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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 8, 2009

Nell Fortner

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS

Vanderbilt Â– 61
Auburn - 54

THE MODERATOR: Nell Fortner from Auburn, DeWanna Bonner and Whitney Boddie, comments, Coach?
COACH FORTNER: Well, I thought Vanderbilt played outstanding defense and kept us from getting into any kind of rhythm offensively.
And it was a long day for us offensively and they shot the three-ball so well today. Hard to beat a team when they're shooting threes that well. I thought Vanderbilt was very good today.

Q. Nell, in addition to their 3-point shooting, y'all didn't make any, was there something they were doing?
COACH FORTNER: They smothered Allie all day, she was our best 3-point shooter, and DeWanna, she shoots the three, and they didn't get any nice looks anyway.
I thought they did a good job taking that away, even though we're not a huge 3-point shooting team, we normally get to the free-throw line a little more than we did today and we just didn't seem to get the calls in that regard.
Normally when we're penetrating and gettin' to the hole, we're usually picking up some fouls, but -- I thought that hurt us, too, no threes and then not getting to the free-throw line as much as we normally do.

Q. DeWanna, building on what Coach Fortner said, what were the things you saw them doing to you tonight that made it difficult for you to get into a rhythm?
DeWANNA BONNER: They just smothered you while you were on the court and they played good team defense.

Q. Whitney, usually you're the one penetrating and getting things going, were they playing a funky zone stopping you from getting in there?
WHITNEY BODDIE: They were playing a triangle and two on some and the zone on the others, and I'm not taking a lot of 3-point shots and they were trying to stop DeWanna. My man was sagging on her.
And usually I'm trying to penetrate and create things, but the way they were playing defense, it's more sagging, so they kind of dare you to take the shot because if you penetrate, they're sagging on you.

Q. Nell, seems like you guys were within three points and Vandy went wide up on 3-pointers.
COACH FORTNER: It was just a defensive breakdown. We were trying to switch on screens, and we just got a little messed up there, so, yeah, that was very -- it was like a dagger.
Because when we got it to three, if we could have made a nice stop, that would have been nice and come back down and try to tie it or cut it to 1, but we weren't switching on the screens and it just didn't happen.

Q. How hard is it not to be disappointed? You've still got obviously more season.
COACH FORTNER: Well, it hurts right now, nobody likes to lose. We haven't lost very much this year, obviously, but it is disappointing, and when the prize is as big as the one was today, it's even more disappointing.
Or it hurts a little more, but you know what? We understand what lies ahead and we have to take it and learn from it and use it as we move forward. We'll get over it, move on just like we do with the wins. You deal with it, you either enjoy it or you deal with it, and then you move on and then it's on to what lies ahead.

Q. DeWanna, like Coach said, you're disappointed right now, but how important is the next two weeks for you guys?
DeWANNA BONNER: Once we figure out what's next, we can't worry about this loss, can't let anything dictate us. We have to just go back, find out who we play and prepare.

Q. Nell, Christine Wirth kept getting open for those threes, and she hit a lot. Were you trying to do something on her that wasn't working or how did that go down?
COACH FORTNER: There wasn't anything -- we weren't trying to run any kind of special defense for her. They were just -- I think that was more miscommunication. It was maybe a long offensive rebound that we didn't get out and recover to her a couple of times, and that hurt us with the threes.
The rebounds were long and we were all sucked into the paint trying to go to the boards, and then they kicked it out and knocked down another three.

Q. I'm sorry if you addressed this, Nell, but can you talk about Wirth in terms of -- she just seemed to make all kinds of plays you might not see on the scoreboard, like tipping the rebounds out, she made the steal in the end.
COACH FORTNER: I thought she played very desirable basketball today. She seems to be one of those -- maybe she's a senior and this is her last runthrough, I thought she was better today than I've seen her on film and when we played 'em in Nashville.
Maybe she stepped up a little more because Tuomi is hurt and she knows she has to do a little more. To me, it seemed like that's how she played today.

Q. You tried to up your offense in the second half, but how tough is Vanderbilt to come back on?
WHITNEY BODDIE: They're really tough. They're efficient with their offense, they pound you, pound you and you think you've got them stopped, and then at the end of the shot clock they make a three.
It's hard to come back on a team like this. They're mechanical and the way they do things. We tried to step up and make place, I guess, but...

Q. Nell, obviously every game is different, but what is it about Vanderbilt over the last couple of years that has made it hard for you guys to get over the hill?
COACH FORTNER: I wish I knew. I think it's the defense they play. It's always a low-scoring game when we play them, and it's hard to get your points, whether it's a triangle and two, box and one, they do a lot of things that keep you out of a good offensive rhythm.
I think Melanie does a good job with shutting down certain players on a team, you know, whatever the defense that they play is, they focus on taking players out of their game. You know, we just haven't been able to break through that defense.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies.

End of FastScripts

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