Alabama vs. Vanderbilt: Postgame Quotes
1/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2011
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Alabama Head Coach Wendell Hudson
Opening statement:
"We've had better days. Vanderbilt did a really good job of running its offense and really pushing the ball down the floor, and we didn't do a very good job of getting back. That is the way they played, and we knew that was going to be the way they would play. There were no surprises. We talked to this team the last couple of days about competing, and I thought we competed for about 30 minutes, but we have to learn how to compete for 40 minutes. That is part of the growing pains of getting a basketball team to make those steps."
On freshman guard Shafontaye Myers' performance:
"We're talking about playing a lot of our younger players, and maybe that's where some leadership will come from. The big key is believing that we can get it done. I thought that at least in the first half we believed we could get it done. I thought we got some effort in the second half, but the adversity that happened when we didn't score some baskets early (in the second half) was something we needed to overcome."
On giving the younger players more playing time after the 0-4 start in the SEC:
"We have talked to the team and had some really good practices, and we are going to play whoever is going to play hard and compete. That is the bottom line. We just have to get them in the best position so they can be successful. We have some people that are stepping up and competing, and that is the good thing. All those freshmen are learning how to play and learning how to play in a tough league."
#21 Tierney Jenkins, Forward
On second-half play:
"I think we are just having mental lapses. At halftime, it's a different mindset. We just weren't focused on competing in the second half."
On how to fix shooting issues:
"I guess getting more shots will help even though we do get a lot up. I think it's just our mindset right now. As soon as we fix that, everything else will get better. There are some shots Coach wouldn't want us to take, but most of the shots we are taking are ones we are making in practice. We just need to concentrate and have a game mentality."
On upcoming conference play:
"We could get down about being 0-4 in the conference, especially since the team is so young, but I think we are pretty resilient and aren't going to give up. We are athletes, and we compete. We just need to start being competitive in the next games."
Vanderbilt Head Coach Melanie Balcomb
Opening statement:
"I felt we were ready for the game on the road tonight. I thought we had paid the price early, and we didn't want that (losing on the road) to happen again. I felt good about tonight. This was the right timing for us to get our win on the road."
On winning the battle in the paint:
"They are a small team, and Hannah (Tuomi) plays big and Stephanie (Holzer) is big. Getting Stephanie healthy and getting her confidence back where it needs to be, and getting Hannah to slow down once she realizes that they aren't going to block her shot really paid off tonight. I think when we made baskets and made layups in the paint, whether it was Jasmine (Lister) or Jence (Rhoads) attacking the paint or getting it to Hannah and Steph, that's when we got the lead."
On the 14-1 run to start the second half:
"When they hit that buzzer beater going into the half, I was glad we didn't have a big lead at the half. After that, I didn't think we would come out too flat, but that really set the tone for the rest of the game."
