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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 2, 2012Melanie BalcombChristina FoggieStephanie HolzerNASHVILLE, TENNESSEE Tennessee – 68 THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb, Christina Foggie and Stephanie Holzer. Coach, if you could give us some opening comments. COACH BALCOMB: You know, I think this is a frustrating finish for us. We had every opportunity down the stretch. We played hard, fought hard, made good adjustments, just didn't make the plays. Ball didn't fall the right way. Shots didn't go in. I think we're a better basketball team than we showed tonight. That's what's disappointing. But I think we have a lot to look forward to. We fought back, played hard. We're the best basketball team we've been all season right now. Tennessee did a great job. Came out with a lot of energy. Defensively did a great job. Obviously, they used the time to prepare for us while we were preparing for Mississippi State, and used that time well. They were very prepared tonight. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. In the past few weeks you talked a lot about Christina Foggie's development as a scorer in this league. Can you talk about Stephanie Holzer's development as a young post player in the SEC. COACH BALCOMB: I think Stephanie has done the same thing Foggie has done all season: just get better and better and learn how to play in college. She was injured a lot last year, as well ‑ both of them were. She had a lot of struggles physically. I think she used this year mentally just to learn how to fight through adversity, how to keep getting better, how to keep playing when things aren't perfect or go your way. She's an incredible competitor and a strong leader. I think her best basketball is ahead of her. Really proud of her development right now. Q. Coach, why do you think you got off to a slow start? Seemed like their 2‑3 zone created some problems. COACH BALCOMB: We shot the ball well the first couple possessions, hit shots. After that, we didn't get the ball inside. We didn't penetrate. We didn't go inside out. It's big. It's spread out. We just didn't attack it like we needed to. We didn't get any second shots because when you don't get penetration, or you get the ball inside, they've got everybody in position to rebound. That hurt us, as well, no second shots. Q. For the players, compare matchups with Tennessee, which I know is one of your biggest rivals within the conference, from a physicality standpoint, how hard it is physically to the other games that you play in conference. STEPHANIE HOLZER: I think personally this conference as a whole has gotten a lot stronger. Especially this year, every team has brought that and stepped it up a level. I think since everyone has raised their levels, we're going to see a lot better basketball in the SEC. CHRISTINA FOGGIE: I would agree with Stephanie. Every team we faced this year has been very physical and aggressive on defense. Like she said, we're going to see a lot more aggressiveness as a whole in the SEC over the next few years. Q. Coach, I think there were a handful of possessions you had in the second half that you had a chance to take the lead. Would it have made a difference if you got the lead, momentum‑wise, an extra boost? COACH BALCOMB: I think it always makes a difference if you could break through. I did realize at that time we got close. There were a couple, probably three possessions in a row that I thought we had a good chance of scoring. It got very physical, but we did not finish. Q. In those situations, is it just as simple that the shots didn't fall? Is it more to it? COACH BALCOMB: You guys go ahead. STEPHANIE HOLZER: I don't know if it's the shots not falling made us tight more so than not crashing the boards, getting rebounds, getting second shots off of that. We've had bad shooting nights before. I think that's a major part to our game, is rebounding. CHRISTINA FOGGIE: I specifically remember a three‑possession stretch where we scored or we traveled. It went in and then went out. I think it could go either way. But getting that lead would have been a huge momentum burst for us. Our play doesn't solely rest on those possessions. Q. The other day you talked about being here in your backyard in Nashville, the other teams traveled. Today's crowd seemed a little tilted. COACH BALCOMB: A little tilted, that's a nice way of saying it (laughter). It's tough. What I struggle with is the crowd that we do get is a lot smaller, but it's all spread out in the arena. I don't know how that works. I'd like to at least have our crowd in one section so we could see them and feel supported, and that doesn't seem to happen here. I think that would help everybody. You know, Tennessee draws so well. It's so close to Knoxville. They have great women's basketball fans and support. They dominate the arena ‑ when it's this close especially. So, yeah, it did feel like we were playing at Tennessee, although we're in Nashville. Q. The delay at halftime didn't hurt the momentum. Was it good to have that extra time with your team? COACH BALCOMB: I don't think that probably affected either team. Probably both teams would like to rest a little bit more, get their thoughts together. I think for our team, a lot of it is mental. I think we talked about some good things. We felt fresh. We don't have the bench they have and the depth they have. We thought the longer we rested the better it is. We didn't have a problem with it. Q. For the players, obviously it's a disappointing loss. Can you talk about the mood of your team and teammates. CHRISTINA FOGGIE: Like you said, it's a disappointing loss because we fought till the end. But I think we're very proud of each other. We stayed together. We played really hard. We know we have the best ahead of us. We're very confident in each other and trust each other. We're in a good spot right now. STEPHANIE HOLZER: I personally think all my teammates are amazing. Coach is saying the girls that go the farthest have the most fun together because they want to stay and play till the end. In March, we're going to be a little crazy and show up and surprise a few people. Q. For all three of you, with the delay, what's going on, I don't know how aware you were of tornados everywhere. Does it take away focus? Are you concerned? Are you so zoned in you don't think about friends or family that may be affected by what's going on? COACH BALCOMB: No. I told them. I had to tell Foggie three times, There's tornados. CHRISTINA FOGGIE: We have tornado warnings all the time at school. We stay in our dorms and are fine. COACH BALCOMB: We have a false sense of security, obviously. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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