a player.

Some former players like Tiana Mangakahia and Alexis Peterson spoke out in support of Hillsman. Brittney Sykes spoke to her own positive experience but also said she wants to clearly “stand with every victim of assault, bullying and harassment. I do not condone victim blaming and encourage everyone to share their truth.”

The external investigation that Syracuse conducted found that, while many individuals had a positive experience with the program, a “concerning number” “described an unhealthy environment and culture,” director of athletics John Wildhack wrote in a statement. Additionally, Athletic Department processes and personell were inadequate in identifying and addressing concerning behavior or complaints that were raised. In response, Syracuse committed to take a number of actions to improve accountability to their student-athletes and “foster a culture that prioritizes their well-being.”

Hillsman is in a different role at Mississippi, but the allegations publicly raised and, to a degree, confirmed by the school’s investigation caused many to raise alarm bells when he was added to the Rebels coaching staff. Mississippi has not seen the rate of outward transfers that the Orange did under Hillsman, but his pressured departure from Syracuse is still considered a cause for concern by some.

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Mississippi, UCLA, LSU and NC State will play their Sweet 16 match-ups in Spokane on Friday, March 28. No. 3 LSU will battle No. 2 NC State at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. No. 5 Mississippi will take on No. 1 UCLA at approximately 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, depending on when the preceding matchup finishes. The winners of these two matches will face each other in the Elite Eight on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on ABC.