University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee vs. Stanford - Post-Game Quotes
April 08, 2008 | Women's Basketball
THE MODERATOR:
Okay. I'm going to do a quick introduction, and then we'll start with an opening statement. We're joined up on the dais by Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt as well as student athletes Shannon Bobbitt, who will be here momentarily, and Candace Parker and Nicky Anosike.
Coach, when you're ready.
COACH SUMMITT:
Obviously this is a very special night for our program and for our basketball team. Extremely excited for what these seniors left. They put obviously up another championship win, back to back, which is certainly no easy task.
And I particularly like the way they committed to each other on the defensive end. I thought our defense, this is one of our best defensive efforts, which gave us a chance, obviously, to beat an outstanding Stanford team.
I'm just really proud, and obviously it's a happy but sad time with the seniors leaving. But I will always have tremendous respect for the mark they left on our basketball program.
THE MODERATOR:
Questions for the student athletes.
Q. Candace, it seems like your intensity level, your team's intensity level picked up another notch. And they just weren't prepared for that. Was your experience in a game like this a key here, and did you guys actually turn it up a notch tonight?
CANDACE PARKER:
I believe it was experience, but I also believe that a lot of people underestimate our defense. And when you get on the court with us it's a little bit different than what you see on TV or anything like that. So I think we did a good job collectively defensively, just making them work for shots.
And then we knew that our full court press really would bother them and take some time off the clock. So they had to rush into their sets.
Q. Candace, can you just sum it all up, now that two national championships, two most outstanding player awards, this is your last game unless you change your mind between now and tomorrow, sort of sum up what you're feeling, what the whole experience has been like???
CANDACE PARKER:
My experience here at Tennessee has been great. I look back at my growth, not only as a player but also just as a person. And I feel like it's been the best four years of my life. I wouldn't change anything about it. I love my teammates, and I'm just very, very fortunate to have won two national championships. But we worked hard for it. And we deserved it.
Q. Candace, early in the second half you missed a shot. You thought you were probably fouled. Felt you were probably fouled but your team got the rebound you went out to the free throw line, got the ball, went to the basket, made a 3 point play. It almost seemed like you were imposing your will on the game at that point; that you really wanted the ball and nothing was going to stop you. Did you have that feeling that you really wanted to do something to make a statement at that point???
CANDACE PARKER:
Well, I feel like, you know, our team does a good job moving the ball and getting in sets and all of that, but when the girl to my right whispers in my ear I need to take over, that's what I do. I just try to get my team bring energy offensively, whether I'm scoring or whatever. But it's just making the defense take me away or and I kick out and my teammates hit a nice shot. So that's just what I try to do.
Q. Nicky, can you talk about particularly the early going for you in the first half, the six steals and just your thought process coming into the game, with defense, you talked about yesterday how that was going to be so critical. And, Shannon, can you also talk about a big girl taking, getting those steals the way she was doing it in that game???
NICKY ANOSIKE:
I just know for me my mind set coming into the game, I wasn't going home without a championship. If we lost, I was going to live here, because I wasn't going back home. (Laughter). No one was going to deny me a national championship. And I did whatever I needed to do to make sure that we won.
SHANNON BOBBITT:
I thought you forgot about me. Nicky did a great job, and she's one of our best defensive players. And like she said, nothing was going to stop her. Nothing was going to prevent her from winning this national title. And she showed it tonight. And got after it and got six steals. I'm proud of her.
Q. Nicky, did you think right away they were just unnerved because they couldn't get into their triangle? I mean, you pushed them out so far beyond mid court that they could never did you feel they were unnerved from the beginning???
NICKY ANOSIKE:
I think our defense takes a lot of people out of their sets when we decide to play. And tonight we had no choice but to decide to play defense. So we took them out of everything they wanted to do and they just didn't know what to do against our defense.
Q. Candace, you guys are the defending national champions and seemed like a lot of people today were picking Stanford to win. How did you take that and was that an extra motivation?
