Feb. 18, 2007
Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb
On Vanderbilt’s quick starts:
“We are really executing well early in the game. We are taking the other team’s confidence away and I think our players are very confident starting the game now and we have been very consistent with how we’ve started games.”
On Williams’ performance:
“She did really well tonight. She was ready to shoot and her release was really quick. That is because of her footwork. She even showed more range tonight – she took a deep one. Her footwork was very good before the catch so she used her legs really well and got shots off quicker. If she can continue doing that that will really help us.”
On Vanderbilt’s three-point shooting:
“I think it is pretty to watch. I think the 3-point shot is something generally that we do better than the men. In the men’s game the dunk is so exciting and in the women’s game you have to execute because we are all pretty much under the rim. We have to execute and I think being able to make three’s consistently like that is pretty. We want to get crowds and everyone wants to watch a good game and I think you have to score points in a women’s game. I think the three point shot is something that is exciting, it is something that keeps people in the games and they can catch up quicker as well.”
On Caroline Williams’ work ethic:
“All she did is come in here and out-work everybody and earn a spot on this team. Everything that she has gotten she has gotten through hard work. That’s very old fashioned, but if you meet her parents, you know where she got that from. She has got great parents and she has been taught all of the right things and has been taught all the right values. And she values hard work and so does her family. And that was ingrained in her before we got her. The other thing is that the better she did the harder she worked. For some people, the better they do the less they work. But once she started getting a little success she started working even harder.”
Vanderbilt Senior Caroline Williams
On the nearing of the end to her career:
“I think Carla and Dee and I have been talking about how it is hitting us. We only have before today two games left here ever to play. So you get that feeling like you want to give it all that you have and play as hard as you can when there are only a couple of games left in the season.”
On Vanderbilt’s three-point shooting:
“I think we have been concentrating on taking the best shot, whether it is an open three or whether it is a lay-up. That is why we have been so good the past six games. We jump out with leads on teams because we are taking good shots.”
“It is really about getting a feel for the game, whether we run different plays and how the defense plays it. The screens that Carla set all night are really what did it. It just so happens the past two games, I have gotten some open threes.”
“We have been doing so much shooting in practice and with our guard practice. All of us are shooting well because we shoot so much in practice and so much as individuals that we are confident. Any shot on the floor we know we can hit. And I just really attribute it to shooting a lot in practice.”
Vanderbilt Senior Carla Thomas
On Vanderbilt’s quick starts to games:
“I think they (other teams) do lose some confidence. When your opponent comes out with that kind of intensity, your confidence does kind of waver. You’re going to fight back, but your confidence is not where it should be.”
South Carolina Head Coach Susan Walvius
Opening Statement:
“Vandy shoots 65 percent in the first half and 55 percent in the second half, they got open looks and Caroline Williams just had a fantastic day today. This Vandy team is so hard to guard because Carla Thomas steps up at our place and has a big night and a big game and you canâ€â„¢t guard her with single coverage. She is just too good, she is strong and she can finish on one defender. We have a big defensive team and we can typically defend the interior pretty well. But if you do double her, you are giving up the perimeter. They did a great job shooting the ball today. I think their execution is excellent. Dee Davis does a great job communicating as a point guard. We usually can hold people under their averages, but we didn’t do that today. I thought we struggled offensively today. We had a much better offensive game at our place and I think you see that around the country in men and women’s basketball. We were very passive against their little containment press which is just to slow the ball down. We weren’t as aggressive as I would have liked to have been. But I thought Vandy played a great game.”
On Vanderbilt’s quick starts to games:
“Their execution is the best I think I’ve seen in women’s college basketball. They are the best executing team and they have the ingredients. They read better than most teams. We can jump certain teams – meaning we can switch on screens and let our post players guard their guards and let our guards guard their post players. Teams don’t recognize and read that well. Vandy reads very well. So they exploit your defense and they exploit how you are reacting to them. Their seniors read so well it makes them really hard to guard. As their season has gone on, you want your team to get better and better. They certainly have.”
On the play of Caroline Williams and her importance to Vanderbilt:
She’s very important because she really stretches the defense. But she reads her defender really well. So you go high side on a screen and she fades. She knows how to get away from her defense. She has such a quick release. She brings her strengths to the team and she doesn’t get outside of her game. And as a team, they understand what they do well and they do it well.”
