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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 5, 2011Melanie BalcombTiffany ClarkeHannah TuomiNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Kentucky – 69 THE MODERATOR: We have Vanderbilt. We'll start with an opening statement from Coach Balcomb. COACH BALCOMB: This was a tough one. I didn't see this coming, the start. You know, I think I have to give credit to Kentucky. They came out so energized, physical, and just really put us on our heels right away, which we should have been ready for after playing them twice. We didn't respond well. The second half, you know, when our backs were against the wall, we're a pretty good team. We fought back. I'm proud of our effort in the second half. THE MODERATOR: Hannah, your opening thoughts on the game? HANNAH TUOMI: Just like coach said. We definitely didn't come out in the first half ready to play. We let them dictate us, be aggressive. We didn't go after it. In the second half, we came out and put up a fight. But it obviously wasn't enough to get us out of the hole that we dug in the first, so... THE MODERATOR: Tiffany, your thoughts on the game? TIFFANY CLARKE: This was a tough one. Like they said, we didn't come out ready to play. They were definitely a lot more physical and more energized than we were. Obviously, it hurt us. We came out second half with more energy, more intensity, more focused, but it was too late. And, yeah. THE MODERATOR: At this point we'll take questions for the student-athletes. Q. Why do you think it took you so long to come out with that energy? HANNAH TUOMI: I'm not sure there are any excuses. We played Kentucky twice before in the regular season. We knew how they played. We knew their personnel. They just came out ready to play and we just didn't, so... The better team that shows up that night, at that game time, wins, so... THE MODERATOR: Tiffany, your thoughts? TIFFANY CLARKE: Pretty much what Hannah said. There's not an excuse for it. We just came out flat. We didn't come out ready to play. Don't know why. We knew what to expect. We knew what they were going to bring to us. We didn't react to it or we didn't initiate anything. Q. The late night wasn't an excuse. Can you give me any positives that you saw in the second half that you want to hang on to and build from? TIFFANY CLARKE: We definitely fought back and became the aggressor in the second half. We were more physical, attacked more, got to the free-throw line. First half, I don't think we went to the free-throw line at all. Second half, we definitely were the aggressors. It was a little too late for it to happen. But that's a positive. HANNAH TUOMI: Yeah, in the second half when we got the ball we were ready to attack. We drove, kicked, hit some shots. That was definitely a positive half that we came out ready to play. Like we all said, we knew that in the first. You need to put 40 minutes together, not just 20, to win a game. Q. How defining was it for you guys as you got closer to miss some of those free throws? HANNAH TUOMI: No answers. We've been here. We played on this court the night before. Just a lack of focus, I would say. A lack of focus on putting the ball in the hoop, relaxing, slowing down, all of those things. THE MODERATOR: Tiffany, your thoughts on the missed free throws? TIFFANY CLARKE: I think it was just a tightness and overthinking. Free throw is a lot of mental. I think when we overthink them, that's when we miss them. I think that's what happened. Q. Looking ahead to the NCAAs, do you have any ideas? HANNAH TUOMI: We'll see, you know. It will all unravel here at the end of all the tournaments, so we'll see. TIFFANY CLARKE: Yeah, I don't know where we'll be. But hopefully we're in there and hopefully we definitely put 40 minutes together when it really matters, 'cause that's when it's one-and-done time. THE MODERATOR: Ladies, we'll excuse you and continue with questions for Coach Balcomb. Q. Coach, did you feel like you would be able to handle the full-court pressure this time? COACH BALCOMB: Yeah, I did. Like I said, this one caught me off guard. Had two point guards on the floor. We talked about our game plan, what we wanted to do, but we didn't really go out there and do that. I think there was just a lot of unsure hesitation caused by the aggressiveness and Kentucky's defense. They put us on our heels, and we didn't execute what we had worked on. Q. Your thoughts on the comeback. Did you feel like there was some energy there? COACH BALCOMB: If there wasn't, you know, it would be a tough situation as a coach to not have a team fight back. We're supposed to compete. At the least, we should have fought back like we did. That's expected. When you're down, when things aren't going your way, really getting embarrassed in your own city in the SEC tournament by another team, you better fight back, and it better be your best effort. I really liked the five players we had in at the end of the game. I thought they did a great job. I just played them till they dropped or fouled out. I just really felt like if I could just get five kids to get that grit and determination and compete as hard as they could, that we could make a good run, and we did. The tough part was, then when we got close, we got tight on the free throws. So that fear creeped up in us again. Q. Looking towards the NCAA tournament, what do you think you need to improve on as a team? COACH BALCOMB: Well, that's what we were talking about in the locker room: individual accountability on doing their job. Obviously toughness, physical play. And communication. When we do have adversity at times, we looked like we were all playing on an island by ourselves and stopped communicating. Everybody felt like they were out there by themselves instead of getting together as a team. That's just more verbal leadership on the court. They're the same things we've been working on all season. We just need to keep working on them. Apparently we'll have a little time to practice here and they'll be mine for a while. That's always a good thing (laughter). THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. COACH BALCOMB: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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