CANDACE PARKER:
It's been our motivation all year to be honest with you. All year, somehow as defending national champions we've flown under the radar, not lived up to expectations and been criticized for not playing a 40 minute game. But all of that stuff doesn't matter as long as you pull it together at the end and we did that, and I think that we used our criticism as motivation and it fueled our fire and I think the reason why we're here today is because of that criticism.
Q. Can you talk about the scoring from your teammates early, get the two 3s from Shannon and the points from Nicky and what that did? This is a game where you only had to take 10 shots.??
CANDACE PARKER:
I feel like Shannon did a great job of stretching the defense early and just looking for her shot. And obviously Nicky, you know, she's a capable scorer. She had one on one defense, and she's capable of scoring all the time from the high post, from the block. And just getting her to do that and getting her to be confident in that, and I feel like she came out ready to play and she was the reason why we won the national championship, because we looked at her eyes and we knew we weren't going to lose after that.
Q. Candace, now that it's over, how much was your shoulder bothering you? Was there any point where you wondered about getting through this and were you more comfortable tonight than you were Sunday night, because you looked that way?
CANDACE PARKER:
You know, obviously my shoulder is a little sore. But winning the national championship is making it better. So obviously I've been rehabbing, had a lot of time in between the games to rehab. Spent a lot of time with Jenny Moshak. She's the healer, and I'm just happy. From here I just wanted to get past these two games and deal with my shoulder later.
Q. Nicky, Candace said that when you whisper in her ear she has to take over. What exactly do you say? Was that what you said???
NICKY ANOSIKE:
I think Candace has a lot of respect for me because she knows I want the best for her. And I'm not going to tell you exactly what I said. But whatever I said it worked. And we just try to inspire each other throughout the game and I think it's worked.
Q. Shannon, why is that corner so comfortable for you to shoot the 3???
SHANNON BOBBITT:
I have no idea. I have no idea. My teammates think it's the hardest shot to make. I actually think the top of the key is the hardest for me. But I master it. In practice I shoot it. And I don't know, I just got comfortable with it. I have a lot of confidence in my shot so every time I release it
COACH SUMMITT:
Go hide in the corner.
SHANNON BOBBITT:
I try to hide in the corner so the opponent can't see me, but I just master the shot and been good at it ever since.
Q. Candace, when you were taken out of the game with a minute to go, you were yelling eight, eight, eight (titles), holding up your fingers and sharing a long hug with Pat Summit. What's the moment like that like and can you just describe the joy that you feel kind of capping your career with a moment like that???
CANDACE PARKER:
I think all of us put our trust in Pat Summit when we came to the University of Tennessee, and she's been obviously more than a coach to us and she'll be more than a coach to me for the rest of my life. And I think it just you play for her, you know what I mean? Because she's been such an inspiration and just for the game of women's basketball. She's been there for the growth. And I just feel like it summed it all up. We got two championships together. And it's a remarkable feeling to walk off the court for the last time and hug your coach. I'm completely different than I was when I came in. And I feel like she's a real big part of that.
THE MODERATOR:
Thank you. Congratulations. Questions for Coach.
Q. Nicky brings a lot of energy to the court almost every time now. But tonight she never seemed more energetic than that. Do you think the game plan, knowing the role she would play and how much you would press got her all psyched up?
COACH SUMMITT:
I think this game inspired her. She's one of the most fierce competitors I've ever coached. She works hard on every possession. Probably takes very few possessions off. And tonight I don't know that she took more than one.
But she inspires this team. And she's the one that gets them together. She's the one that comes up with our plan of attack a lot. And I know they meet a lot. And she's the one that's always calling the meetings and really holding people accountable. I think that's what she does. I don't care if it's Alexis or Candace. If she thinks we're jump shooting too much, she's going to express it.
