Feb. 11, 2007
Vanderbilt vs. Auburn
Feb. 11, 2007
Post-game Quotes
Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb
On Vanderbilt’s accurate shooting in its last two games…
“We actually did extra shooting drills during our last practice. I told our coaches that I just don’t think that we are shooting all that well. You should have seen the look on their faces.”
“I like it when the ball goes in. I have always had that problem. But what I really liked today is that we shot so well from three-point range. In the men’s game, they have the dunks. In the women’s game, what is so pretty is the three-point shooting. We work really hard on that.”
On making an effort to get out to good starts…
“We talked about it after the Tennessee game and really have made a point of focusing on that in practice. The players are really listening and doing what we are asking. We were struggling in a lot of games because were always having to come from behind.”
On the keys for Vanderbilt coming into the game…
“There were two keys: one, take pride in our defense and in our defensive intensity and limiting them to one shot. That is something that we take a lot of pride in. Two, on offense, not taking the first shot but taking the best shot and making their defense play defense. We had been taking a lot of quick shots in the past, but now we are taking a lot of high percentage shots.”
“We needed to be able to defend them one on one today, and we were able to do a good job of that. We had 22 assists and they had six. We executed that well. We also needed to be able to rebound well today. We knew that they could beat us on second and third shots so we needed to rebound well.”
On the play of Freshman Jessica Mooney…
“Jess has gotten better and better and better. She and Jenn Risper have been playing extremely well at the off-guard spot and that has helped us a lot. Jess showed her ability today to get to the basket and that helped us a lot. She is a real ball hawk and her ability along with Risper’s has really made us a much better team defensively.”
Vanderbilt Forward Carla Thomas
On the importance of having depth off the bench…
“It allows you to step up and work as hard as you can because you know that the bench is not going to fall off. In fact they are going to come in keep up the same intensity as the starters.”
On getting off to good starts early in the game…
“We have really focused on the first and last four minutes of each half. In fact, we have focused on every four-minute period of the game. That’s what counts and that is what our focus in – four minutes at a time.”
On the play of freshman Jessica Mooney…
“That girl is just an athlete. Her jumping ability is amazing. And she can create whenever she wants to. It has been amazing watching her develop as a freshman.”
Vanderbilt Guard Jenn Risper
On being able to jump out early in games…
“It is something that we have been focusing on and making sure to prepare for – coming out with the mentality that we are going to take the first four minutes and play as hard as we can. We just try and focus on ourselves and not what the other team is doing.”
On the senior leadership of Carla Thomas…
“Carla does a real good job in practice of being a leader, of encouraging us, keeping us mentally prepared, and making sure that we know that every possession counts.”
Auburn Head Coach Nell Fortner
“That was a meltdown of gigantic proportions and it happened from the first offensive play and it was just a long day for the rest of the day. Carrier missed that first shot and I don’t know if that hurt our confidence – that we got a look at the basket that easy – a and then from there it was just kind of different. But it was just a disappointing performance. We’re not that bad of a team, but we were not a good team today, and that was just disappointing.”
On Liz Sherwood:
“Sherwood, she’s a nice player. The thing that is so good about her is that she just buries you under the basket. You know when she gets the ball her head is in the basket. She does a really good job at getting great position.”
On Vanderbilt:
“It is hard coming back. Vanderbilt’s a good team to begin with. They’ve got very good players and good leadership. Their defense is tough. I mean, they really hurt us today with their traps. We didn’t do a good job handling them and we just couldn’t find the basket.”
