Jan. 24, 2010
Vanderbilt 56, Mississippi State 65
Postgame quotes
January 24, 2010
Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb
On second half:
“MSU did a great job defensively. They have really active hands, they’re very physical. It was the same game we had at Mississippi State and that’s disappointing. Their athleticism, defense, and rebounding really hurt us.”
On Auburn’s height advantage:
“They had a huge size advantage and that gives kids confidence. Our overall defense not doing what they need to do is what hurts us. We’re undersized, sick, and banged up all week. We didn’t practice well and we didn’t have the confidence against this kind of defense.”
On rough week of practice:
“Hannah didn’t practice, Lauren was sick, Gabby was sick, and it was a tough week of practice. Everyone else has to come to practice. We have young players and we look like a totally different team than we looked like against Auburn.”
On offense:
“We had opportunities for shots and when we executed, we were able to score. But we didn’t set good screens and made too many quick shots. That killed us.”
On Jence’s career-high with a broken hand:
“You’d think it would inspire somebody else. She stepped up and tried to take our team on her back. We just couldn’t find four other people to do it with her. We have a lot of work to do to get ready for Thursday. We have to be more consistent with everything.”
Vanderbilt guard Jence Rhoads
On the loss:
“We’re very disappointed. We weren’t ready to play. They outplayed us for 35 minutes of the game. We have to be stronger and want it more and we obviously did not want this game enough.”
On scoring a career-high:
“I was just trying to win. I was doing what I had to do and what I needed to do to win. I guess I didn’t do enough.”
On Merideth Marsh being in double digits as well:
“Mississippi State was playing Merideth tough and she hit a lot in the second half, which was good. We just weren’t executing our offense, so I just had to do as much as I could. Mississippi State is very physical and we didn’t handle it very well. We didn’t handle it well today or when we played in Starkville.”
On closing the gap to two points:
“I thought we were going to win the game; I was very confident. We made some bad turnovers and bad mistakes that led to their scoring and we weren’t able to get over that hump.”
Mississippi State head coach Sharon Fanning-Otis
Opening Statement:
“Holding a team under 40%, especially a team like Vanderbilt, is important. We took care of the basketball. At halftime, we hadn’t shot any free throws, but down the stretch making free throws is important and we were able to make it to the line. I look at this team and I didn’t feel like we were connected. There was a lot of leadership today. Alexis (Rack) has been through a lot in every gym in this conference. I think they really pulled together as a team. This league, the last 10 games are critical and you have to take them one at a time, but hopefully we can carry this effort over to the next games.”
On ball-handling:
“We had a couple of possessions where we didn’t have good ball-handling. Man gives us more one-on-one responsibility and we were able to limit 3-pointers and second chance shots. When you score, their transition is so fast and Rhoads does a tremendous job of knowing how to use that. We had to do a better job of containing them and making them use the clock. Part of winning is consistent effort. You have to compose for the next play. This was a huge team win for us and one that will carry over.”
On SEC play:
“Every team in this league can win or lose every game. Whether it’s Vanderbilt or someone else, you have to try to know what that team does well and limit it. Pressure defense is important and execution is key. No matter where the game is played, you have to expect success wherever you play.”
Mississippi State guard Alexis Rack
On offense:
“We had to stay together and execute. We took a lot more shots and got in the paint. The open man was confident enough to make the shot. If we missed the shot, we had to get the rebound.”
On Vanderbilt’s second-half runs:
“I think the crowd helped them and the momentum was good for them, but we were able to stop their offense at the end and they couldn’t catch up.”
On confidence:
“We’ve tried to emphasize toughness. The team was communicating on the floor. We did a good job on executing. We were confident in what we were doing in the first half. Players are going to have a feel for what is going to win and a team that is a championship team has to rely on one another and be confident. You just have to expect toughness when the game is on the line. You have to have composure and you know what to do to win. We have to mature and grow as a team and make those big plays and know what to do to make those happen.”