I just have so much respect for Nicky because of just the commitment she makes every day to getting better and she is one of the most fierce competitors, as I said, that I've ever coached.
She's going to be very successful in life because that's who she is.
Q. Shannon Bobbitt was obviously the smallest player on the court by a large margin. What was your plan for her defensively tonight to make sure she didn't become a defensive liability due to her lack of height???
COACH SUMMITT:
Well, one thing we wanted to do, we wanted to switch a lot on their screening action, and I was a little concerned that Shannon might get caught in a mismatch. But I never thought it was really a factor.
We used a lot of our switches, and there were times when she was on Wiggins. The one thing I said is you're going to have to hard hedge on the post action, because I didn't want her to obviously guard Jayne Appel.
But she really did a nice job, I thought, of putting pressure on the basketball. And while she's small, that seemed to be effective for her. I don't think there was really a situation that she was taken advantage of, just because of the pressure that she applied. Even if she had a height disadvantage.
Q. Pat, watching the end of the UConn Stanford game when Stanford struggled against that press, did that make you more confident coming into this game???
COACH SUMMITT:
Absolutely. You know, I thought as soon as Connecticut went to the press, it really bothered them. And, you know, I felt like that our size and just having Nicky on the ball and being able to extend our defense would be a good option for us. Not only when we pressed in the full court, we went a little bit more we gambled a little bit more.
When we dropped it back to a half court or three quarter, we really just wanted to take time off the clock because they are such a pattern oriented team and they do a great job. They've got a lot of great sets, and obviously a lot of people that can make shots.
But I thought we did a nice job of taking some time off the shot clock, which I thought was effective for us. I'll have to watch the tape. But that was the feeling I had throughout the game.
Q. Over the last three games you haven't given up 50 points, but tonight you went over your defense went over seven minutes with only giving up four points over the last second half of the game. Just talk about what rotations and all worked for you as far as finishing???
COACH SUMMITT:
Well, I think the big thing was changing our defense. And obviously we all talk about playing in four minute segments, and we had a four minute segment right at the beginning of the second half, I think it was, and they only maybe scored only two points.
But we're always talking in our huddle about what we did in that segment and what we have to do that might be a change up in the next four minutes.
And I thought that we did a pretty good job of keeping them off balance by changing, switching up our defenses. But our man defense was the best thing we had going for us.
And I anticipated playing a lot of zone. But it was quite the opposite.
Q. Did you press them the first time???
COACH SUMMITT:
We pressed them at their place, yes.
Q. It wasn't effective, though???
COACH SUMMITT:
It was not as effective. I think probably our defense was not as strong that night. That was the night we didn't defend the high low. You know, we gambled a lot, even in our press. And they got inside of us. They got inside of our defense. I thought their post game played really, really well.
They had a sell out crowd. Great environment. You know, we had been on the road, played at UCLA. Went in I'm not making any excuses they were a better team than we were that night. They definitely executed better on the offensive end than we did. And we didn't close out the first half. That's why I was just I was so concerned that we close out the first half, and we did that in the game tonight. Because that really wound up costing us in the end.
Q. I'm not sure how often you've been able to use the underdog speech lately in your career, but when everybody picked Stanford, did you use that as motivation for your team? Did they take that to heart???
COACH SUMMITT:
I'm telling you, they took it it was a personal thing for them. The fact that all of the ESPN talent, we got Kara Lawson who played at Tennessee, not giving us a chance, really. I mean, that just really that fired them up. And it was probably the best thing that could happen to us, if you think about it. Because it wasn't like they felt pressure to win. They just had a little chip on their shoulder and they said we're not leaving out here without a championship.
And I just sensed that that took the pressure off of, oh, we gotta win back to back. No, we gotta show everybody that didn't pick us that they should have picked us. So from a psychological standpoint, it worked well in our favor.
Q. After Sunday's game, you mentioned that Candace was emotionally exhausted. What's the difference between the emotional exhaustion and physical exhaustion for her???
