Dec. 7, 2010
Head coach Melanie Balcomb
On getting career victory number 200…
“I have no idea, I just…we just needed a win today. We’re at that point in the season where we’ve been probably every year since I’ve been here in December, trying to figure out who we are as a team. I’m glad I’ve been here at Vanderbilt long enough to get 200 victories. I don’t get to play, so I’m thankful for all of the players who have played for me and the coaches that have coached with me. You certainly don’t win games by yourself. Some of these games I’d rather get out there and play myself, but they don’t let me.”
On Southern Illinois cutting the lead to two points…
“Defensively, we gave up a lot of good shots and they started building a lot of confidence and they got on a roll. We’re going to have to shut people down earlier, but I really like how we responded. They cut it down to two, and I called a timeout and from that point on we looked like a different team. We looked like we were very angry and played hard and all those things that I wanted them to do for 40 minutes. They did it when they needed to do it, and that’s a good sign. They responded.”
On Hannah Tuomi’s career performance…
“She was the one who played angry for 40 minutes because she was upset losing in front of her crowd in Denver and it hurt her and affected her the most. You saw her make changes, she didn’t turn the ball over and she didn’t foul. She scored almost every time. She played one of the best games I’ve ever seen her play. She allowed herself to play 33 minutes because she did not get into foul trouble. She was focused on those things. “
Hannah Tuomi
On getting a win tonight after two consecutive road losses…
“After the Denver loss in front of my family and friends, we really had to win this game. It is definitely important to bounce back from a loss. It was a little bit of a stab to the heart after the Denver loss so I definitely just wanted to go out and win this game.”
On Coach Balcomb’s 200th victory…
“We knew that the next one would be win 200 and it’s always nice to get a 200th win at home, in front of your home crowd for the fans and for your team. It was really good.”
On bouncing back when Southern Illinois got within two points…
“The game got within two points and at that point everybody saw that we really needed to lock down on defense, get some stops and go on the run in transition and get some points on our end. Once we lock down on defense and get those stops, offense comes really easily.”
