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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 7, 2013Morgan EyeRobin PingetonLiz SmithDULUTH, GEORGIA Vanderbilt – 53 THE MODERATOR: Joining us now from Missouri is head coach Robin Pingeton and Morgan Eye and Liz Smith. We'll take an opening comment from coach. COACH PINGETON: Well, obviously disappointed. I felt like we put ourselves in a pretty good position despite the fact we gave up too many offensive rebounds in that first half. We were able to get up 7 in the second half. Felt like we had a breakdown in our defensive assignments, then I sensed a lot of deflation on our team. We just had a hard time regrouping from that point. You saw a very experienced veteran Vandy team who obviously there's a reason they've been to the NCAA tournament I think the last 11 years. They were pretty steady. They weathered the storm through the good and the bad. They've got a first‑team all conference player who is pretty good in Clarke and a strong supporting cast. We're just not quite there yet. We'll just have to continue to learn, grow and get better. Hopefully we'll have a chance to get to that post‑season in the WNIT, get a few more games under our belt and get more experience. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. Liz, you had 16 and 8 after the game. What is it like putting it all out on the floor in a game like this? LIZ SMITH: Before the game we were all preparing. My mindset in this game is this is the last game of my career, I'm going to put it all out there no matter what. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. That was my mindset and I was going to go out fighting. I know we're going to keep going that way. Q. If you want to talk about that turning point in the game. You had a 7‑point lead, then they went on an 18‑0 run. Talk about that. MORGAN EYE: I know myself personally, I let No.10, who is an excellent shooter, I held in on the post when I should have stayed out on her. I know I had a few mistakes. I drove in the lane once, took a bad shot, then I drove in the lane again, bad pass to Bri. I think those were back‑to‑back possessions that were just bad possession for us and we weren't able to get any points from it. LIZ SMITH: Yeah, at that point I think we could have stayed more true to our offense, setting more screens for our guards, which is on me. Just getting in the flow of things. I think at that point they really dug in on the post and they were hopping off a lot. It was hard to get an in. Yeah, they had a run in there that we should have taken care of. THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and take questions for coach. Q. It seemed like the back‑to‑back threes was the turning point. Can you talk about those and how it seemed to shift the momentum. COACH PINGETON: Yeah, I agree with you. I think that was absolutely the turning point. I just don't think we responded very well to that. They were spot up good looks at the basket. We just absolutely had a breakdown in our defensive assignments and didn't weather that very well. In tournament games this time of the year, it's going to be a game of runs, highs, lows, but you got to continue to play in the present and not allow that kind of deflation to set in. I really felt like it got the best of us and we just did not respond or regroup from that point on. Q. Talk about the first half with Vanderbilt getting the offensive rebounds that they were. You couldn't get your hands on it. But they only went 6 for 35. Do you feel rebounding was a big issue there? COACH PINGETON: Something that we've been pretty solid with all year long is our transition. When you give up second‑ and third‑shot opportunities, I think there's a little bit of deflation that sets in. But I think really what hurt us tonight more than anything, it's kind of been our Achilles' heel all year long, they had 20 points off our turnovers. I liked our defensive game plan coming in. We had a couple breakdowns. Just felt like we had some good looks. The ball wasn't falling for us tonight. Gosh, every possession is big, especially when you're not shooting the ball very well. I think they ended up having 11 more possessions than we did, but 20 points off your turnovers, that's going to come back to hurt you. Q. Can you talk about the matchup zone. Seemed like it really kind of caused them a lot of problems. What did you see going into the game? COACH PINGETON: No doubt about it. They've got some tremendous basketball players on the perimeter and with Clarke on the inside. We just really felt like, you know, not knowing what Foggie's status was going to be going into the game, if she was going to play or not, we could pass around their shooters and really be conscientious of their inside game. We felt like offensively they weren't quite as explosive in their motion sets as they were their man sets that would allow us to help inside a little bit more with Clarke, who is such a tremendous player for them. So, you know, I liked our game plan. I really did. I felt like it was a good game plan. We didn't box out very well out of it. Even in the second half, we lost our shooters a couple times. But I think I'd do it the same way all over again, to be honest with you. We had a hard time knocking down shots today. Didn't get to the free‑throw line as much as we would have liked. When we had good looks, we didn't convert. Again, give them credit. They played well defensively. Switched on a lot of screens. Even when they had their little point guard on Liz, she battled, played with a lot of toughness. Made it hard for Liz to get deep post‑ups. Give Vandy a lot of credit. Q. If you just want to mention in short your experience first year in the SEC now that it's all over. COACH PINGETON: Well, I've got a tremendous respect for this league. A lot of people think it's the best league in the country, and I'm certainly one of those people. It's hard when you change leagues, especially compiled with a very young and inexperienced team. I think it makes it really challenging. Playing in new venues against new personnel, no matter how much tape you watch, I think until you go through it in person, it's really hard to get a feel for. Personnel and systems and style of play. You know, first time you go to Tennessee, we've talked about this, awestruck. Playing at Vandy, tough venue to play in if you haven't been there before. There's certainly been some challenges. We're really looking forward to it. We've got a lot of work to do ahead of us. We've got a lot of areas that we need to improve on. But I think the first year in a new league with a young team, I'm proud of our young ladies. We're looking forward to really getting after it in the off‑season and improving as a team. THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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