Dec. 5, 2015
Head coach Melanie Balcomb
On limiting ETSU’s Shamauria Bridges after she scored 11 first quarter points:
“Her getting two fouls definitely helped us. That’s what we talk about really every day, we can’t really let one person go off against us, and that’s one of the goals we’re achieving, with nobody individually scoring more than 14 points against us. Really, it was just talking more, communicating better on the floor.”
On limiting ETSU to 15 points in the first half:
“Like I said, their best player was out for a while, so that hurt them. Their point guard’s out and their leading scorer is out. That provided us a little more opportunity to get offense off our defense.”
On the 800th win in program history and her 299th career win:
“The program number means a lot. I came to Vanderbilt because it was a winning program and it had a history of tradition, success, and fan support, and it was really just a quality program. I wanted to continue that as Head Coach, and I wanted to put the program first. As far as me personally, those numbers don’t mean anything. I was joking that it means I’ve been coaching for a while. It just makes me appreciate so many players, coaches, and other people that helped me grow and get better. I don’t win any games without their help.”
On fan support so far this season:
“I would say that the girls work really hard and their effort is phenomenal as is their character and we execute. I think that they deserve more fan support, especially from the students. I’d like to get more students out. They’re part of this school, and the dedication and commitment that they show and the hours they put in, I wish they were more rewarded. I think the product on the floor right now that we’re showing is a good product, and I think people will enjoy it.”
On comparing this team to last year’s team at this time:
“I think there’s no comparison. With team chemistry and sharing the basketball and the defensive effort, that’s where you see the separation in games that we didn’t get early on [last year]. The commitment to each other, the commitment to what we’re asking them to do. They’ve been very coachable this year, and the players here are really buying in and doing whatever it takes to win and, if anything gets in the way of that, they’re addressing it. We’re really committed to growing and getting better.”
ESTSU head coach Brittney Ezell
Opening Statement:
“First of all, congratulations to Vanderbilt. I think they shot the ball extremely well. They are difficult to manage in the post, they run complex sets and they run them well. Melanie does a tremendous job with this group. They’re fun to watch when I’m not coaching against them, and I wish them the absolute best of luck this season. I wish nothing but health and success for them.”
On Vandy’s defense of Shamauria Bridges:
“They were playing that horrible amoeba zone. They had hands in her face and they were switching her off to bigger kids. She’s a streak shooter, she does a really good job of hunting her shot. She averages 17 points per game, and she was right on her season average. She had 21 points on Wednesday against Tennessee. I thought that Vanderbilt did a great job of identifying her. She went a little cold for a little while, and as a streak shooter its frustrating. They need to be in a rhythm. She lost her rhythm there for a little while, and its difficult for us to score when she doesn’t have a rhythm. We are still without our All-Conference point guard, so we’re actually down to eight, nine with Raven Dean playing again coming off a knee surgery. We’re playing through it, we’re a little bit like the walking wounded, but I was pleased with our effort. The outcome wasn’t what we wanted, but I’m always proud of our effort, and the way our kids handle themselves.”
On the increase in offense in the second half:
“I told the officials that I would just like to start the game in the second half. It makes my job easier. We’ve always made pretty good adjustments at half time. I don’t necessarily think we were doing anything differently, I thought we were a little bit more aggressive, it might have been Vandy pressing off the gas a little. You could probably attribute it a little to both.”
On comparing Vanderbilt to Tennessee:
“Tennessee has remarkable athleticism. They can score from all five positions just by out-athleting you. They don’t run a lot of complex stuff, but they will rebound the basketball better than a lot of teams in the country. Vanderbilt is very methodical. They do their system very well. They are extremely disciplined. Their zone is difficult to decipher. UT has seen zones all season, and hasn’t shot the ball extremely well. I would probably say that Vanderbilt’s zone will probably give them a problem, and UT’s athleticism and pressure will probably give Vanderbilt a problem.”
Junior Guard Minta Spears
On her second half performance:
“I think our defense really picked it up. Our offense showed that, and we started getting out in transition. We started showing the ball and moving the ball, and that was a big reason I got those threes and other people started scoring too.”
On holding ETSU to 15 points in the first half:
“I think we’re really taking pride in our defense, and we have defensive goals that we’re really trying to get. I think that was a big thing for us. We’re trying to hold people under what they normally score, and we try to take out their best player. I think Shamauria Bridges had two fouls, so she was on the bench for some of the first half.”
On their defensive goals:
“We have different goals, it just varies depending on the game and the team.”
Sophomore Guard Rachel Bell
On having an “off” game:
“I just need to take smarter shots, that’s for sure. I came out and started jacking, honestly. I just need to be smarter and run through the offense.”
Bell on the defensive strategy for the game:
“We have to know where their best player is so that she doesn’t get more than fifteen points. We don’t want one player to beat us. So we just try to know where the best player is and be there.”
Bell on playing six games in the past thirteen days:
“I think our mental toughness has been great. Of course we have class and we’re missing class so that’s really hard; at the same time, we all love basketball, so we’re glad to be out there and we’re ready to get back at it.”
