Jan. 22, 2015
Recap | Box Score | Rayner’s Photos 
Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb
On Arkansas’ failure to make a field goal the last 10 minutes of the game:
“To be honest with you, the last four minutes of the first half, we went zone. We had been in man and tried different things on the ball screens. Three different things and none of them were working. We ended up going zone and that’s when we made that run at the end of the half with that group. Then I started that group the second half, and we played zone the rest of the half until the very end, when we switched so they wouldn’t hit threes. Once we found out that would be a good defense for us, down the stretch the big difference is that our bench outscored them 38 to 12. I think our depth had something to do with that. They took a lot of three-point shot; they took 19 of them. We were pushing the ball, we made some plays on defense to get us in transition, and I think a lot of that is that they lose their legs and get tired towards the end. We didn’t do anything special, other than, I would like to take credit that we wore them down and they missed shots at the end.”
On Kristen Gaffney’s game tonight:
“Kristen is working really hard. She had two really good practices coming in. Actually with our injuries she had been playing a lot of 3-guard, just as a really good passer. I went to her because they were doubling in the post, sagging in the post, and Kristen has a lot of composure in there, she’s a good passer, and she doesn’t really care if she scores. I knew she would look to just kick the ball out in the double (team). We could reverse the ball and get a shooter wide open. A smaller player like her usually does a better job sealing because they have to get lower and get under the legs. Morgan and (Gaffney) are probably the best at that on the drive. That’s what I was really looking for was trying to stop the turnovers. I didn’t think she would turn it over. She’s really strong with the ball, has composure, whether she’s outside or inside, and we needed to take care of the ball and stop turning it over.”
On key contributions from other players:
“I think our biggest threat was our defense, and that was down the stretch with Audrey [Caron-Goudreau]. Audrey was blocking shots, getting deflections. And Paris Kea made plays on defense, not just on offense. It got us in transition, she got some run outs, and caused some deflections and steals. That’s what I get on all these young players for, they all want to make plays on offense and rest on defense because that’s what they’ve been doing their whole careers. Audrey really adjusted. She didn’t foul, she played smart. Previously we haven’t been able to keep her in enough.”
On having a shot blocker on the team:
I think in the last 13 years here we’ve been last in the league in blocked shots every year. One thing that I do like that I see: if you don’t look at our record or anything, and just having a young team, we’re second in the league in field goal percentage, and first in defensive rebounding. And that’s what we used to do. We use to make shots and get defensive rebounds. What’s hurting us is the turnovers, obviously. Again, we didn’t get as many offensive rebounds, but we still outrebounded them 35 to 34. That’s huge too. It’s not just getting blocked shots and missed shots, it’s getting the rebound when they do too.”
Morgan Batey
On getting an `ugly win’:
“It’s huge. We were kind of against the wall and needed a win. A win in the first place was great, but to show each other that we can dig ourselves out of holes is a huge confidence booster and mirrors how our season is going. We started in a hole at the beginning of the SEC season, and if we can have that fight mentality to get back out of it as we get closer to the second half of the season, that will be huge. We have that mindset that we are going to fight together and fight for each other.”
On their defense late in the game:
“We have a deep team. Ten people played, and although they had people coming off the bench, they have five, six players who play. As we continue that pressure and keep working hard, they are going to get tired. That’s what happened, we kept pushing and in the end we were able to outlast because we are so deep and have people coming in fresh like Audrey. She had five blocks, and they were all at crucial times while we were trying to make that run. Little things piecing together helped our defensive effort come together.
Kristen Gaffney
On her role in the first half:
“I just wanted to provide a fight. I think we just needed a little more fight, a little more second effort, so I just went in there and wanted to be strong and attack.”
On the team’s general performance:
“In the first half we didn’t rebound as well as we would have liked. We let them get a lot of offensive boards, and also we had a lot of turnovers in the first half. Second half-wise, we made a defensive effort and cut our turnovers back and got defensive stops which equal rebounds and quick outs to get into transition.”
On their defense late in the game:
“I think we were more aggressive. We played zone for the entire second half until the end, so just being more aggressive in zone and not letting them get their quick shots and clean box outs.”
Arkansas Head Coach Jimmy Dykes
On the cause of losing the game:
“We missed our last 18 shots. It’s as simple as that, as simple as that. We missed 18 shots to finish that game. We also didn’t get to the free-throw line enough. We had the game under control on the road. Vanderbilt did a good job in the second half, they just went inside. They didn’t even shoot a three. They just kept going inside and we just didn’t have the size or the strength to hold up in the ball game.”
On the size inside being the cause of missing the last 18 shots:
“They were the ones who scored on us inside. They scored on us in the inside the entire second half. So that didn’t have anything to do with us missing 18 shots in a row. I don’t think we could stop them. That’s the problem: the inside. So, we tried to drive the ball, we tried to move the ball in the second half. We had too many turnovers. That whole stretch we threw it to the wrong team several times. So, we just didn’t play well enough to win against a good team on the road. Vanderbilt’s a good team.”
