Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Women's Basketball Media Day transcript
10/20/2015 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois University women's basketball team held its annual preseason Media Day on Tuesday in the Cook Club at SIU Arena. The Salukis return all five starters, including All-Conference players Dyana Pierre and Rishonda Napier off last year's team that finished fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference. SIU opens its season with exhibition games against Maryville (Oct. 30) and Kentucky Wesleyan (Nov. 7), with the regular-season opener at DePaul on Nov. 13.
Cindy Stein Transcript
Opening Statement
"We are really excited about this season. It is interesting because from this summer to this fall wherever I went, I was always asked how good are we going to be this year. Everyone's expectations are pretty high for us and that is ok. I keep saying in my head to stay rational and that we are only two years removed from a 5-25 season to going into this year where everyone expects us to win 20 or more games. That is ok and our players expect the same thing. That is what I like about this group. It will depend on our maturity. Our work ethic is very good, but it is going to be the maturity of how we handle the pressure of nobody expecting us to win to people expecting us to win. It will be about can we handle all of the growing pains that it involves. They want to have the targets on their backs. They don't want to be chasing it anymore. We also have to be able to perform at a high-level. In doing that, we are going to be pretty committed early in the season to playing all 12 players. We feel that our three freshmen are going to be really good, but at the same time, I feel that our depth is going to be strong as well. That will mean that if you are trying to play 12 kids, you are going to make some mistakes. We have got tremendous pieces in places in being able to score at every position. Hopefully our defense is better. We only averaged about 66 points last year and 15 turnovers. Obviously we want our point production up and turnovers down. We are going to try and get everyone's feet wet early in the game and go with the horses down the stretch.
When you talk about having two first-team All-Conference players on your team, that increases your expectations. Dyana Pierre and Rishonda Napier are both playing extremely well. It is almost scary to tell you that Dyana, who we did not ever let leave the paint to shoot, has worked on her three-point shooting over the summer. I still close my eyes when she shoots them, but she is making most of them which is good. We chart everything and she is shooting about 50 percent from three-point range. She is being very selective on what she is taking. Rishonda is a very exciting point guard. I think that she is a better defender this year and is going to need to be because we lost Mercedes Griffin, who was our top defender. We still do not know who will replace her on guarding the best kid on the other team. That is a position that Mercedes took over and embraced and we are looking for that right now. The pieces are there. We play in the Preseason WNIT. We are going to have to play really well early in the season and go from there. We start our first two conference games on the road, so we actually have a pretty tough road to home. I told our kids that we have to embrace that kind of competitiveness. If we want to be good, that is how you do it. You don't want to play a bunch of slouches, you want to play the best. I think that we are doing that.
Who else in the MVC do you think will be near the top?
"The team that stands out to me is Missouri State. They return everybody and have got some talented recruits coming in. I think that they will be very good. I looked at their schedule and it is ridiculously hard. To me, that is their problem but if they can handle that, then look out in conference play. We will have our hands full with them."
Was depth your biggest offseason concern?
"Yes and no. We felt like we needed our team that was returning to still get better. You have two all-conference picks and Kylie Giebelhausen that got a lot of attention. Those young ladies still needed to get better. That was the key I think. As long as we continued to get better, that will improve your depth. We wanted to improve it with these freshmen. We wanted freshmen that will come in and play right away. We are going to try and give them every opportunity to do that. I always say taking care of the ball is the thing that I am always worried about."
Beyond handling expectations, what is your biggest concern?
"You are always one or two injuries away from anything bad happening, you are always concerned about that. The other concern is that we are in the Preseason WNIT and being two years removed from a season that was disastrous, is the fact that are we mature enough to handle those pressures? We play a DePaul team that is very good. We are going to have to take care of the ball and handle a lot of pressure. Are we going to be mature enough to do that over a span? You can do that one or two games most seasons, but can we do that every single game? We are no longer someone that is going to be unnoticed."
With all starters returning, are any of those positions up for grabs?
"I always think that they are all up for grabs until we start the week before our first game, but I think Azia Washington's position. She had knee surgery over the summer and is still not quite back yet. That is a position we are looking for someone to step in. That is a position that Kylie can play. Kim Nebo and Celina VanHyfte can play that position and all three have been playing well. It is exciting to think that Kylie could move to that position because Carlie Corrigan has been shooting the ball very well. We have some flexibility there."
Can you talk about each of the three new freshmen coming in?
"Ashley Hummel is 6'2 and out of Ohio. She is a skill player that is a big body inside and can't be pushed around very easy. She is very calculated in her moves and has a high basketball IQ. She puts herself in a good position. Olivia Bowling is a guard out of Kentucky that is extremely competitive. She is going to get after it defensively and is a tremendous passer. We are getting her scoring a little bit more, but she is a great passer and sees the floor very well. Tiajaney Hawkins is from Indiana. She is a very explosive and powerful player. She scores without even knowing what she is doing. It is exciting to me because when she gets more fundamental, she is going to be very talented for us."
Do you anticipate redshirting any of the freshmen at this time?
"Not at this time. We are only at 12 players, which is a number I like, so not at this time."
Is Hawkins a guard or a post player?
"She is both which is one of the reasons why we recruited her. She can play the guard position or play inside if we need her to."
What has Kylie Giebelhausen improved on from last year?
"Her range has improved because she is a lot stronger. I feel like that she can now make an overhead pass with some zip. Last year it was like a broken arm or wet noodle, but she is doing a good job of putting zip on the ball. Her shot release is quicker and her defense is better. Kylie is a humble kid and is extremely hard on herself. She is a competitor, but I would like to have some more swag in her."
Dyana shot almost 56 percent last season, can she get up to 66 percent this year?
"We think that she can. I feel like she is a better shooter and has a better grasp of what her shot feels like intrinsically so that she can fix it herself instead of having someone watch and tell her what she is doing wrong. I feel like her basketball IQ is much better in that aspect. She is also taking a better selection of shots. She has a lot more weapons on the perimeter now than she did last year."
Who would you say has been the most improved player from last year to this year?
"There are two people that stick in my mind right now, but I would tell you Carlie Corrigan has really improved. She has worked all summer long on her ball handling and her shot. Her defense is looking solid. She is such a good leader and she is going to see a lot of time on the floor. Blair Stephenson is playing really well right now. She is competing with Rishonda at the point guard. I think they are making each other better and getting to the point where we are looking at playing both of them at the same time. Celina VanHyfte has had days where she has looked like she could be one of the best players in the conference. She has to do that on a daily basis, but there are moments where she looks really strong."
