Feb. 1, 2007

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TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Pat Summitt:

(opening remarks)
"Overall, we did some good things. Our defense in the first half was definitely a bright spot. We didn't shoot as well as we would have liked. We got some players some quality minutes. That's what we wanted to do when we extended the lead."

(on using an athletic lineup)
"We went to our athletic lineup. Bird (Alberta Auguste), Alexis (Hornbuckle), Candace (Parker), Shannon (Bobbitt), and Nicky Anosike have speed and can cover a lot of ground. They're a great pressing team for us. We got a lot of opportunities off of our defense."

(on rebounding)
"At halftime, we talked about the fact that we didn't rebound as well on the defensive end (in the first half). We want to get our guards more involved and be aggressive to the boards."

(on Sidney Spencer being limited to four free throws)
"Sid was not moving well without the ball. The last game at Alabama, they were keying on her. She didn't get into a rhythm. We've got to get her better looks. She's too good of a pure shooter not to be getting opportunities."

(on Tennessee's defense)
"Our defense had an impact on how they played. We had the ability to extend it. The lineup we went with had speed, quickness, mobility, and an aggressive mindset. Alexis (Hornbuckle) was all over the court. She sets a mindset for us. And then with Bird (Alberta Auguste), you've got two, long, rangy guards."

(on South Carolina's slow start)
"I've seen it before. It's something you don't want to live through as a coach. We were in the same position against Duke."

(on Nicky Anosike)
"I thought Nicky did some good things. I was pleased with Candace's (Parker) high post defense. We were able to take away their post-to-post action."

(on bench play)
"We wanted to get our bench players into the game so we could assess and evaluate and get more game film and be able to teach. It's important that we can go at least seven or eight deep."

(on Sidney Spencer)
"She turned down too many shots. We'll watch tape of the last four or five games. She's one of the greatest pure shooters ever in this program and one of the best pure shooters in the nation. People are going to key on her. We've got to help her get more looks. She got a lot of attention tonight. We've had to move Candace (Parker) to get more looks, and we need to do the same with Sidney."

(on being on a Wheaties box)
"I never thought about it. If you had told me that I'd be on the cover of a Wheaties box. . . . Obviously, it's a tremendous honor for our program. It means that we've had more Olympians and more All-Americans and more years of players competing and great fan support. We've had support from the university and been given resources to be successful. It's about the Lady Vol program and the university."

Shannon Bobbitt:

(on Tennessee's defense) "Before the game, we talked about a weakness for us being playing defense for 40 minutes. We want to work on that for the postseason. I thought we did a great job in the first half."

"We had a lot of energy. We worked on defense. We wanted to take this game to work on our weaknesses."

Candace Parker:

(on having fun) "We realize that we need to bring energy every night, wherever that comes from, whether it's getting a high off of a rebound or a steal. The game was dead. We were just having fun."

(on defense) "My goal was to defend the high post. I didn't the last couple of games, particularly the Duke and Alabama games. We worked hard on that this week. Coach (Pat Summitt) strongly encouraged that I defend the high post."

(on teammated Alexis Hornbuckle) "She's a ball of energy. It seems like whenever she makes a mistake, she turns around and gets it right back. She had a turnover then hustled back and stole the ball back. She's our defensive captain on the floor. She brings energy every game."

(on defensive intensity) "Our goal every game is to play 40 minutes. We got off to a great start. I think that's as close to playing 40 minutes as we have done all year. We have to bring defense every night. I was proud of our effort."

(on upcoming game against Georgia) "Every game against Georgia is a battle. Coming into our house, they'll be looking for an upset. We have to keep our heads up and just play."

SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH SUSAN WALVIUS:

"You all watched it. That's probably the poorest display of basketball I've seen from our team as far as poise and execution-. We've made great strides in that area this year. I don't know that we've played that poorly in all the years we've come here, to tell you the truth. Maybe when these guys were freshmen, maybe when that group that evolved into an Elite Eight team were freshmen. When you turn the ball over 34 times, that's an ugly game for the fans. It's certainly a frustrating game for everybody on the team that's turning it over. Individuals trying to do it 1-on-2, 1-on-3, forcing passes that aren't there, a lot of freshman teams do that. We've got some veterans on our team. And it's really surprising that they didn't play with poise. We've played some great basketball this year. I came into this situation very confident today. I like our team. I like our team a lot. This was a situation where everything that could go wrong did go wrong for us. We did not have one individual today play well for us. We had no communication on the floor, we didn't get into an offense. Lea Fabbri has been out with an ankle injury. She was back for her first time today. We really lacked communication from our point guard position. I'm surprised we got out-rebounded. We lead the league in rebounding; I think we're sixth nationally. We were very weak in that area today. I thought Tennessee did a great job on the boards. We knew they'd be good defensively coming in. We knew we'd face some pressure to start. This arena is a tough arena to play in. I'm still very surprised with the lack of poise our team showed today."

(on not scoring until the 10-minute mark):
"When we get out of the gates early, we can roll with anybody. As a coaching staff, we didn't expect to see that happening today. We got tighter and tighter and went five different directions. I really thought I would see somebody within our team step up and communicate and get the execution done, and we just didn't get it today. I think that was a factor, and I'm surprised by the way we handled it."

(on defending Sidney Spencer):
"I'm glad you're finding positives; I'm having a hard time finding them right now. We wanted to make sure we did not give her an open look. Her shooting is so extremely consistent and certainly has been as of late. They're a tough team to guard because you've got to respect what (Candace) Parker is capable of doing. (Nicky) Anosike stepped up and hit some shots today. I thought she did a nice job of getting them started early. They can spread you out with three-point shooting. They can attack the rim pretty well. I think they've got the ingredients to be one of the top teams in the country. But I thought we did a good job on Spencer."

(on UT's defense forcing 34 turnovers):
"I'm glad to hear Pat is challenging them. We've seen that on film. We expected to see two minutes of intense defense, and we said we were going to weather that, play hard, look at a couple of back-door looks. We thought they'd come out at halftime, as they typically do, and play hard. You've got to give Tennessee a lot of credit, but we had a lot of unforced, throwing-to-the-other-team turnovers that are frustrating. You have to also give a lot of credit to the fans here. This is a tough place to come and play because it's so unusual. The fans are such a big part of the energy in this facility. The players feed off the fans. Most teams typically play better at home, but their record here is just amazing. I think that certainly there is a lot of energy there that is hard to play against."