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Dec. 17, 2006

Recap |  Box Score |  Notes

Tennessee Head Coach Pat Summitt

Her general statement...

"The game started off with two teams not shooting the ball well at all. Both teams got great looks, and Texas got a lot of points in the paint and off of second shots. We talked about it at halftime, and came out better defensively. Our perimeter defense helped with the pressure we put on the basketball. If you can't see it, you're not going to be able to make a play.

I thought what you saw from Shannon (point guard Shannon Bobbitt) is what Shannon needs to bring to us all the time. I think it just took her a few road games to realize that this (being on the road) is a tough environment and that you have to be able to match the intensity of the home team and not let the away environment take her out of her game. I thought she did a great job of running our basketball team."

On playing the tough schedule that Tennessee does, year in and year out, especially on the road...

"That's why we play the schedule we play- to prepare. Sometimes I look at it before the year starts and almost get sick at my stomach and say, `Why did I do this?' - but I know why I do it every year. By the time we get to postseason, this team will have played against a lot of different styles of play. They will have played obviously against some of the best players in the country and they will understand what it takes to win in postseason."

Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt

Her general statement....

"That was a really really tough and hard-fought intense basketball game. I thought the first half was about two teams going after each other. Neither team shot well, neither team had much going offensively. I thought it was dominated by the defense. I was really pretty pleased with our team because in the past when we have had difficulty with scoring we have gotten discouraged and had defensive breakdowns. I thought we worked through some of that in the first half. The second half, however, we were still having some problems operating offensively and Tennessee started to make a lot of shots. Tbe game out away from us when we took some plays off and they got easy baskets and when we gave up offensive boards- time after time.

In our last two games against top five teams, we've played two different kinds of teams. Duke is well-balanced, deep and more of a finesse team. Tennessee is the type of team which gets right up in your grill and doesn't let you breathe. We need to play them so that our young players can see different styles of play and what teams at the top of their games are doing."

I don't want to fail to talk about Tennessee. They are really, really good. Traditionally, they make it really hard to operate offensively. Now, in addition to that, what Pat (Summitt) has now is a team which is shooting very well. They didn't in the first half, but I know in the second half they knocked down their open looks and lots of shots when they were deep into the shot clock. They are very hard to guard. Pat's team can play on both ends of the floor with anyone in the country."

On what she saw from the Longhorns today...

"I saw improvement today. We did some good things defensively. Tennessee came into the game averaging 82 points. Today, we did not matchup well with Tennessee, but what impressed me were the people who just decided to make plays, like our two freshmen Brittainey (Raven) and Niqky (Hughes). Brittainey really stepped up. She had the two best practices at Texas the last two days, and her start today was a reward for that. I challenged the team hard after the Duke game, and Brittainey really has responded since then. She grew up this week. I am seeing her start to realize her potential. If she keeps working this way, and compete the way she did today, she is going to be really good for us.

I looked today and the thing that encouraged me the most were the people that just competed. There is no question, however, that our guards, particularly Carla (Cortijo) and Erika (Arriaran) must step up. Right now. What we do is so dependent on what's happening at the point position.

There are not enough good teams in the country who can take Tiffany (Jackson) completely out of her game like Tennessee did today. So, if that happens, others must step up. But again, we were throwing it in late to Tiffany and that did not help her. It's a coordinated effort. Tiffany can only work well when the guards position the ball correctly to her, and that was part of her frustration today.

But again, I liked the way our two freshmen played out there, and I like the way E-Bay (Erneisha Bailey) is competing, game in and game out."

Texas senior forward Tiffany Jackson

"It was two different halves for me out there today. In the first half, I got some easy putbacks by going to the basket. I know that Tennessee made an adjustment at halftime in the way they were going to play me in the second half. And, it worked for them. It is really really frustrating when good teams take away your strengths. The only thing I know to do is to get back in the gym and get back at it. We all have to. They were 20 points better than us today, and we have lots of work to do to close that gap."