COACH SUMMITT:
I think she was really worried. That was the emotional part, and I think that that drained her emotionally. Worried if I could play, worried what if it goes back out. You know, she's like, I finally get here and now I'm dealing with this.
And I think she just was worried about that as opposed to physical exhaustion or emotion. You know, she can fight through that. She can fight through that because she mentally is very tough. But when you're dealing with something that's emotional, sometimes that really zaps your energy. And it did. At halftime she said, Coach, I gotta have your help. I'm really I just need help. Emotionally, I'm just really drained.
And I knew it. And Dean was great with her. Dean Lockwood, who coaches our post, he stayed in her ear the whole time and we just kept encouraging her.
Q. Can you talk about Vicki Baugh's game and also her status???
COACH SUMMITT:
She was terrific for us tonight. I mean, she was the player that came off the bench and gave us the biggest spark and was very efficient in what she did. I loved her aggressiveness. And, obviously, if you look at her stat line, she's 3 for 4, 2 for 2 from the line, has four rebounds. Eight points. That's a matter of 13 minutes. She made the very best and got the most out of her minutes.
Don't know the status right now on Vicki's injury. Did not look good. But I just hope and pray that she's healthy and doesn't have to deal with anything serious.
Q. Do you think there's girls who watch this game tonight that have been told they're too small to play and they see Shannon Bobbitt not only playing but playing for Tennessee in a national championship game and five foot two or whatever and playing so well???
COACH SUMMITT:
I'll tell you, Shannon has changed my mind. I'm sure she probably has changed some kids out there watching that may only be five two or five three or four. I've got a freshman coming in that's five two. Reminds me a lot of Shannon. And one thing I've learned from Shannon, size is not really that much of a factor.
I don't know of anyone in any of our games in the last two years that have taken advantage of her size, which has surprised me. But they haven't gone in and tried to post her up. It's been amazing. But she's so tough minded. She thinks she's about six five the way she plays.
And she's been a joy to coach. She and Alberta. We don't beat LSU if we don't have those two junior college players. And what they did to come into our program and be willing to learn and compete and the team embrace them, they've really been significant in this championship run.
Q. You've obviously coached a lot of great players at Tennessee. Can you talk a little bit about Candace Parker and what she brought to the program???
COACH SUMMITT:
Well, Candace, she's the best all around offensive player I've coached. She makes everyone else on the floor better because of all the double teams that she's had to play out of. She's become a better passer. More composure. Worked on her face up game. The versatility and I've said she's got the best skill set of any six four player out there.
And I think that makes her much more effective in being able to play off the dribble, shoot the hook shot. And she was limited here in going left. But I was just really proud of her for not getting frustrated with the injury and just really staying focused and getting other players involved as well.
The balance that we had tonight was key to our victory.
Q. Coach, you now have eight national championships, congratulations. That's only two away from tying John Wooden's record of 10 with UCLA. Does that milestone ever reach your thoughts? Could you talk about your thoughts on that???
COACH SUMMITT:
You know, I hadn't really thought that much about it. People will say all the time it is so hard to win a championship. Last year was hard. This year it was hard. I just feel I've been so blessed to have an opportunity to coach at a university that really cares about our program, all the programs. Dr. Petersen is here, Joan Cronan, our athletics director, Mike Hamilton, the men's athletic director, the commitment they make and the resources in place has allowed us to obviously recruit nationally and to build a great program.
Our fan support is awesome. I think about things like that and how that has allowed so many of these student athletes come here because of the environment they know they can play in at Tennessee and Thompson Boling Arena.
I guess I'm along for the ride. They took me on a great one this time. And as long as I love the game, I'll stay in it. Do I have a desire to try to beat Coach Wooden's record? No. I just want to help the next team, next year, get back to the Final Four. That's always our goal every year.
And as long as I can be effective as a teacher and coach, that's what I want to do. The day I walk in the gym and I don't have the passion is the day I give it up.
