Jan. 16, 2009
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes
MISSISSIPPI STATE VS. TENNESSEE - POST GAME QUOTES
MSU Head Coach Sharon Fanning
Opening Comments...
"When you statistically look at the game, you look at rebounds, assist-to-turnover ratio
and shooting. Those are the things you identify when you go into a game. When you
play a great team like Tennessee, you have to force turnovers. I felt like that was an
area where we could get some extra looks. Keeping them (Tennessee) under forty
percent shooting was good, but they have won a lot of games by rebounding offensively.
A bunch of those rebounds were put-backs and free-throws. We are still learning each
other as a team though. We have good experience, but we have some players still
learning each other. Winning a basketball game comes down to taking good shots,
taking care of the basketball, and playing good defense. I am just very disappointed in
the amount of open looks we gave Tennessee tonight. We will be back, though, and
prepare for Kentucky. They (Kentucky) are a good basketball team, and it will be a tough
game."
On the defense played by Tennessee...
"I think out of their zone we got some good looks. The game came down to three
possessions and offensive rebounding. We have to stay focused. When somebody
guards you hard, you have to change what you are doing offensively."
On the positives her team takes from tonight's game ...
"When you look at the film, you evaluate every single possession and figure out what we
can do. I told the kids we are going to coach better and they are going to play better. We
cannot lose focus. Everybody wants to win and I think we played hard, but it comes
down to every possession. You have to play every possession."
On improvements her team can make for the rest of the season ...
"It is all about grunt work. We have to talk on defense, switch up when we are supposed
to. We just have to be tough and get after it."
Opponent Head Coach Pat Summitt
Opening Comments...
"Coming into this game, we anticipated a real, real challenge. We have to give
Mississippi State a lot of credit. It was a hard-fought game on the part of both
teams. I thought both teams had good plays and made significant runs. This
Mississippi State team is one of Coach Fanning's best teams. Watching them,
coming in, I thought it could go down to the wire and, obviously, it did."
On MSU learning to finish games...
"I think it's always a valuable opportunity to learn when you're in close games.
And I think they will learn. Eventually, teams learn from every game. And when
you don't win the games, you probably learn even more."
On stopping Alexis Rack and Armelie Lumanu...
"I thought we needed that matchup. [Rack] got her 3's early. When you've got
great three-point shooters, you've got to close out long, and I thought our players
really bought into that. Also, we kept a lot more pressure on the basketball."
MSU Players
2 Alexis Rack; Junior Guard
On Doing things more as a team.
"We have to work harder in practice. Come out with more intensity. Get more
defensive stops. We have to be able to transition better into the second half."
24 Robin Porter; Senior Forward
On her thoughts going into the final minutes.
"All I know is that as a team we wanted to win. We just needed to stay together
and play basketball. It didn't go our way, but that just tells us we need to look at
film together to find out what went wrong."
10 Chanel Mokango; Junior Forward
On her first time playing Tennessee
"It was exciting. I really wanted to win this game, so bad. We just made mistakes
as a team. We have to work harder in practice. We gave up in the last minutes."
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