Nov. 9, 2007
Post-Game Quotes
The UAB Game
November 9, 2007
Memorial Gymnasium
Nashville, Tenn.
Head Coach Melanie Balcomb
On the team’s three-point shooting…
“One of the things is just figuring out where, when and how. We’re still going to shoot the three and we’re still going to spread the floor. It’s going to be by committee more than anything.”
On the team’s defensive performance…
“Our biggest goal was to keep them [UAB] in front. They¹re extremely athletic and they can get to the basket. We knew we better keep the ball in front, check out, challenge every shot and do a really good job on the boards. I thought the boards were going to be key. If we could rebound, I knew we could run. If we keep the ball in front, then we don’t have to rotate and now it’s not two on one on the weak side and it’s not a jumping contest. I thought we did a great job of that in the first half. They ended up having to go one-on-one a lot and had zero assists at half. I thought that was a key stat. We didn’t give them any penetration where they could kick or dump. They were all going one on one and we were keeping them in front and they were shooting 16 percent from the field. The other key was we knew they would try to get to the free throw line all night on us and that’s what we were trying not to do. I think we did a good job of that until late in the second half. We started giving up second shots and then fouling. We didn’t let up until late in the second half.”
On the play of Christina Wirth…
“To be honest with you, all the shots she missed on those turnarounds, she doesn’t miss those in practice. She was probably more frustrated than anybody. Christina is ‘Steady Eddie.’ We know what we’re going to get every day with Christina. I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a more consistent practice player so she’s going to be very consistent in games. She has a lot of confidence because of that. I expect her to shoot like that.”
On the play of Liz Sherwood…
“Liz has worked really hard on her passing. I can tell you that wasn’t something she came here with. We work very hard on passing and sharing the basketball. We were 10th in the country in assists last year and averaged 18 assists and we had 18 tonight. We take a lot of pride in our passing. I feel passing is a skill that is overlooked these days and isn’t taught in the younger levels. We’ve worked very, very hard with Liz on her passing and I can tell you she enjoys passing, she’s very unselfish. What is nice is she will make the pass and has gotten good at it.”