THE MODERATOR:
Thank you, Coach.
LOCKER ROOM QUOTES
Freshman Forward Vicki Baugh??
On Tennessee???s performance:
???Basically we had to come out as a team. The bench had to be there, we all had to be on the same page. And that???s what we did tonight.???
On her reaction to being a National Champion:
???It???s always been one of my dreams to win a national championship for the Lady Vols. We made it happen my freshman year, and I hope, more to come.???
???It feels great to help my seniors, the way they go out. They go out with a National Championship, they couldn???t ask for more. It feels great.???
On her knee injury:
???I don???t even care about my knee right now. We???re going to evaluate it in Knoxville. I???m just focusing on celebrating right now.???
Senior Guard Alexis Hornbuckle??
On how it feels to win back-to-back championships as a senior:
???It really is hard to put into words. It???s just so exciting. Every senior in the nation wants to go out on top and the seniors here at Tennessee, we did that. And not only was it the second one, but this one meant a lot more being a senior. Obviously Sid and Dom [Sidney Spencer and Dominique Redding] they went out on top as seniors [last year] and I wanted that feeling and my teammates and I, we pulled together and we were able to give each other that.???
On their game plan going in tonight:
???Pressure them, and like Coach said on the mic out there, we love the fact that nobody picked us to win and that???s what motivated us. We were reading an article where it said Tennessee is not going to be able to hold Stanford to under 50 points because they???re basically offensive machines. We held them to 48. We were so motivated and so focused going in to that game that, honestly, the press is what motivated us.???
Senior Forward Alberta Auguste??
On defending Candice Wiggins and the team???s desire:
???My job was to stop Candice Wiggins tonight and that???s what I did. She had 14 points, but me just being around her and putting pressure on her, I enjoyed it a whole lot. The seniors, we wanted this real bad. Other teams were underestimating us and everybody else was underestimating us, but we knew our fans were backing us 100 percent. Defense was key and so was rebounding.???
On Tennessee???s defensive pressure:
???We saved the best for last. We did a great job playing Stanford. That???s the best defense pressure we???ve played on any team and we knew how hard we had to guard their perimeter players. Five people committed to playing Tennessee basketball and that???s what led us to this National Championship.???
THE MODERATOR:
We're joined up here on the podium by Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer, as well as student athletes Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel. Following a brief opening statement, we'll entertain questions for the student athletes for probably about eight minutes, and at that point we'll let them go back to the locker room and take questions for Coach.
COACH VANDERVEER:
First I want to compliment and congratulate Tennessee on a national championship. And I thought they came out, they were extremely aggressive, and they were a very physical team.
And, secondly, I'd like to compliment and congratulate Stanford and Jayne and Candice for a fabulous season, playing their hearts out. Doing the very best they could and taking us to the Final Four and this championship game.
The game itself was I don't think indicative of the great season we've had. We did not play well. We did not handle the pressure well. Obviously the turnovers absolutely killed us.
But I'm so proud of Candice and so proud of Jayne and just really enjoyed working with this team all year. And it doesn't change tonight.
THE MODERATOR:
Again, questions for the student athletes.
Q. Candice and Jayne, how did you guys feel going into the game? Tennessee came out really aggressive. Did you guys feel like energy wise you were in good shape and they just really came at you?
CANDICE WIGGINS:
You know, we knew they were going to be pressuring us and that's their style of play. They really rely a lot on their defense to get them going. And they're big. They're in passing lanes. So you can't have any sloppy passes. And I think that's what happened in the beginning of the game.
Q. Candice, no matter what you guys tried, you didn't seem to have an answer. You had trouble getting the ball in bounds. Had trouble back on your heels against the press. Is that as ferocious as a defensive effort as anybody has thrown at you this season???
CANDICE WIGGINS:
They were just as aggressive when we played them in December. But I think the national championship is at stake. Of course, they're going to be, go really hard and go all out. You have Nicky in the top and she's just really big at the top of the press and really aggressive.
