March 28, 2005

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Tennessee Quotes

TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Pat Summitt

On her friendship with Rutgers' Head Coach C. Vivian Stringer: "I don't particularly care to shop with her. I like to run in a store, look around, and go `I want this, this and this.' And of course Vivian takes her time. If we are trying on shoes, she would try on 12 pair, I would try on two. She has incredible patience; I have none. We go way back. We go back to Cheney State. Obviously we have played her every place she has been. Played her when she was at Cheney State, then Iowa and then obviously at Rutgers. I think it's really special when you can have the type of competitive games that we have had and still maintain a friendship. And we have both been on both sides of the game, as far as wins and losses, but that hasn't effected how we have responded to each other. And I have tremendous respect for her. She is one of my dearest friends in the profession."

On her and coach Stringer taking over programs at young ages and the current coaching landscape. "It's so different. When I became the coach at Tennessee I was 22 and I had four players that were 21. We didn't have scholarships. We didn't charge admission. No one else on the staff received any kind of stipend. I got $250.00 dollars a month, I think. Didn't have a full time trainer, had no game management people, it was just a step up from the intramural level. We played very much local teams...The NCAA changed the whole scope, when we went under its umbrella. They provided championships and we get what was necessary to recruit. That changed our program entirely. We started recruiting not only regionally, but nationally. That level of success obviously impacted our success at Tennessee."

On the impact the injured players have had: "Well, unfortunately, the players that came in had some injuries. We knew that we had some injuries. We did not shy away from signing the student-athletes that we signed because we do think they are a very, very talented group. It obviously influenced, to some extent, the amount of baseline to baseline basketball that we would play. If we were healthier, we would press and run more. Granted, we push tempo but we haven't pressed as much because of the injuries. Losing Sidney Spencer really was a tough loss for us because of our rotation. We've obviously had to shorten our rotation. But then the upside of that is that it's not about what we don't have, it's about what we do have. I think it really brought our team together. I think that adversity hit at a time that they had to make a decision as a basketball team and with their leadership as to how they were going to handle it. It made them much more determined and focused. I think accountability was there across the board. No one can hide on this basketball team anymore."

On how the presence of Loree Moore will help against Rutgers: "I think Loree Moore's presence will be vital to our execution and give us a chance to be successful against one of the most athletic teams, if not the most athletic team we've faced all year...We see athletic teams in our conference. I just think Rutgers, their commitment to defense, they're just relentless. They get after you on the ball. They get after you in the passing lanes. I'm a defensive minded coach and I admire and respect the level of intensity they bring every possession. Without Loree Moore it would be very difficult. When we played them at home, we couldn't run an offense. I didn't think our freshmen were at all ready for what they saw. Hopefully we'll be better prepared. They're stingy, they're tough. They just have a tough mindset about them."

Breakout Room Quotes- Tennessee Players

Nicky Anosike on playing a Rutgers team that they've lost to in the regular season: "There's definitely an incentive because we know how we felt after we lost that game. It was just a horrible feeling and we don't ever want to feel it again."

Shyra Ely on the chance to play at home in Indianapolis in the Final Four: "This is a big game to me, especially after losing to them in the regular season and letting this game determine whether or not I get to go back to Indianapolis. I'm really excited and I feel really good about our team and where we are right now and hopefully we can really, really execute well tomorrow and go home.

Shanna Zolman on the regular-season loss to Rutgers: "I try not to remember a whole lot from that game. That game was... I don't even know what to say because of how much that was not us, how much that was not me, personally, and how well they played. We weren't ready for that game. I give them all the credit in the world because they were the aggressors and we did a lot of things wrong. I don't event want to watch that film."

Alexis Hornbuckle on playing in a hostile environment: "We know that their fans probably might outnumber ours. It's not as many fans as we have here. That's great for us. We want to beat them and we want to do it in an environment that's very hostile. That makes it all the better if you're going to come out on top."

Loree Moore on her role on the team: "I'm kind of a utility player on the team. I'm doing the dirty work. I'm playing the defense, pushing the tempo and if I have an open shot, make the shot, knock them down. That's just something that I want to focus on for the rest of the season."

