Feb. 8, 2010
Recap | Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Vanderbilt 60, Tennessee 69
February 8, 2010 – Memorial Gym
Attendace: 6,005
Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb
On offense:
“I don’t think they did anything differently on defense. We didn’t attack. At the end of the first half, we settled for jump shots. Same thing in the second half, only Merideth and Jence were the only ones attacking. What was really disappointing was our defense, to be honest. We didn’t take away their individual strengths. If you leave Bjorkland open, you’re going to lose. We gave up offensive rebound after offensive rebound and that’s their strength. It hurt our offense to play defense like that. It took the wind out of our sails.”
On UT’s size:
“It’s very difficult, but we didn’t do a good job in keeping them in front. We didn’t keep them high enough and we got there late. You can’t double if you can’t get there first. They’re bigger, stronger, and faster, but if we do our job and execute our game plan, any team can beat anybody.”
On rebounding:
“We didn’t rebound at key times. When there are key situations, we didn’t execute on either end. If your job defensively is to do X, Y, and Z… you have to do it. We didn’t do those things and we just didn’t do a good job with that and it’s tough to swallow. They’re a good team. They’re good at rebounding. They brought their strength and we didn’t stop them. I thought their offensive rebounding was what hurt us. We had good stops and good possessions, but when you shoot and miss and don’t pick up the ball, it hurts you.”
On Merideth Marsh:
“Merideth did what she does. She made hustle plays and she played smart. She played well.”
On holding UT to two 3-pointers:
“Face guarding Bjorkland and pressuring the basketball were two things we did well. If we don’t pressure the passer, they’re going to cram it down our throats. We picked up the pressure, but Bjorkland had wide-open looks. We’ve got to figure out if it’s mental or physical in key situations. There were mental lapses.”
Vanderbilt guard Lauren Lueders
On UT’s size:
“We were trying to pull Kelley Cain out because that just opens up the lane. It just gives us more room in the paint. I mean, it’s difficult, but it was more what we didn’t do. We know how to handle their size and we play against size every game in the SEC. We have to be on the same page more.
On offensive rebounding:
“I think it’s just a mentality or a mindset. We know each other and how each other plays and we have to be ready to get the offensive rebound. We know each other’s tendencies. We needed those offensive rebounds and we didn’t have it for 40 minutes.”
Vanderbilt guard Jence Rhoads
On losing the lead:
“I think we kind of gave it to them. Bjorkland hit some big shots in the end, but what we didn’t do gave them the game. We had a bit of miscommunication and didn’t check out at times, which gave them easy points and they were able to get ahead.”
On hand injury:
“I’m doing better, but I’m going to get an x-ray tomorrow. It’s feeling a lot better. I have to play with my fingers taped. It’s hard for a guard, but I’ve adapted. It has been challenging.”
Tennessee Head Coach Pat Summit
Opening Statement:
“Obviously, I’m really proud of our basketball team because we could have lost that game but we didn’t give up and we did step up late in the game. I had a lot of people contribute down the stretch. This Vanderbilt team defensively put a lot of pressure on us and disrupted us at times but I thought that in the last 10 minutes, our composure was where it needed to be. We played the best defense of the night down the stretch. Overall, this was a big win for us.”
On importance of Kelley Cain:
“I don’t know of another post player in the women’s game that has the size and skill set that she has. She is rebounding out of area and she is moving better in the paint. She is a lot more mobile and aggressive now that her knee is stronger.”
On closing the 1st half:
“It was good to have a little momentum going into halftime, and I thought we had a good halftime session. Overall, it was very positive and it needed to be because we needed to feel good about ourselves coming out of the locker room.”
On scoring down the stretch:
“I thought we played with a lot more freedom offensively. We were pushing the ball hard, we were hitting open players, and we had a lot more people touch the ball. Our post game stepped up big as well as our guard play. Down the stretch, I thought we played with a lot more intensity and freedom.”
Tennessee guard Angie Bjorklund
On Kelley Cain’s block that led to the go ahead basket:
“Before the game, we really talked about getting our energy up and getting excited. I think there were a couple of plays before that block that got us excited because we were running up and down the court in celebration. It helps us when we stay hyped.”
On the time it took to make 3’s:
“They were very aggressive on our guards. They did a great job of switching out on the screens and they knew our sets pretty well. The guard’s focus tonight was getting the ball inside.”
Tennessee center Kelley Cain
On coming back in the 2nd half:
“We have a confidence about ourselves this year and we know that if we get down, we have to take it one play at a time to gradually get ourselves back in the game. We never hung our heads low and we always kept it positive. That’s what got us through this game.”