Q. Candice, can you talk about it's over, your career's over and how you feel emotionally???
CANDICE WIGGINS:
I don't think it maybe has set in yet. But I just know that I told the guys in the locker room that I couldn't be any prouder of them. I wouldn't want to be on any other team in the country, any other team. And it happens that we ended our season with a loss and that hurts. Because we wanted it. And this team is a special team. And just beautiful people. And I've been so honored just to be on this team.
So I think it maybe hasn't quite hit me yet. But I think we should celebrate our season. I think to win the way we did, we did it right, and I'm so proud of this group.
Q. Jayne, can you talk a little bit about the pressure and what was going on in the post and how you think you guys responded offensively things weren't clicking like they had been clicking like in games coming into this???
JAYNE APPEL:
I think we just had a tough time matching up with their size and the back court with Nicky, like Candice said up front is really tough.
They're a really very athletic team and I thought we hung with them until they made a little run. They got up 9 or 10 on us. We stuck with them I think with that 9 or 10 gap for pretty much the rest of the game until the end. So I think we were just kind of playing catch up since that run.
Q. This is for both of you ladies. I know this is a fresh, tough loss. Candice, you mentioned it was a little bit you were seeing turnovers and sloppy passes. Where do you think the breakdown happened in this game? It doesn't seem indicative of your last 23 wins. What do you think was the breakdown?
CANDICE WIGGINS:
I think just really aggressive. They were jumping, they were in passing lanes. You have to credit their defense. And usually when people are pressuring you you have to be able to get by them. I think we didn't really start attacking the pressure until later in the game. I think it would have really helped us if we started attacking maybe a little bit earlier.
Q. Jayne, could you follow up on that???
JAYNE APPEL:
I feel the same way in the sense that we needed to attack them a little bit more and take it to the basket. And obviously break their press, first of all. And I think that was just they were very aggressive coming out and we didn't have much to counter it.
Q. Candice, to what degree do you think there were missed shots, missed opportunities???
CANDICE WIGGINS:
I think looking at shooting percentage, it was not a terrible shooting night, but I just think we were not really we didn't really have our tempo wasn't in our favor. It wasn't at our pace. And for whatever reason, you know, we just I think we could have controlled it better.
Q. For both of you, did they show you anything that surprised you or did you expect them to try to choke off the high post, low post and do the trap? Were you expecting all that???
CANDICE WIGGINS:
We were very well prepared for this game. I think our coaches did an excellent job in scouting them. Nothing was really new. You just get in the game and you've got to play. And I think you can't second guess your passes. You can't second guess yourselves and they just did a great job on defense.
Q. Candice, were you trying to get to the free throw line at all? You never you didn't take any shouts from the free throw line tonight. That's got to be pretty unusual for you???
CANDICE WIGGINS:
I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. Q. Were you thinking strategically aggressively
CANDICE WIGGINS:
Oh, I mean, yeah. I was thinking to attack, I wanted to attack off the dribble. They were really pressuring me, just trying to find gaps and make contact, yes, absolutely.
Q. Candice, I just want to ask you about this sway of emotions losing this game and maybe just in a few hours a dream of yours will come true with the WNBA draft and possibly being taken pretty high???
CANDICE WIGGINS:
Sorry, what's the question?
Q. Just the swing of emotions from this game and another dream of yours coming true in a few hours???
CANDICE WIGGINS:
Well, I think I'm just trying to cope with just what transpired. So I haven't really thought about that yet. Obviously it's a new start for me and a new career.
Q. For either of you, you came back in December, you were down 11, and did you keep that in the back of your head? Did this game feel at all like the December game or did it just from the start feel like Tennessee was playing at a different level???
