March 23, 2008
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Sunday Practice Quotes Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb, Jennifer Risper and Christina Wirth
Opening Statement:
Coach Melanie Balcomb: “We felt good about our effort last night, especially on our perimeter defense and limiting them in their field goal percentage. I think the next game is going to about defense and limiting their shooters as well as taking out a great post game. They are going to have a good inside out game, something Montana did not have. Again, we are focused on preparing for what they do defensively. I know rebounding and the tempo of the game again are going to be very important, all effort skills.”
Q: You forced 22 turnovers against Montana and got 27 points off those turnovers, has your defense helped create a lot of your offense this year?
Coach Melanie Balcomb: “This year that has been the case. This is a different team in the NCAA than last year. It’s great to have the ability that if you aren’t perfect on offense or you aren’t hitting shots because you are tight or there is pressure. You really have to count on your defense in the post-season and I really think this is the best defensive team we’ve had. We are able to create offense off our defense and not just try to stop people.”
Q: The SEC and Big East are two top conferences in women’s basketball, how does it feel playing another team from a similar conference and how you are both battle tested at this point.
Coach Melanie Balcomb: “I think the biggest similarity is our conferences. Playing in the SEC we see a lot of teams similar to West Virginia. I know they’ve have probably seen some teams similar to us. In the SEC we tend to be a little more different than the other teams in our conference. The Big East is a large conference with a lot of different types of teams and we’ve watched a lot of film of them against a lot of different player and styles. The biggest similarity is that they are a high-level Big East team and we are a high-level SEC team.”
Q: What have you seen of Olayinka Sanni and how does she match up against your post players?
Coach Melanie Balcomb: “I think she is one of the best post players I’ve seen on film. She is an amazing post player with a lot of great low post moves. What I love is how she rebounds the basketball and especially her own misses. The determination and the drive she goes after the basketball is amazing and obviously one of the best we’ve seen all year. There isn’t a lot of post players like her out there. It will be a tough match up for us. Like every team they’ve played, you can’t just guard her with one player. You need to be able to help and it’s going to be a team effort to guard Sanni.”
Q: Do you have any advantage after having a big win in the first round?
Coach Melanie Balcomb: “It’s post-season and its NCAA time. Everybody is excited and not thinking about the last game. Everybody is going to be in the present and thinking about each possession because of the importance of each possession. I don’t think it will have any impact at all.”
Q: How much emphasis do you put on West Virginia’s last game against New Mexico?
Coach Melanie Balcomb: “I think we learn something after watching every game. We’ve watched so many games in the age of technology. We were prepared for every team and not just Montana. What you can see in person is an advantage as well. Just to be able to see the opponent physically, mentally and see what is going on emotionally are things you can’t see on film. I like to see teams in person.”
Q: Do feel the altitude or the two-day turn around been an issue?
Coach Melanie Balcomb: “I don’t feel it’s been an issue. Our effort was very good and our intensity was very good. I did not see us tire the way I thought we might have. Our players are well conditioned right now and I didn’t see anything different than our other games.”
Q: If you could talk a little bit about how important it was that you guys got a lot of rest in last night’s game and what is that going to do to help you in tomorrow night’s game?
Jennifer: “Well, we’re just going to have fresh legs going into the next game so, that is pretty much what that allows in any game, when you get a chance to rest. The funnest thing too is seeing everybody get out there playing in their first NCAA game, so it was just more fun than anything.”
Q: What were your impressions of West Virginia? I don’t know how much their game you saw, but what did you think of them? Do they remind you of anyone that you have played this year?
Christina: “I didn’t see very much of their game last night, but we watched film before we came here. I thought they looked very athletic and just kind of well-rounded. I know when our coach was talking to us they kept comparing players to players we’ve seen mostly from the SEC and getting an idea of what they might be like, but like coach said I think they have a good inside out game. They have a really strong post player that plays inside kind of a good high low game with her. You know their four players and just some smart guards who can shoot from the floor, so it’s going to be a team effort to stop them, but I think that you know were going to have a game plan going into it and hopefully we’ll be able to practice that today.”
Q: A lot of what you said is a lot of what West Virginia was saying about you guys. It seems to me like you teams are very well matched and play very similar styles.”
Christina: “I don’t know, I guess I haven’t seen that much to really be able to make that comparison and I guess we are similar to them. We do have, you know, we have shooters on the outside and we have some good post players inside, you know we really like to go inside out like they do, so I think in that way, unlike some teams that really focus on one or the other, either their guards or their post players, both teams like to do both so that might be one of the main similarities.”
Q: Do you think given that West Virginia had such a close game, winning by one point last night where as you had a little bit more of a cushion last night, that gives either team maybe a mental edge where one feels like they are already in the zone play in those tight games where as you guys feel like you are on a roll, do you think that gives either team maybe a mental advantage?
Jennifer: “I think sometimes. I mean we’re in the NCAA tournament so I feel like everyone’s going to be up no matter what. It doesn’t matter if you played close one game or you know we had a game like we had the other night. I think they are going to come ready to play just like every single team you play. I think it’s good physically that we didn’t have to play 40 minutes and they did. So hopefully that will be something that plays to our advantage.”
Q: Could you take me back to last year and compare to this year? You’re a high seed, you won your first round game last year although all be it wasn’t a terribly encouraging win. Last night was a pretty optimistic performance. Are you mentally going into the second round looking to advance and what is the difference between this year and last year?
