Jan. 3, 2009
Vanderbilt 51 – Iowa State 55
January 3, 2009 – Hilton Coliseum – Ames, Iowa
Attendance: 8,227
Melanie Balcomb, Vanderbilt Head Coach
On trouble getting Christina Wirth shots:
“We got a lot of moving screens and Christina gets open off screens. We tried to start not setting moving screens and she had to do a better job setting up off of screens than she did and she did not get the looks she normally gets.”
On the atmosphere:
“We came up here for a reason. Amy Malo is from Minnesota and this is the closest we could get to get her home. We knew the environment was tough and the crowd would be tough and it would prepare us for conference play.”
On the end of the game:
“We put ourselves in a one possession game when we were down. We were in position to win in front of 8,000 fans. We just were not ready to fi nish it. I always talk to my team that it is a journey and process and we need to be the best team we can be going into March. I can’t get all upset because the team will get upset. There are positives from the game and there is a lot to learn from and that is why we came here.”
Bill Fennelly, Iowa State Head Coach
Opening Statement:
“Certainly I’m very proud of our team. I thought that was as competitive of a basketball game as I have been a part of in a long time, maybe not the most aesthetic thing to watch. I thought both teams played their guts out. There will be a lot of tired kids going home tonight. I am certainly proud of the effort of our team and our fans. I told our kids before the game that this is what big time basketball is supposed to be about. What I told them was we are going to play a really good team; we beat a really good team, and hopefully that says that we have a chance to be a great team. I’m a very proud.”
On the play of Heather Ezell and Alison Lacey:
“Obviously Heather and Aus (Lacey) had to offensively dominate, and it was good to see Aus score. Some of the shots Heather hit were amazing. Our bench played 51 minutes and didn’t turn the ball over one time. I think that all the kids that came in off the bench were really good and certainly I appreciate their effort. When you can get 51 minutes and you have kids defending and not give up the ball, that helps you win in a game like that. That’s a very good team and certainly a win that we’re going to appreciate for a while.”
On holding Vanderbilt to 51:
“I thought defensively we have been pretty good. Coach Easley scouted the game and it was perfect. We’ve done a good job of forcing some turnovers. It’s a team that was fifth or sixth in the country in field goal percentage and we held them to 37 percent. It was 12-6 for a long time, the last 11 minutes of the half we turned the ball over twice and they scored five points, and you walk into halftime up by eight points and wonder how that happened.”
On Vanderbilt not giving up:
“We knew they would keep coming at us. Jessica Mooney hit some shots, but that was my fault. We were suppose to let her shoot and to her credit she made them. That’s not the kids’ fault, that’s my fault because I told them to. Christina Wirth is going to be as good a player that plays in this building, and we held her to seven. The game plan was solid and I thought we did a great job of it.”