JAYNE APPEL:
I think that we came out and, you know, like what I said before, they made that 9 , 10 point run on us. I remember Candace Parker hit the layup and then she got another steal. We kept reminding ourselves we were down 11 last time. At halftime we said we just played a really horrible half, let's start the second half and get it going and kind of fight back the second half. So we definitely kept that in mind. Like I said, we had to weather the storm a little bit better.
Q. Obviously you guys had success against them earlier in the season. Did you notice them do anything different offensively and defensively on the court???
JAYNE APPEL:
You know, I think they did the same thing. I think we just handled it a little bit better in the first game. We played a lot better. It's kind of tough having a bad night on a night like this. But I think they played a great game and they played a great game in December, also.
Q. Candice, before the game, from across the way it was fun to kind of watch you guys sit around on the floor there and huddle. Were you guys kind of sharing some memories and talking about the special season or what was going on?
CANDICE WIGGINS:
Yes, you know, it kind of became a ritual since the Maryland game. We just gathered together and really just reflected on such a great season and, more importantly, it's like we wanted to just enjoy the moment. And, just like I said, I'm just crying and things like that, it's because I'm so happy I'm sad it's over because of how much I love this program, this institution, this team and my coaches and teammates. It's that amazing.
This season, I could not ever have dreamed of this. So it's more than I could ever ask for. I think everyone kind of felt the same way.
THE MODERATOR:
Thank you both. Questions for Coach.
Q. Can you talk about how prepared your team looked for the pressure to start the game. You said they came out really aggressive. I asked the girls how you felt they came out. What was your impression???
COACH VANDERVEER:
Well, I mean, we know we know what to expect. We can't simulate that in practice. They were extremely aggressive. It was a much more physical game than the game in December.
I mean, bodies were all over the floor the whole night. And I think just a lot of our I thought we made a lot of uncharacteristic turnovers and some very bad decisions.
I mean, defensively, you know, I thought we actually did a decent job. Scoring 64 points was good, but we just had we were not able to run anything offensively. People could not get open, whether it was against their press or whether it was against their half court defense. You know, just the ability to put the ball on the floor and go by someone. There were times I thought we got it into Jayne. I thought we did miss some shots, and we missed some free throws.
In order for us to win this game, we had to play a lot better. And we didn't play well enough to win and I thought they did the things that give us trouble. And they have the bodies and they have the experience to do that. And a lot of teams don't.
Q. The last few minutes of the game, it seemed like the team wasn't really fouling on purpose, but then when they did it was when the shot clock was almost down.??
COACH VANDERVEER:
Yeah, that was a bad one.
Q. What was going on there???
COACH VANDERVEER:
The whole game was not one where there was we struggled in basically every facet of the game. I mean, we wanted to foul sooner. And then when we didn't, we didn't want to foul late. Candice's foul, I think you're talking about.
I think their pressure and their aggressiveness, the number of turnovers that we had, really took us out of everything we were trying to do.
Q. Did you feel like Tennessee was playing any differently this game than earlier in the season, and if so, how???
COACH VANDERVEER:
I'm sorry, can you rephrase that for me?
Q. You had success earlier in the season against the Vols. So I'm wondering if you felt like their game was different, if they were able to capitalize on their play a little bit different in this game versus earlier in the season, or if it was the same type of play. Just wondered what your feelings were on that.
COACH VANDERVEER:
Like we just their pressure was much more intense this time. They pressed and trapped basically the whole game this time, which they didn't do at all. We didn't have trouble with their full court press was minimal last time. Their three quarter trap was pretty minimal.
I think that in a way what really hurt us was how we finished the Connecticut game. And it was like Tennessee just picked up where Connecticut left off. The clock ran out in the Connecticut game, but Tennessee is actually bigger and more athletic and could get hands on balls. And we just really we just made too many mistakes to give ourselves a chance. Our turnovers were just too many of them.
And I just think that if you want to know, a lot of the difference, this was a much more physical game than the December game, just in terms of how the game was played.
