March 27, 2007

Tennessee Head Coach Pat Summitt

Opening Statement:
"Obviously, I am very proud of our basketball team, program, and University of Tennessee. I felt like this was our best game of the tournament, without a doubt. The one thing we talked about was, playing against Marist, we played a great 20 minutes and then we had a lot of laps in the second half. We are a team that is on a mission to win a national championship, and we need to understand that we can't take possessions off. I really challenged our team and they responded well. Certainly, we established our inside game early and our defensive intensity and our guard play was as strong as it has been. It was great to see not only our starters but our seniors came off the bench for some good solid play."

On applauding of Price going to the bench after picking up her third foul:
"We talked about that even before Carol took her out that we have to stand up and applaud because she is one of the best players in the game. The amount of attention and recognition that she deserves is clear and if she isn't an all-American then something is wrong. In my opinion, she plays both ends of the floor, and they aren't in this game if they don't have her. I just have great respect for her, our whole team does."

On is this a typical game for Candice:
"She has done a lot of great things for us but tonight Nicky spoke her feelings about watching Candice play both ends of the floor. In the Marist game I was a little up-set at her because I didn't think she was giving the effort defensively in the second half. When she plays both ends of the floor, we separate ourselves. She separates herself out in the paint but it motivates everyone on the floor. I think that's inspiration and fuel on the court and everyone was so excited about the defense she played that it really go us all going."

On the team's overall offensive output being the best it's been all tournament:
"I would agree with that. I think we just played basketball tonight. We played with a lot of freedom offensively. I thought we made a lot of good decisions. We had good player movement, ball movement, and we had some great screen action but it was without a doubt our greatest offensive game of the tournament. It's the strongest game that we have played. I told Carol that after the game. This team has just got better each tournament game."

On with Candice being such a leader do you still prepare as much before each game:
Well, I still feel like I have to work a little bit. They really have been a team that has been focused. We spend the same amount of time each and every game on what we call our scout defense. They have really bought into that and the thing about this team is they have high I.Q. They really are smart. A lot of teams you can show them exactly what you want them to do. This team is so advanced that they see things and tell me this may be a good option on defense. They really pick up on things that are going on the floor. They feel like they can coach themselves at times. They certainly bring information that is important to us throughout the game about how they are defending or gaps they see. That's the different in this team."

On game plan to beat the press:
"We have high post presence that helps us bring the ball up the floor. We decide that we would put Sidney Spencer in that position and I though she had the size that can throw that pass and get the ball inside. Obviously Candice is big target and so is Nicky. We handled the sideline pass and got the ball in early which gave us passing options. We watched film on what they like to do on a pressing stand point. I thought we had great composure on being able to attack them."

On if your team plays this way in Cleveland:
"There are better teams in Cleveland; there is no doubt about that. There are four great teams and anyone can beat anyone on any given night. It's just a matter of controlling our own destiny and we are going to have to do that by our play. It's a battle of wills. If we continue to build on what we did tonight then I like our chances. It is not a team with a lot of limitations if we come to play.

Tennessee Player Quotes

Sidney Spencer

On Ole Miss' inability to knock down jump shots playing apart of the Lady Vols philosophy:
"Part of our defense philosophy is to work hard to contest shots and not really give them any open looks, and just always have a hand in their face."

On breaking the Ole Miss press:
"Knowing Ole Miss, they trap on the sideline and the baseline so we just always wanted someone in middle to take pressure off the ball-handler on the sideline because we knew a trap was coming."

Candace Parker

Price's charge on McMahan sparking the team's energy:
"Kate has always been a player that has brought a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm to our team and she is the first one up on the bench cheering when somebody does something right and I was just proud that she made a great play and picked up Armintie's [Price] third foul and that was huge for us."

On what is feels like to join the program's history:
"To be honest with you, we've all put in work in the off-season. We've all been in the gym when nobody's there. We've all done extra conditioning with Heather and tired of having down nothing to show for it. It's just that something is missing and that's a national championship. We are just trying to go out there everyday and leave it all out there on the floor and the most we can play is two more games."

On being named the Dayton Regional Most Outstanding Player:
"Coming out we really wanted to make it to the final four, I know this is my first Final Four because my freshman year I wasn't able to play. So, I just wanted to come out and do what I could for my team and whether it was energy on the defensive end or the offensive end, was my goal for tonight."

Nicky Anoskie

Team's defense overall:
"Before the game coach told us that defense wins games and rebounds win championships and I think that really stuck in everyone's mind and we just wanted to get out there and get after it. I told Candace that I'm so proud of her and I really respected her this game because she played both ends so equally."

Shannon Bobbitt

On handing the Old Miss press:
"Thanks to the coach and the coaching staff, they did a great job on preparing us for a team press that does the run and gun. I think we stuck to that scouting report and did a great job out there tonight."

Alexis Hornbuckle

On Bobbitt's three's setting the tone for the game:
"Those are big-time shots. Like you said, it set the tone for us, it give us enthusiasm to continue one. We came out very pumped up for this game and had a straight mind set on what we wanted to do to get off to a great start and Shannon [Bobbitt] did that for us. She was open and knocked down some great shots."

On getting Ole Miss out of its comfort zone:
"We did sense they would have problems. We did a great job moving the ball and hitting the hole. We watched a lot of film, especially of them in the tournament, where they are so aggressive in tracking and players hitting holes and we just tried to take advantage of them. Every team has a weak spot and we decided to stick to it and kill their weak spot."