Feb. 15, 2009
Melanie Balcomb, Vanderbilt Head Coach
On Smaller Lineup:
“We have had trouble guarding in the post. That wasn’t that way today, because of Jen (Risper). Jen can attack off the dribble and defend because she’s small, quick, and physical… she can move around better than some of our bigger players. So yes, I defended their high-low with a 5’8″ guard and we won.”
On Christina Wirth:
“Tina’s doing such a great job of putting people in foul trouble, taking charges. You don’t have to guard them if they’re not in the game.”
On Tia Gibbs:
“Our 4-guard lineup worked. Tia had a good couple days of practice. She also gives us a 3-point shot and Georgia’s defense was lagging. She did a good job in the first half, so I went with her in the second half… and good things happened.”
On the Seniors’:
“The games Tina has been in foul trouble, we’ve been struggling. She’s been hitting big shots and she’s playing with a sense of urgency. Jen is playing that way too and her defensive intensity is high, and everyone is stepping up. Tina puts up the big shots and everyone follows suit. They play well together and it makes everyone step up.”
On 17-3 run:
“We just got on them defensively. We really pressured them and got stops. We had to score and then spread them out by getting stops and rebounding.”
Christina Wirth, Vanderbilt Forward
On today’s game vs. last outing against Georgia:
“We played horribly the first time around. On top of that, each game is important in winning the regular season SEC.”
On her career slowly coming to an end:
“We know we only have one more home game now. I’m just excited we’ve been playing so well and that I have these games as memories.”
On getting Georgia into foul trouble:
“I knew that Porsha (Phillips) had her 4th foul as a charge and I knew I’d have the opportunity to draw another one. (Danielle) Taylor really stepped up for them, but they didn’t have a lot of subs, so it made me happy that we could take advantage of that.”
Merideth Marsh, Vanderbilt Guard
On today’s game vs. last outing against Georgia:
“I don’t know if we did anything differently. We kept fighting and we decided we weren’t going to keep exchanging baskets with them anymore. We needed to outwork and outhustle them. They got confused on offense and exhausted on defense. We dug down deep and fought.”
On using a 4-guard lineup:
“I think it creates a lot of mismatches, offensively and defensively. Jen can just get in the post and pressure them. Then she can drive and confuse their defense.”
On her free throws:
“I’m confident with my free throws and I’ve always been good at them. I know I can knock them down.”
Andy Landers, Georgia Head Coach
On Georgia’s ability to score:
“We’d go down and then make a run and get it back. We would get hurt by their 3s and not be able to get it back. There was no consistency. We had poor defense.”
On Vanderbilt’s small offense:
“It was a tough matchup for us. We just did not communicate defensively and made poor choices offensively. Our difficulties came with not staying with their forward, because we focused too much on their guards.”
On foul trouble:
“They put us in foul trouble and we couldn’t really come back from it. (Christina) Wirth really made us get into foul trouble. We missed having Porsha in the game, because she is one of our best players. Danielle (Taylor) stepped up, but it wasn’t enough.”