Q. You've got a lot of kids back. How valuable is this experience you've had through this weekend all ends of the spectrum???
COACH VANDERVEER:
I think this is really hard. It will hit our team and I know it will hit Candice and it will hit me probably more tomorrow. I mean, to have a chance to win a national championship and you just feel like, well, we wasted an opportunity.
But there's 300 and how many other teams, coaches that would like to be sitting here. And I have thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of working with this team, including tonight, when we were not playing well, when everything was going wrong, people really worked hard to just kind of stay together and not get upset with themselves or their teammates or their coaches. And it was very frustrating. But I'm really proud.
And for our young players, you know, we needed to play better. We needed to handle the ball better. We needed to rebound better. We needed to make our free throws. We needed to be able to execute offensively. We didn't do all those things.
But for Jayne I looked out there and I saw a lot of seniors for Tennessee. We have one senior that plays a lot. We have basically freshmen and sophomores who can only look back and say wow. It was awesome. And they learned how to do things. And to get to the Final Four and play in this game, I'm thrilled for our team.
Q. In that vein, do you think their experience of knowing how to win a national championship, the intensity level it takes to win, do you think that might have been the difference tonight that they've been here before???
COACH VANDERVEER:
I definitely think that Tennessee has more experience, and they have seniors that this is their last game too. We have one senior that this is her last game and multiply that times five. Bobbitt is a senior. Hornbuckle. Anosike. Parker. They played really well.
And I think defensively I thought we played well. Offensively, it was extremely frustrating. But a credit to them.
THE MODERATOR:
Thank you, Coach.
LOCKER ROOM QUOTES
Sophomore Guard JJ Hones??
On Tennessee???s aggressiveness:
???I feel like we went over in practice how aggressive they were going to be and how to break the press. But you can???t practice that kind of aggressiveness. They???re an extremely talented team and they have a lot of big, long bodies. We would push the ball up the court, but there would look like there was nowhere to go.???
On what gave Stanford trouble:
???The press. We were talking a lot about how we wanted our revenge on UConn, after they beat us in the Virgin Islands. But we did beat Tennessee this year and I felt like they probably went over that tape over and over and over again and tried to figure out what to do to stop us. They really disrupted our offense and we couldn???t really get what we were looking for; what we wanted. It wasn???t like we weren???t trying. They are just a really well coached team.???
On Tennessee???s confidence:
???Tennessee was saying how we ruined their Christmas. I wouldn???t want my Christmas ruined. I just put myself in their shoes. If we lost to them (Tennessee) before Christmas, I would not have enjoyed my three-day break. I bet when they came back their life was hell. I definitely felt they had a chip on their shoulders from that.???
Junior Forward Jillian Harmon??
On the loss:
???I???m just really disappointed and sad because it???s the last time I???m going to play with this group, and be in the locker room with this group. Our seniors were so special to us ??? Candice [Wiggins] and Cissy [Pierce]. We???re disappointed we didn???t win, but I???m glad we made it to the last possible game.???
On Tennessee???s defense:
???Tennessee is known for its defensive pressure and we knew it was coming, you just can???t really prepare for it, especially in one day, and they just did a really good job of pressuring the ball. They???re just big and athletic.???
Freshman Forward Kayla Pedersen??
On what she can take from this experience:
???Just if we were going to lose, that it was to a good team. And I feel like Candice left a great mark and I???m going to win a national championship, I am. I???m going to contribute to this team, and we???re going to stay strong and they can???t take anything away from us either.???
On the play of Candice Wiggins in the game and throughout the tournament:
???She???s our leader. I mean no other person is getting 40 points a game. She really just put us on her back and she got us to this point with her attitude and her enthusiasm. All her energy got us to this point.???
On her play in the game, specifically on defense when shots weren???t falling:
???Well, my main job was just to guard Parker and rebound and when shots weren???t falling we all just tried taking it to the basket. But every single person gave their all. Tennessee was just the better team today.???
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