Feb. 1, 2007

Summitt's Teleconference

Opening remarks...

"Coming off our loss to Duke, I thought it was important for us to regroup and go to Nashville and be ready to play against a very tough Vanderbilt team. I was really pleased with how we played overall. They made their push in the second half, and I thought we answered and were able to close out that game. At Alabama, I didn't think we played with the same intensity as in Nashville, but we did have some people step up in Shannon Bobbitt, Alexis Hornbuckle and Alex Fuller. We managed to answer a run and close out the game. Now we are getting ready for South Carolina; we watched tape on them this morning. They seem to be much more aggressive on the perimeter and much more athletic. Lauren Simms and Melanie Johnson seem to be playing really well for them right now. They have got good post game, high-low action. It will be good for us because they bring good size on the inside as well as the athleticism. It is going to be good for us to see how we handle their defensive schemes."

On not playing as intense at Alabama...

"I think it had a lot to do with our schedule. It is pretty demanding if you look at it. We had to prepare, I just think we were a little mentally fatigued, but, if you think about the run we made against Duke, I think it took something out of us. So we had two big challenges before we went out to Alabama. That's not something I am going to be overly concerned about."

On being the only undefeated team in the SEC...

"The team knows it. We are just taking it one game at a time, and our goal is to win this league outright. It's going to be a tough challenge with some tough games still left to play."

On upcoming games with South Carolina and Georgia...

"I think just watching South Carolina play at Kentucky, I thought Kentucky was able to dictate tempo a lot of the time and really handled their pressure really well. I think it is always tougher to play on the road. For us, I think we just have to be ready to play our game and not second guess who we are and what we want to do. I don't know how much we will press, but we definitely will press, and I feel like we have to effect their high-low action and contain penetration. I think that is going to be really important. Everybody knows when Tennessee and Georgia play, it's going to be a battle. It will be interesting to see if they bring the same defensive scheme against Candace Parker and how they choose to play. I think they have really good perimeter action and didn't shoot the ball as well against us, but they got a lot of good looks. Tasha Humphrey appears to be stepping up and playing a lot better."

On Alberta Auguste's play the rest of the regular season...

"Her development is key for us. It could be the difference in us winning and losing. Alexis has had to play a lot of minutes, and, while she has elevated her game, I would like to see more minutes from Alberta and see her be more productive. I think this game could be the beginning of Alberta's commitment and confidence. With our schedule, I think it is difficult to let the kids play through mistakes, and we've needed Alexis on the floor because of that. Hopefully, Alberta will go in and be more consistent for us, as she continues to work on her confidence."