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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 5, 2009

Ericka Russell

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS

Tennessee Â– 68
Alabama - 49

THE MODERATOR: Continuing with the University of Alabama, we have Coach Wendell Hudson, Varisia Raffington. Varisia scored 11 points, Ericka 18 points and 4 rebounds. Coach?
COACH HUDSON: I thought both teams played offensively hard. The difference in the basketball game of course was baskets in the paint.
Tennessee did a great job in the second half getting the ball up on the rim and we did not do a very good job in the second half of keeping them off the boards, but I thought they played awfully hard, as they normally would do, and we didn't have great offense.

Q. Coach, talk about the first half, played Tennessee very tough, and your thoughts going into the locker room. In the second half what you thought the difference was down the stretch.
COACH HUDSON: In the first half I thought one of the difference was we made shots, in the first half, and I think that always gives you a chance to win a basketball game.
Second half we talked about it at halftime, about coming out and we needed to come out strong. And we came out with a good effort, but we didn't make the shots, had some good looks, but didn't make the shots. And Tennessee was on a roll, and once they started making shots, it was the difference in the basketball game.

Q. In the second half, Coach, they extended their defense and they're so long, is that what takes away from the parameter? You guys shot 21% in the second half from the three. Talk about their length outside.
COACH HUDSON: Of course, they're -- with the perimeter play that they have out there, they're long and lean, 6-2, 6-3, makes a big difference in shooting the basketball. That affected us some.
And we got the ball in the paint, and they're long and lean inside and they're long and lean everywhere, so it makes a difference. It's what you get used to in practice every day and get used to shooting over. That doesn't take anything away from the shooting of Tennessee.

Q. You guys came out in the second half and had a lead, talk about how excited and up you guys were about that.
ERICKA RUSSELL: We were excited, we played with energy and intensity in the first half. We had nothing to lose and we wanted to come out and play hard.

Q. Coach, talk about the season and where you guys go from here, as far as the off season, what you've learned that year.
COACH HUDSON: Learned you got to make baskets, especially at the right time. No, I already knew that.
I think what this team did that year and what we wanted to accomplish this year was to play hard, learn how to play hard and do it on both ends of the court. I think our effort was good at times as far as playing hard. Now we got to make plays.
Good players make plays and good players make all of us coaches better coaches and that's the difference. There were times when Tennessee might not have made exactly the right play, but they had a playmaker step up and make a play and that's what we got to learn how to do and make plays and help these young ladies from the standpoint of recruiting, get some other playmakers in here to help them play.

Q. Talk about the season, you guys were losing games, but it seems like you were playing with effort. How hard was it to keep up the intensity every day?
ERICKA RUSSELL: It gets hard, we kept encouraging each other, nobody likes to lose. We went into every game with a different attitude, playing positive, thinking that we can take this one and we were just taking it one game at a time.
We have to get to the point where we can finish the game. Once we get there, I think that we'll be a definite SEC contender when it comes down to it.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you all.

End of FastScripts

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