Jan. 17, 2010
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Vanderbilt Head coach Melanie Balcomb
(On the play of senior guard Merideth Marsh):
“Merideth Marsh had to move to the point with (junior guard) Jence Rhoads out. She was backing up Jence, but hasn’t played point much since her freshmen year. It’s different. We’re looking for Merideth to still shoot the ball. We ran a lot of ball screens and got a lot of good looks early on, and she knocked them down. She’s a senior; she’s our rock right now. She’s doing everything she can. She’s a leader. She’s making shots. She doesn’t want to lose. It starts with Merideth right now.”
(On adjustments after being down early in the game):
“We tried not to turn the ball over and take care of the ball. We panicked at first. Obviously, we had our point guard out. They pressed and forced us to go fast, and turn it over. We tried to slow down and get some mismatches, attack and get some wide-open 3s and we did that. Defensively, we started getting some stops. We worked harder defensively. I thought we tried to do a better job on (Shekinna) Stricklen and (Angie Bjorklund) and made them miss some shots. We hit some 3s and gave up some 2s every once in a while. Three over two – you start catching up.
(On what the biggest difference between Tennessee and Vanderbilt on Sunday):
“I think the biggest difference in the game was offensive turnovers. They got 28 points off of turnovers and all we had was 9. They shot layups. They’re big. They’re bigger at every position. Our goal was not to give them point blank layups. They shot 44 percent and we shot 42. They shot the ball better. We did the best job we possibly could rebounding. Being a coach that has lost most of her post players and just lost her point guard – to rebound how we did – I was extremely impressed. That was probably the best rebounding job we’ve done since I’ve been at Vanderbilt.”
(On if the SEC is a wide-open race this year, and the extra two games in the conference schedule this year):
“(The extra two games) is what I think is interesting. Everybody wanted to play two more times. I don’t know if that’s going to be good or bad, but we will sure find out. It’s always competitive. No win is easy, especially on the road. We’re all going to play two more games. That’s two tough games compared to somebody out of conference. How it plays out is going to be interesting.”
Tennessee Head Coach Pat Summitt
(opening remarks):
“I thought we got off to a good start, but then the bottom fell out. We didn’t do a good job on defense, especially defending their three-pointers. I thought our inside game was good. Kelley (Cain) and Glory (Johnson) worked well together.”
(on Tennessee’s bench play):
“We’re not getting a lot out of our bench. Lyssi Brewer was 2-of-5 from the floor and had four boards. She’s got to come in and help us at a different level. Kelley Cain is having to play a lot of minutes.”
(on the performance of Shekinna Stricklen):
“She was sick the last game. I don’t know what was wrong with her tonight. She was a no-show after a a good start. We’re not going to get to an SEC Championship or a Final Four with the way she’s playing right now.”
(on what happened to Tennessee after opening with a 27-7 start):
“We quit defending. We were giving up the three and getting beat off the bounce. Defense is all about heart and desire. Not everyone is committed. We’ll get back in the gym tomorrow. I’m pleased with Kelley (Cain) and Glory (Johnson) overall. Our post game is solid, but our perimeter game is not where it needs to be. Don’t get me wrong. I’m pleased we found a way to win, but our coaching staff doesn’t want to be living on the edge the rest of this season. We want to separate ourselves from the rest of the pack.”
(on Vanderbilt):
“They knew that they were going against our size. Melanie (Vanderbilt coach Balcomb) does a great job. She’s one of the best coaches in the country. She runs a lot of sets and has quite an offensive package to choose from.”
(on Vanderbilt’s Merideth Marsh):
“We gave her a lot of open looks. We knew her name and number. We didn’t have a sense of urgency in going against her.”
Tennessee sophomore forward Glory Johnson
(On why Tennessee switched from zone to man-to-man):
“At first, we were in a 2-3 zone and we kind of struggled moving and helping each other on screens. We went back to our `five’ defense and made sure we were communicating. When they started hitting threes, we sort of lost confidence (in the zone) so we went with the five.”
(On Vanderbilt’s three-point shooting):
“We had to stop their threes otherwise we were going to get blown out. We weren’t hitting and they were hitting threes so we had to separate ourselves and we eventually did that.”
(On the play of sophomore guard Briana Bass):
“Briana Bass: little body but she has a big heart. When you tell her to do something, she does it. She’s little and can’t box out easily so she can’t get a lot of rebounds. At the same time, she’s quick and her defense helped us so much.”
Tennessee senior guard Angie Bjorklund
(On what happened after Tennessee jumped out to a 20-point lead):
“We just let them get way too many open threes.”
(On the play of Tennessee’s post players):
“I’m very proud of our team that we pulled out a win, especially with our crowd. It’s very nice to be back home, for sure. The post game really stepped up. When we’re not shooting, they step it up every time and that’s what it’s going to take.”
(On the challenges presented by Vanderbilt):
“They’re just a very disciplined team. They do a great job executing their plays and taking advantage of every opportunity when we break down defensively. Every one of them can shoot lights out, so if you give them room, they’re going to hit it.”
(On winning a second straight game in the final minutes):
“It shows that we can pull through in a close game and I’m proud that we did pull through. At the same time, we need to learn to play a 40-minute game. Coach tells us that every minute counts and that really is true. The minute you give in is the minute the other team is going to make a run.”
(On Briana Bass):
“I thought Briana came in and did a terrific job. She has struggled the past few games but she just kept her confidence up and continued to work. She kept a positive attitude and she came in and really pushed the tempo and played tremendous defense.”