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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 8, 2013Melanie BalcombTiffany ClarkeJasmine ListerDULUTH, GEORGIA Kentucky – 76| THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Vanderbilt head coach Melanie Balcomb and student‑athletes Jasmine Lister and Tiffany Clarke. We'll begin with an opening comment from coach. COACH BALCOMB: Not a lot to say. I just really think the best thing to say is Kentucky's defense to start the game was really good, really aggressive, really physical, created a lot of offense off their defense. Just pretty much want to give them credit for how they came out and attacked us right away and put us on our heels. Then we just tried to fight back the rest of the game. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for the student‑athletes. Q. At times during the game, there were spurts when things went well for you and other spurts where they didn't go so well. Could you talk about when things went well what was happening that allowed you to do that. TIFFANY CLARKE: I think when things went well, we were just playing Vanderbilt basketball. We were playing like we knew how to play. Then when they stepped up their intensity, they went on their runs, I think we kind of lost sight of what we do and started playing Kentucky basketball instead of sticking to how we know how to play. JASMINE LISTER: Going along with Tiffany, definitely our runs came from getting stops on defense, going fast to slow, kicking out, playing what we know how to do. On the flipside, when we sped up, wanted to play like them, then we turned the ball over and we weren't getting stops and letting them attack us those runs. Q. Kentucky has a five‑for‑five substitution pattern. Can you talk about what it's like to play against that. It's almost a new team every four minutes. JASMINE LISTER: I mean, they keep them fresh. They all go hard the entire time they're in, so you've got to give them credit for that. It's a mentality for us that we just have to keep playing harder and harder, not let that get into our heads that there's new people coming in to guard us. We just need to stay focused on our game plan and deal with what we have. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for coach. Q. The same question for you that I asked your players: what was the difference between the good spurts and the times when Kentucky made some more distance, separation? COACH BALCOMB: I think what Jas said is correct. A lot of it had to do with tempo, what we were trying to do. At the same time I think we won games recently. We've been on a 5‑2 run since we played Kentucky last time. It's been because of our defense and our rebounding. I felt like every time we did make a run and we took care of the ball, got the ball inside to Tiff, got a good shot for somebody, then we didn't get the stop on defense that we needed. We fouled them, sent them to the free‑throw line. They attacked. We made mistakes when we couldn't afford to make mistakes. They were mental breakdowns we couldn't afford at that point in the second half with the runs. Q. Coach, you played five freshmen today. How important is it going forward for the program to get those freshmen experience playing in the SEC tournament? COACH BALCOMB: I think it's really important. I was really pleased with their progress over the last month. Since the last time we played Kentucky, we look like a different team because we've been playing the freshmen more when Foggie went down. It gave opportunities for the guards. You saw J.J. and Morgan step up, just like Heather did early when Steph went down. When you had Katie and Foggie, you had that, then the guards got more experience. I also like what Kendall was able to do in the tournament, tried to play her more minutes. I think she's intimidating on defense. I think offensively obviously she can score and give us good size. I'm pleased with their progress. I think at key times they made some mental mistakes that hurt us. But I think they're going to keep getting better. Like I said, hopefully they'll continue to play and get them even more experience. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you. COACH BALCOMB: Thanks a lot. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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