Alabama vs. Auburn: Post Game Quotes
2/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2010
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Alabama Head Coach Wendell Hudson
Opening comments:
"I think our effort was the key and playing on both ends of the court and especially the defensive end of the court. We made Auburn earn every point that they got there in the second half and I thought that was the key to the game."
On the turning point of the game late in the second half:
"When we went up by 12 we did a lot of good things and had a lot of fast-break points. Then Auburn all of the sudden went to a really big lineup. They put all of their big post players in there and the key to that is if they miss a shot, they are going to have to get back and I didn't think they were getting back the way they really need to get back there and we pushed the ball down the floor. We had some people step up and just play their hearts out and that's the other thing that ended up happening there. Auburn is a good basketball team, they can play with anyone in the country. You knew they were not going to quit, so it was just one of those Alabama-Auburn games. That's what it was."
On whether he could envision this effort today after the 77-44 loss to Mississippi State Thursday:
"Yes. People ask me all the time 'how do you get the team to come back and play?' We don't except anything less. If you're going to be on this basketball team and be a part of this program, when we go to practice, you're going to practice. We've told this team from day one 'the day that you don't want to practice, you don't have to come, but don't come back.' That's the key. The day that you don't want to go hard and don't want to practice, don't come. But don't come back. We are not going to except anything less but that type of effort and it's a credit to this team, because we battled and battled. We've had some good games and we've had some not so good games as far as scoring. Defensively I thought we played with great effort. I felt like the effort was there in the Mississippi State game, we just didn't make any shots."
Junior Forward Tierney Jenkins
On scoring in the last few minutes of the second half:
"I wanted to do whatever it took to win. The coaches told me where I can get some easy shots from, so I just did what they told me to. I was wide open when Dedrea (Magee) and LaToya (King) passed, so I felt pretty good."
On holding KeKe Carrier in the second half:
"We had to keep her (KeKe Carrier) off the ball as much as possible. We had a feeling either KeKe or (Alli) Smalley were going to get the ball in the last few minutes, so we were keeping our eyes on them."
Junior Guard LaToya King
On the last steal at the end of the game:
"Well, I was just trying to get a stop. I didn't want to give them a chance to score."
On scoring as many points in this game as in the last two combined:
"It feels good. We needed this win. We moved the ball well and had quick passes."
On what they took from this game:
"We played together as a team and it showed. We moved the ball and stuck together. The last game we just weren't able to get the ball in. We had a good balance today and scored."
On taking the ball from KeKe Carrier in the last play of the game:
"I just took it. I couldn't believe it was in front of my face."
Senior Guard Dedrea Magee
On having eight points in the first few minutes of the game:
"I thought about the first halves of the last two games. It was pretty much wide open, so I just wanted to take the ball."
On beating Auburn for the first time since 2006:
"It's special, especially for me because I'm a senior and have never beaten them."
Auburn Head Coach Nell Fortner
On the deciding factors in the game:
"It was a tough day for us, especially because we couldn't knock down free throws. We had a really bad day from the line and I think that if we could have knocked those down it would have made a big difference towards the end of the game. It was just a tough day for us."
On the last possession:
"We were trying to get the ball to Alli Smalley on the wing, but the pressure was really good. Alabama did a good job of not letting us have much air anywhere and because of that we struggled to get the ball to her. It was a play we had run many times, but we just didn't execute it very well."
On Alabama's defense in the second half against KeKe Carrier:
"They were just really physical with her and they pushed her off the block and got her away from the basket. I don't think KeKe did a whole lot to prevent them from doing that. You have to be able to fight for your position and I don't think she did a good job of getting in good position down there today."
On Alabama's improvement:
"Today their defense was very good, very physical. It was tight and it didn't give us much room to run anything very effectively. We didn't do a very good job of responding to it and they did a good job of bowing up to us."
On Alli Smalley's big rebounding day:
"It just kind of worked out that way for her today. They weren't doing a great job of boxing her out and she did a good job of taking advantage of that. I think that's the most rebounds she's ever had and she had some big boards for us toward the end."
On Tierney Jenkins' game:
"Tierney's a nice player. She's a real competitive kid who just plays so hard. No matter what defense we played today we didn't do a good job of guarding her."
