March 18, 2007
Recap |
Box Score |
Notes |
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Photo Gallery 2
Tennessee Head Coach Pat Summitt
Opening Statement
"Obviously we brought our defensive intensity tonight. It's a good thing
because we weren't executing as well offensively in the first half. I
thought we got a little over anxious in our transition; didn't really
score out of our primary offense. But once we settled down, got the ball
inside, we have to understand we have to establish our inside game. We
closed out the half and went on a 25-0 run. This team, defensively, we
spent a lot of time between our SEC loss and taking the court here on
being able to rely heavily on our defense and just disrupt our opponent.
I think we're also making better decisions offensively, we saw that in
the second half. Really, really proud to see how we shot the ball in the
second half. You're gonna have to make some shots in the post season and
certainly we are capable of doing that. Candace established an inside
game for us and I thought Shannon settled down and really ran the
offense well in the second half."
On time in Pittsburgh, thoughts on Petersen Events Center:
"It's been great. I have never been to the facility. I've been really
impressed. Agnus [Pitt head coach] gave us a tour. It was good to see
their offices. I think it's so accessible to the court; obviously being
able to walk right out your door and down the steps and on the floor.
Just the size of the arena, I really like it and the hospitality has
been great."
On thoughts on Drake and the first 10 minutes of the game:
"I was not surprised at all. Just watching them on tape, they are really
well coached. Amy's [Drake head coach] done a great job, runs a lot of
great sets offensively. I think you have to be very disciplined from a
defensive stand point to guard their down screens, back screens, the
ball screens. They do a really nice job out of the flex offense. Just
watching them on tape there is a couple of things we may even put in as
we move forward that we think they do a really good job of. They spend a
lot of time executing in the half court. Unlike us, we're an up and down
team. We're gonna try to score early in the offense and I think their
patterns are very efficient in getting open looks. They came out and
matched our intensity and we were definitely over anxious. Just like I
was asked at half time going off the floor, what's the deal, what's
wrong? It's post season play; we just have to settle down. The team
definitely worked hard and was just a little anxious but that happens s!
ometimes but at least we executed well in the second half."
Sophomore guard/forward Candace Parker
On lay-ups to start the second half:
"I think having been off for a while we came in the first half a little
anxious and I feel we settled down in the second half and ran our sets
and ran them right. We picked up our defensive intensity and just
maintained it and did a great job of getting in offense. Shannon did a
great job of getting us in offensive sets. So that's what we fixed in
the second half."
On anxiousness in first half:
"I feel like we were just anxious. It was our first game and I think we
just came in and for a minute we were quick shooting a little bit and if
we're gonna do that we need to get on the boards and we weren't doing
that either. It was a combination of a lack of rebounding on our part
and not running our sets correctly but we fixed that and everything was
cool after that."
Junior guard Shannon Bobbitt
On roll of playing on ball and changing pace of game:
"I didn't get settled in early in the game. I felt I was too anxious and
didn't run the team well. We definitely had turnovers and didn't settle
down. My roll is to get the game up tempo from the beginning and get the
ball inside so we can set up a good inside game and work
inside-outside."
On what halftime was like:
"At halftime, coach stressed to us that we had to get on the boards. We
weren't winning the boards offensively, that was what our main mentality
was going into the second half and playing intense and up tempo on
defense and that's what got us started in the second half."
On what first NCAA game was like:
"I just went with the flow. The game was no different from the other
games. I just came out here with a winning mentality, to do whatever it
takes to win and we came out on top."
Drake Head Coach Amy Stephens
Opening Statement
"First of all, I'd like to thank the NCAA for a terrific tournament
experience for our team. I'd like to congratulate the University of
Tennessee on their win today and wish them the very best of luck
throughout the course of the tournament. I'm sure they'll be many people
in Des Moines cheering for the Lady Vols. I'd also like to thank Coach
Summit for the time that she gave our program, and the class act that
she is. With regards to the game today I couldn't be more proud of our
team. What we had to overcome to get here, the emotional week that we've
had I think showed a little bit in our play along with the first time
experience of playing in the NCAA tournament. I thought we were really
tight offensively in terms of scoring the ball. Our defense was
outstanding. To start the game, to have the opportunity to play
Tennessee and hold them to 30 points in the first half, I couldn't be
more proud of my basketball team. Unfortunately a couple lay-ups and a
couple free throws, it would've been an even scarier game in the first half. Then the
sleeping giant awoke at halftime."
On breaking scoring drought:
"It was a long 12 minutes. I thought we did a pretty good job with the
full court pressure. Our goal was to have under 18 turnovers, and we
did. We watched film on Tennessee and we watched a lot of teams in the
SEC that couldn't get the ball past half court. That was the first major
accomplishment. Secondly, we just had a really hard time in the half
court handling their pressure, getting the ball in, and once we did get
the ball in we were out further than we really wanted to be. The tempo
was perfect for us. Their size was their definite factor, especially
when we got around the basket. Their length, size and athleticism is
clearly a match above ours. I thought we controlled the tempo, and I
thought we did a great job handling their press."
On Candace Parker:
"I had the opportunity of seeing Candace coming out of high school, and
I think Coach Summit and her staff have done a phenomenal job. Watching
her mature has been a lot of fun. She's a phenomenal player. I think
clearly she's arguably the best player in the country. I'm really
excited for our team that they had the opportunity to see that. She has
a bright future ahead of her and I think it's great for the women's
game. She understands just going out and playing, and I think she's a
great representative for the women's game."
On potential for next year:
"We're very excited about the future. We told the kids after the game
that this was not the end; this is the beginning of our expectations of
just not getting into the tournament, but coming in and competing and
winning games. We have a tradition of winning games, with our 10th NCAA
appearance. Our responsibility as coaches and players is to build on
that tradition. Our vision and dream is to see another blue banner of
Sweet Sixteen go back up in our Knapp Center. We will be healthy, and we
will have everyone back with no seniors. I think we've gotten the
attention of a lot of people."
Junior guard Lindsay Whorton
On having odds stacked against Drake:
"When you think about adversity and overcoming that, if you think of the
ideal outcome as being winning the game, then sure, we fell short of
that. But in a lot of ways, we succeeded at accomplishing some of our
goals in terms of what we did defensively. We take a lot of pride in our
defense in the first half, and obviously Tennessee's a great team. They
came out in the second half and made adjustments, and went at us, and
were able to score. We made a goal in the last six minutes to win the
last six minutes of the game, and there were some small victories that
we had, so in those terms I think we did overcome adversity. It didn't
show up on the scoreboard as a win or a loss, but we had a goal of how
we wanted to compete and play the game, and I think in those terms we
did overcome the adversity. We had the experience of playing an
excellent basketball team, and that'll prepare us for what we want to do
in the future."
On keeping it close during the first half:
"Offensively, we didn't get into a good flow in the first half. Every
shot that we made was keeping us close. Our goal was just to hang
around. What allowed us to do that more than anything was our defense. I
think what was more exciting was what we were doing defensively, on the
rebounding, and playing players the way we needed to. Our defense
maintained through that stretch, and that's what helped us to stay
respectable with them."
Sophomore guard Lauren Dybing
On jitters during the game:
"I think at the beginning of the game, we were running on emotions.
We're here in the NCAA tournament playing against the best of the best,
Tennessee, and we were just super excited to be here. I think at first
we were a little bit jittered up, kind of nervous, but as we got into it
we loosened up a bit. Our defense is what kept us in. That's what we are
the best at and that's what our strength is."
