Feb. 17, 2008
Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb:
On Vanderbilt’s turnovers:
“To have 24 turnovers, especially down the stretch, when we’re throwing the ball away for no apparent reason against their zone, that really hurt us.”
On if she was surprised by Tennessee playing zone:
“I had never seen them play that much zone. She (Coach Pat Summitt) always throws some zone out there. If it works, they continue to run it, and it worked. Probably the biggest surprise was them playing that much zone when we were shooting the three very well. We didn’t have an inside presence. We were relying on the three way too much and then they went zone.”
On how the team responded after Tennessee’s fast start:
“Tennessee has been starting like that against everybody. That’s how they start. I think it was really important for our girls to fight right back. I thought we did a good job of fighting back and got within six points at halftime. I thought we did a good job of attacking them and getting them in foul trouble. The problem was we couldn’t stop them defensively. At that point we needed to stop them and we couldn’t.”
On not being able to take the lead in the second half:
“I think we had the momentum going. We got within one and then Christina Wirth picked up her fourth foul and I think everything went downhill from there. We just didn’t stick together and didn’t adjust very well.”
On Christina Wirth picking up her fourth foul:
“She plays 40 minutes for us in big games. That was obviously a key point in the game for us as well as them. They know how well Christina played at their place and she was playing well again tonight. She just makes us so much better because of her versatility inside and out. She’s so skilled. She’s actually a very good defender as well. When she came out of the game, it affected the game mentally, probably more so than physically. They knew how good she was and they turned it on. We knew that she needed to be on the floor and is always on the floor for us.”
Tennessee Head Coach Pat Summitt:
Opening statement:
“Obviously, I didn’t know what to expect coming off such a tough loss against LSU at home. I’m just going to have to give them the credit. They spent time trying to figure out how they could get better. Our staff had a meeting with them but I think the meeting that really counts the most is when the players are invested and when the players are committed to 40 minutes. We did a lot of good things today. I think Candice (Parker) and Angie (Bjorklund) shot the ball well today. Obviously, Alex (Fuller) came off the bench and gave us a huge lift. We did some really good things defensively. We had to play a lot more zone than we typically play. With the exception of giving up the three ball, I thought we did some good things out of it. We can learn from watching this tape in particular. If we continue to commit to being a 40-minute team, we can correct a lot of mistakes we made throughout the game. In particular, I thought we coughed the ball up way too much. A lot of those were us trying to do too much. I’m really proud of them. It’s a huge win for us. Like I said, I had no idea what our team would do for 40 minutes because we haven’t been a 40-minute team. I think there were two games that we were close to playing for 40 minutes.
On why Tennessee played so much zone defense:
“We got in foul trouble early, so we went zone. Vanderbilt runs so many great offensive sets. They’re hard to defend. I think Melanie (Balcomb) is one of the best offensive coaches in this league. We wanted to guard their action, but when Nicky (Anosike) and Candice (Parker) got in foul trouble, then I thought lets protect the paint. That’s when I thought we were a little lax in covering the three ball. We also went to our full-court defense, back to our half-court zone. I thought taking time off the clock was very effective for us on a number of possessions. That would probably be the two reasons in particular.”
On how Tennessee responded when Vanderbilt cut the lead to one:
“I think we raised our intensity and I thought our defense started to generate some offensive opportunities for us. Overall, looking at the boards here, the boards look pretty even. The thing that I was pleased with was the number of defensive rebounds we got. A lot of that came off of our defense. I thought we did a great job of pushing tempo off of that and getting open-floor, transition baskets.”
On Tennessee’s bench play in the first half:
“In the past, it’s hurt us when we’ve gone to our bench in a number of our games. Vicki (Baugh) did such a great job for us at Duke. I think she was very open about I haven’t helped this team and I have to help this team. I had a short conversation to let her know that she has to feel responsibility for the outcome of games. That’s true whether you start or you come off the bench. I think she really tried to do that today. She tried to come in here and play a different role. She attacked the glass. In the last two games I played her, all she wanted to do was pass the basketball. She was such a great scorer and attacked the glass so well in high school. Sometimes, she overpassed even there. I’m wanting her to be more committed to shooting the basketball.”