Jan. 31, 2008
Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb
Opening Statement:
“I think Florida really did a great job of pressuring our guards. We got really good points interiorly from Liz Sherwood in the second half and Jessica Mooney off the bench. That was really a key for us, the 36 points coming off the bench. They (Florida) did a really good job defensively forcing us into a lot of turnovers at halftime. We kept those turnovers down in the second half. I thought those were the two key things for us.”
On the play of Liz Sherwood:
“It didn’t matter who was in there. We were running stuff to her and she was strong and going strong to the basket. At the end of the game, she turned and faded quite a bit because she got tired. We didn’t sub a lot in the post because she was doing so well.”
On Vanderbilt’s Perimeter Defense:
“We mixed things up and tried to get people not in their flow. A lot of their shooters I think weren’t ready to shoot and didn’t have their rhythm shooting. I think that’s really important as a shooter. Merideth Marsh had the same problem on our side. Merideth didn’t get good looks and when she did she didn’t take them. I wanted her to shoot five more threes. They (Florida) took them and didn’t make them. I think our defense was aggressive enough, whether we were in man or switching. We did a lot of different things. I think we kept them off balance.”
Florida Head Coach Amanda Butler
Opening statement:
“We got beat by a very good team tonight. There are obvious statistical things that we didn’t do, but I don’t think that’s why we didn’t give Vanderbilt our best shot. We have to believe that we can beat some of the teams that are at the top of our league because we’re talented enough, we’re deep enough and we work exceptionally hard in practice. We’ve got players on our team who are some of the best in the conference at what they do. We just have to step up and believe that we can beat Vanderbilt, especially when we have them here in Gainesville.”
On the team’s confidence in itself:
“There was a moment when we doubted it, and it was the wrong moment. We had a great start to the second half and created some momentum for ourselves, but there were some moments. You can credit it to experience, or maybe having a rookie head coach, but there was a moment when we didn’t feel like we were supposed to win and Vanderbilt seized that moment. We’re better than what we showed in those crucial moments tonight.”
On whether or not she would change her defensive strategy given in retrospect:
“We have a defensive system that isn’t as simple as one-on-one. Melanie Balcomb is a great coach and the goal of her offense is to get the players one-on-one in the low blocks. The points that they scored one-on-one in the low blocks are easier to accept than the second chances they got.”
On Florida’s free throw shooting:
“When you miss 11 free throws, it’s certainly a factor when you’re a team that’s capable of hitting 24-of-25. I feel like we’re that kind of team. Free throw shooting is an area where confident shooters excel, and we’re doubting ourselves a little right now. There’s got to be a change of approach when we step up to the free throw line. We have to expect it to go in, rather than hope that it does.”