Jennifer: “I know last year we came out kind of flat and just like coach has been saying we’re a young team we don’t have any pressure and it’s very true. I was talking to Jence (Rhoads) last night I was just we were excited we didn’t play for like a week and a half and we were just playing each other the whole time and we were like finally we get to play and we are ready to go, so I think that is the difference. We had seniors last year and we kind of had more pressure and this year we are just excited and want to have fun.”
Christina: “Building on that I guess the game against Delaware State last year wasn’t exactly the prettiest. You know [last night] was an encouraging game just because we built momentum off it. Even towards the end of the game coach just kept saying `We’re here to get better’. It doesn’t matter that it looked like we were going to win the game .You know we need to keep getting better because we are trying to advance farther not just win that game and so I think that it does help to just kind of have a good win under our belts as we keep going.”
Sunday Practice Day Quotes with West Virginia Head Coach Mike Carey, LaQuita Owens and Chakhia Cole
Opening Statement:
Coach Mike Carey: “We feel real fortunate to be here. We had a tough game last night and our girls are little bit tired but we have to refocus. We are playing a very good Vanderbilt basketball team. They concern me in the post and they have shooters on the perimeter which are very unselfish and move the ball very well. We are going to definitely have our hands full with them tomorrow night.”
Q: Last night Vanderbilt had 27 points off turnovers and forced 27 turnovers, does their defense key a lot of what they do offensively like West Virginia?
Coach Mike Carey: “They play a lot of match up zone and out of the match up they will pressure you and trap you some. They will trap you in the half courts, which will create turnovers. They setup in a 2-2-1 and try to take time off the clock. They will also trap and try to fall back into their match ups. They do a very good job of hiding what they are in and they will change into man once in a while.”
Q: The altitude has been talked about a lot; in the second round do you have any concerns?
Coach Mike Carey: “No more than our legs. I don’t think it’s the altitude as much as it is that we need to recover and stay focused. It’s been no more than recovering and getting our legs.”
Q: Any concern about Vanderbilt getting their starters a rest during the second half of the game last night?
Coach Mike Carey: “Sure you would like to see them play 40 minutes but that didn’t happen. We just need to come out and play and match their intensity. They play very hard and are very intelligent players. They play as a team and move the ball well. They post extremely hard with their 4’s and 5’s against the zone and the man. We have to get physical and get ball pressure on the ball. They have people that can drive and people that hit the offensive boards. I’m impressed with their basketball team even if they are extremely young but they don’t play young. They have very polished players.”
Q: How important is it to get Olayinka Sanni playing back to normal?
Coach Mike Carey: “It’s important for Sanni to play well tomorrow. She was prepared to play and was emotionally ready to play. She was too hyped in the beginning. The first two times she touched the ball she went out of bounds and picked up two quick fouls. She needs to get more focused tomorrow and I think she will. That will be the key for us for Sanni to play well against their post.”
Q: When West Virginia has played well you’ve received solid shooting from Meg Bulger and the last couple of games she hasn’t shot real well. Is she going through a slump and is it something she can work through?
Coach Mike Carey: “I don’t say much to shooters. They are capable of hitting eight in a row or miss eight in a row. I just want them to take good shots and have good technique. Our biggest problem on offense is that we aren’t reversing the ball. Against a team like Vanderbilt you better spread out and better get some cutters. You can’t chase the ball because they will just match up against you.”
Q: Just wanted to ask you to follow up on what coach was just saying, how you guys holding up? How your legs and any fatigue concerns for tomorrow?
LaQuita: “As for me I’m not really tired. I’m speaking for myself when I say this, but I don’t know about the other teammates. I’m really not tired.”
Coach Mike Carey: “Chakhia (Cole) you tired? You played 40 minutes.”
Chakhia: “Oh, I’m not tired just ready to play the next game.”
Q: Did you get to see any of the Vanderbilt game? What were your impressions of them?
Chakhia: “Well, we were able to watch the first half and they seemed like they were a very hard nosed team, very energetic. They play together and you know that’s going to be tough to guard because you never know who’s going to step up for them.”
Q: Last night you played obviously in a very emotionally charged atmosphere and you played a very emotional game. How do you come back now mentally and get back up for another game tomorrow where you might be playing in front of a crowd that’s one tenth of the size of the one you played the other night?
Chakhia: “Well I think it’s just a matter of regrouping. You know we have to come together and get it done today in practice and focus on Vanderbilt. We’ll come together in the locker room like we normally do and we’ll talk things out we’ll say what we need to get done.”
Q: If you wouldn’t mind just going back to last night, How does that compare to when you guys played Connecticut, Tennessee? What was the reference point? What was that like to be part of the noise and the crowd? Have you guys been in a situation like that?
Chakhia: “Yeah we have when we played Tennessee down in Charleston and you know Connecticut is always a big fan base so it was just us out there. We just had to come together. That’s it.”
Q: Can you talk a little bit about what you saw from Vanderbilt last night and what you think is going to be the best way for you guys to attack them?
LaQuita: “The same way, the same thing Chakhia (Cole) said, they play hard and they are real energetic and they play as a team and when you play as a team it’s kind of hard to defend. Like Chakhia (Cole) said you don’t know who is going to step up and play hard. They play really, really hard though.”
Q: How do you think you are going try and attack what they do?
LaQuita: “Just reverse the ball. We have to reverse the ball, keep moving. We can’t stand still. Because when we stand still we are easy to guard like Coach (Carey) always tells us. So we just have to reverse the ball tomorrow.”
