>> Coach, let's start with Howard, first game back after may playing in Mohegan Sun.

Back and forth the first quarter and the team carried it away.

What impressed you the most in that one.

>> Our defense.

Our defense is doing a really great job of just effort, you know, some people play defense and angle smart and do... but the effort isn't there.

Our effort is there with every single person that we put out there.

And once they adjusted to one side of our defense, we put in a zone and that really stifled them a little bit but the effort on both defenses that we played was contagious and they all jumped in on that thing and that's important because we weren't shooting the ball as well as we wanted to.

>> One of the players that seemed to exemplify that was Shy Hawkins and her first start of the season.

I know you would say she earned it, you didn't give it to her.

What made her earn that opportunity?

>> Flying around in practice, you know, communicating in practice, coming in first in the sprint, first to the water cooler.

Those things like that, they matter.

Coaches watch and shy really has earned her opportunity, not because she is better than a lot of people on the team but the little things she is doing, has been doing, has been really noticeable, and she has earned that right to be on the starting lineup.

>> Another player that stood out, Angelica Velez, Jello as she is known in these parts.

What sort of a difference does she make in her style.

Aid assist, she brings a different style point guard play to your team, it seems.

>> To make it make sense to the world.

She brings the Bronx to Syracuse.

She is one of those cats that is flash dances and she shows, you know, she makes a pass.

Not this pass but around the back pass.

And it works for us and it's good sometimes.

Sometimes it's too much, and sometimes I have to take her out and let her understand, that was a little bit too much.

But it's what is needed for our team because there are so many different ways we can do the point position.

Donna is more of a controller of the ball.

And manages it through controlling the ball.

Angelica pitches it up and assists.

More turnovers, but something that's fun.

And then you get the other kids like Liv is going to manage the game going forward and then our rookie, she likes to do the dance inside the key and do the reverse layup but Angelica brings the Bronx to Syracuse.

>> Let's move on to Auburn, ACC, SEC challenge.

Big matchup at home in the dome.

Not the prettiest offense performance from either team.

But you got the job done.

What does it say about your group that even on an off night offensively you can still grind out a win.

>> The word we are using for the whole year: Resolute.

We are unwavering.

We are not going to take no for an answer.

If we cannot score, we will defend you, and there will be a problem for your scoring as well.

We have 15 players, and we will use them all if we have to and we are resolute in what we stand for.

We have a story to tell and we believe that we are enough and we decided that sometimes you want to sit there, and you want to shoot the ball and you want it to go in and sometimes you go 0-16.

Probably the first in my career from a three-point line but what you can still do is win if you continue to own what you can own.

That's your effort through the defensive side of the ball.

>> You are going to go 0-16 for threes, you might as do it in a win.

>> Yes, that's the only way to do it.

If you lose, coach is going to come off a little different in practice.

>> You outlasted Auburn, a game that went to overtime, after the four quarters, what was the message to your team in the huddle as you prepared for O.T.

>> To be a great team, a great coach, a great program.

A team on five other occasions we played them and couldn't find success.

And on the 6th try, we found a way to defend, and I just think that our resolute is coming out.

It's loud and clear.

We are just not going to compromise certain things and we can certainly try to be a great shooter, make the right pass but sometimes that will fail you.

But what you can control is the defensive side of the ball.

And I think that against Auburn, we are a great team for the first time and I'm excited about the possibilities of this future of this season.

>> Down the stretch, in that game, it was Dominique Darius who took over in overtime.

What is it about her that, so far this season, it seems like when the moment gets bigger, she performs even better?

>> Amnesia, she doesn't remember her bad stuff.

You know, it's so funny.

She comes out and she has always got something to say.

And I just teach her to listen.

She listens and she's really astute.

And she-- because in three to five seconds, you hear her chanting for the team.

Y'all got this, cut off the baseline.

Things I've said to her, she is now barking out to the team.

So I'm like, whatever that kid gets back on the court, I know she is going to make it do what it do and that's what she does through the bigger moments she rises higher.

She shines brighter, and we talk the game.

She is an I.Q.

kid.

And the bigger the challenge, the more she will be ready.

>> This team went on the road for the first time in ACC play this year.

ACC opener at SMU.

You talked about the Auburn game where it was more of a defensive battle.

You scored 25 points in the first squatter at SMU.

What got into the team that they were able to be so prolific offensively from the start?

>> The message was to punch first.

Coach Adair put together a toughness plan for the game and our toughness was cut the angles off.

Don't give up certain things.

Whatever our rule is, don't let that become the thing we do the next time.

Do it the first time.

We reiterated that prior to coming out to the game.

The last thing we said was "don't get punched first."

You punch first.

Not physically, but figuratively speaking.

Who are we?

We know who you kind is.

We know who South Carolina and UCLA is.

Who are we?

We are a defense team that can shoot the ball.

Not always make it but once you start shooting the ball in the rhythm you have to take it, people you see in journey and Aurora, they can rebound the ball for us.

If you start doubting yourself and hesitating, you are going to let them get their glory on the floor.

Punch first in what you bring and that gave them a sense of freedom to become.

That first quarter is really what we are striving to do for four quarters.

Second quarter we lost that by one point, but the defensive side we only gave up 15 points for a whole 10 minutes.

So we are learning who we are and we are becoming who we are supposed to be.

And it's really a joy to see.

>> A player who punched early and punched often, Sophie Burrows.

Kind of the coming out party for her this season.

How proud were you of her efforts?

>> I could have cried.

I could have cried.

I said you know, last time we played and we played against Auburn, and she hit that three.

I said to myself, when she hits her first three, I'm calling a timeout.

I didn't know it was like 30 seconds after the second quarter but I called the timeout because I knew that moment was going to define who she is already.

But just kind of it has been delayed but not denied.

And then when she goes out there and she played that three defensively and got the communication with the younger kids and blessed her with an opportunity to see that thing go in the net over and over again.

22, 24 points, six rebounds, five assists, and a couple knee burns, as well.

And three communications on the bench prior to me coming to the huddle, with the team trying to get everybody on board on who we are and what we need to do as a captain.

So, yeah, that was a pretty good game.

But that's the expectation of us for her.

We didn't say make it.

We said take it.

>> And as one of the captains on this team alongside Laila Phelia, and Dominique Darius, it seems like this leadership group continues to progress cohesively.

>> Perfect timing for that.

>> I pray that we continue.