Post Game Quotes vs. Tennessee
2/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2010
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Alabama Head Coach Wendell Hudson
On the team's effort tonight:
"The effort was there tonight. We have talked about playing hard like we do in practice. At this point, you have to give that same effort. I don't believe in moral victories, but our effort kept us in the game tonight, and I am really proud of the team."
On tonight's crowd:
"Tennessee had a great crowd tonight. They had a lot of people cheering for them. We had a great crowd too, which was very important. A lot of people had pink on and they were cheering for us. You could just feel the energy from them. I thought that was a key in the way we played."
On not allowing Tennessee to pull away in the second half:
"We had some good shots. The team didn't quit, and that is important against a team like this. I was real proud of our group hanging in there and continuing to play. They thought they had a chance to win the basketball game. That is important."
On freshman point guard Celiscia Farmer:
"Celiscia started at point guard against Tennessee, who is a top-five team in the country, and did an outstanding job. Some of those turnovers were passes she should have made a half-step sooner, but her effort was great, with 21 points and four rebounds. She played 33 minutes in her first start, so I am really proud of her."
On the direction of the program:
"We have it heading in the right direction. We are playing hard, and we are playing everybody hard. Our shots may fall or they may not. We can't do anything about that, however we can always give good effort defensively. I thought we did a great job of that tonight against a team that is very talented. We made them work for every point they got."
On facing Arkansas on Sunday:
"Arkansas is a team that is playing really good right now. They are a team that started out under the radar, but all of a sudden they have won two in a row. They got a big win tonight, so we have to get ready to go play them. But as we have talked about, if we go out and play hard every night, we are going to be okay."
Freshman Guard Celiscia Farmer
On what she thought after the game:
"We just went into the game knowing we had the ability to beat them. We just needed to play together. We have been through some losses but we knew we could get the team working together tonight. It is just a tough loss."
Senior Guard Dedrea Magee
On out-rebounding Tennessee:
"It's late in the season and we take that as a positive. I thought we stayed in the game and we all fought hard. We played like a team. We have three more regular season games and then the tournament. We just have to focus on staying together and working towards the tournament."
On playing Tennessee close:
"As Ericka (Russell) said earlier, we had tough practices this week. We have just been getting after each other knowing that if we play hard and keep fighting we'll be okay. Like Coach (Hudson) said, he's not looking for a moral victory, he just wants us to come out and keep the intensity up and play hard."
Sophomore Guard Ericka Russell
On if Coach Hudson explained the changes to the starting lineup:
"He really didn't. This week we had tough practices. We know everyone on the team is capable of starting. It's just about who is finishing. It doesn't matter. It's just a mental thing. It doesn't really matter to our team."
On what Coach Hudson talked about at halftime:
"He talked about keeping the intensity up in the second half. We knew we could fight and stay in the game, and that's what we were able to do."
Tennessee Head Coach Pat Summitt
Opening statement:
"Obviously I am very disappointed in how we came out and played in this game. A lot of things didn't go our way and I give Alabama a lot of credit, but when you have a player (Celiscia Farmer) that has been averaging 4.9 points a game and you give up 21, that is significant in the lack of awareness in defensive intensity and commitment. Farmer had her way. She just got open shots. We had no sense of urgency. They out-rebounded us by 12. Out of 35 misses, we only had 12 offensive boards. What is rebounding? It's heart and competitive desire. Am I pleased? No. Is it good to play poorly and win a game? Yes, that is good. This has to be an opportunity for our team to take a look at who they are. We are concerned as a coaching staff. We disrespected the game of basketball tonight.
"I'm very concerned about the future of our team because we are closing out our SEC play and obviously get into the playoffs and if we have one of these (games like tonight) we are going home. We're done."
On what most disappointed her in tonight's performance:
"Just not coming to the gym with a mission. Our coaching staff was clearly the most vocal voices across the board and this team did not take ownership."
On Celiscia Farmer's performance:
"(Farmer's) performance just goes to show you our lack of commitment on defense."
Junior Forward Angie Bjorklund
On if the team overlooked Alabama:
"I think we just came out flat. We had two turnovers in a row and didn't get off to a good start and we let one thing lead to another and it just kind of sucked the life out of us. If we turn the ball over, we have to go down and get stops. I think it's just having more of a sense of urgency to start the game and if you do make a mistake then you have to go down and respond on defense and we didn't do that at all tonight."
On the development of their competitive maturity:
"I think you see it in our team's spirits. We have yet to play a forty minute team where we have that competitive maturity the entire game. We might get up on a team and then let them come back in and I thought that's what we did tonight. If we can put together forty minutes where everyone goes hard on every possession, you're looking at a whole different team. Everyone has to step up. We should have been ready to come and there are no excuses for the way we played tonight."
Sophomore Forward Alyssia Brewer
On Tennessee's defense:
"I can't even tell you. I think one thing that Dean (Lockwood) told us that really hit me in the locker room was that we had to be engaged in the game and there were moments where we weren't as a team. Maybe one or two of us, but it wasn't a collective effort. I think that's something that's going to determine whether we have success or not. You would think that we would be past that by now. It was just unacceptable and we're better than this. Everybody knows that. We're the players out there though and we're the people that have to play."
On getting back into the gym:
"I think everybody needs to be in the gym tomorrow, including myself. I need to work on my free throws. We have to have that maturity and take that responsibility. You can only help a teammate out so much, but it has to be them that steps up."
