Feb. 22, 2007
Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb
On the play of the three seniors…
“They hit big shots, all of them.”
On Vanderbilt’s defensive effort in the second half…
“We made stop after stop after stop in the second half. That was our big adjustment out of halftime. We were talking about defense because they were really making us work hard on offense and we were not making them work that hard. We needed to play better team defense.”
On the contributions of the non-seniors…
“[Jennifer] Risper and Tina [Wirth] hit huge shots as well. Risper had some great drives and she hit free throws down the stretch. We are balanced. We are very balanced. And the sophomores keep those seniors loose.”
“The seniors want to do well. It was so fun to watch them look at each other and say, `Let’s finish this.’ Caroline every time saying `Let’s put them away.’ They were so confident and their body language was so positive, you could just feel that they were going to finish it.”
On Vanderbilt’s team first mentality…
“Everybody is equal. That is the way we play. If you have your shot, you take it. Tina didn’t hesitate. We executed very well down the stretch. It is hard to guard five people. We really keyed on Fowles and did a great job on her and they didn’t have any other answers. We have a lot of answers.”
On moving into a tie for second place in the SEC with the win…
“It is really important. I know the kids have been really keyed on trying to get a bye. We started 3-3 in the conference and you look at it then and you say, `Man.’ There were a lot of good teams that we were looking up at. But our seniors took everything to heart that we taught them and everything that we worked on to improve and they didn’t get down. They just said `Okay, let’s make a run. Let’s run the table.’ And those were Caroline’s quotes after we were 3-3. She said `Let’s run the table. We have to.’ They know. They understand the sense of urgency in this conference.”
On the special significance of senior night…
“This is why I coach. I coach to enjoy them having fun and them reaping the rewards of the hard work and the perseverance. Carla fought through an injury and we didn’t know if she would play and then she plays a great game. This is really why I coach and that is why I didn’t say anything tonight. It was their night. And I want them to talk and I want them to tell the fans how they feel. And I want them to enjoy it with their teammates. It is just so rewarding to me and satisfying because that is what I get happy about.”
Vanderbilt Senior Caroline Williams
On getting a win on senior night…
“It was so special on a night like this where we want to make it special for everybody, not just us. And beating the no. 7 ranked team in the country on senior night – you can’t get any better than that.”
On the play of the three seniors…
“All of us did some different things. Carla hit a huge shot. Dee hit a huge shot. Carla hit multiple shots. All of us looked at it as a time that we needed to take over and we did it.”
On the play of Carla Thomas…
“It is such a gutsy performance. You see that stuff on ESPN all the time where people are hurting. But you don’t think about it when you get out there. You just play because you want to win. It is such a gutsy performance. It is unbelievable. We talked about our trainer working miracles. She really worked a miracle for us.”
On the significance of beating LSU…
“We expected to win tonight. It is not like this huge shock. We just talked about making sure we enjoy it but coming back tomorrow and getting ready for Tennessee.”
“This game was huge for us. Obviously our big rival is Tennessee but this is a game that we had to win. We know this is a huge place for us right now.”
Vanderbilt Senior Carla Thomas
“It is huge. We needed a win like this to boost our confidence, especially for some of our sophomores who haven’t experienced a big win like this before.”
“We were patient defensively and made them play defense. We read the game really well tonight and just executed.”
“It was just amazing to be a part of that, and to be on the court with Dee [Davis] and Caroline [Williams] and have that sense that this is our last time out here and to just enjoy it and take as much out of it as we could.”
“It was mental, just trying to get past those first couple of minutes. Everyone put some much time and energy and effort into trying to get me better for today because they knew I wanted to play. So I just say thank you to everyone that was praying and everyone that stayed up all night trying to get me better.”
LSU Head Coach Pokey Chatman
“We started the game slow on offense and defense. We settled in and became a little more methodical in offense. We gained some momentum going into the locker room [at the half]. The bottom line is they were better than us tonight.”
“We’re a team that’s pretty good offensively but [Vanderbilt] was playing with a lot of emotion tonight. When you boil it down they turned their defense up a lot.”
“They are a veteran ball club. They didn’t let the emotion of the night beat them. They played hard and played within their system.”