Press Conference Quotes- Tennessee Players

Shyra Ely on having Loree (Moore) and Cappie (Pondexter) playing in tomorrow's game: "I think we definitely have the bigger jolt and with Loree's leadership, her ability to disrupt offenses by her defense and getting us going, I think that will create a lot of trouble for them. As far as Rutgers getting Cappie back, I think they have a lot more leadership as well and another offensive weapon. But with Loree's pressure defense we will be able to be disruptive."

Shrya on what teams have tried to do against her and when she has her best success: "I think I have my best success when I just let my game come to me and I let my defense generate my offense. A lot of teams don't think I like physical play, which is not true because I am pretty physical. Teams try to be really physical with me and they double sometimes, but we do a great job of seeing what the defense is giving us so we are able to find the open person. I realize that if two people are on me someone has to be open so I don't mind kicking that ball out to find the open person."

Shyra on the move to the four: "It didn't take me anytime to adjust because I felt really natural and comfortable there. But it's basically what I have always played is the post and I really don't regret playing the three because it has made me a better player all around. But at the same time the four is my bread and butter and I am really comfortable there so it really wasn't a big (adjustment) at all."

Nicky on playing against Rutgers after missing first meeting: "Well I am just going to say we are going to go out and play a lot harder than we did obviously last game and hopefully we will come out with the win this time."

Loree on getting to play against Rutgers: "First for being able to play in this game I am very excited and I was looking forward to it. I was hoping we would get a chance to play them because I did miss that opportunity to be out there with my team. I have a lot of confidence now. Just playing the way I am playing now is motivating me and really drove me to keep playing to keep going on with my leadership to keeping going with the communication I have with coaching staff as well as my teammates and just being aggressive. I think that is the biggest thing I am focused on right now is being aggressive. As far as their play goes, Cappie, who I am looking at right now ... I have played against her before, we have had a lot of good times together and that is one of my closest friends and knowing her I just try to contain her. Just try to get after her like I did Grant and frustrate her and get her out of her rhythm, out of her game. That is just something I am looking for to right now."

Shyra on what is most dangerous about Rutgers: "I think one of their strengths is their guard play and their ability to go one on one, to create for themselves. I just know from the first game they really challenged our defense by going one on one at the same time I think we are a different team. We are more committed to our system and our defense so I think we will do a better job defending them."

Rutgers Quotes

RUTGERS HEAD COACH C. VIVIAN STRINGER

On Jim Foster's comments that this is a "prototypical Stringer team": "I think what he does mean, is our team's have always been know for its defense, they work extremely hard...We rely on defense considerably more than our offense. What is a factor more this year is that we have been able to score more in transition and have had our defense get us some points on offense...I think that the other key is that he does know that generally in championship games we're going to have 10 turnovers or eleven. I was amazed to see that we only turned the ball over four times. We know how to step it up when we have to..."

On the team's personality: "I think that we play from our hearts and our minds. We don't just play to play, we care about what we're doing...We do recognize when we let each other down because we haven't done what we've needed to do, defensively. What we continue to work on, I see it getting better each game, is being more selective about the offense..."

On whether the return of Cappie Pondexter has played-out like she "plotted" it to: "I think it would be extremely difficult for any coach to receive a player of her magnitude back to the team and not have a major disruption unless that player was a very special person and personality. Of course everyone recognizes scoring and shooting and all those things any team that wants to win would be smart to embrace that. Although a lot of teams aren't even smart. In her case, she made it very easy for me, and us, as coaches to bring her into the fold. The team, fortunately, actually benefited probably from Cappie's absence because they could not look to the bench. We discussed it and some of our team members were saying, and I think it was probably true of most, would stand and watch Cappie go to work. And when she couldn't get something done, then they would get involved, which was unfair to her and unfair to us as a team..."

On the significance of facing Pat Summit and the match up with Tennessee: "She's a great coach. We've had many battles over the years. She and I are, personally, very good friends as well. I like that because I think that we probably embody what it means to be great competitors, go after one another but be respectful and care about each others families and want to do things together. We just have a great respect and admiration for each others work."

"I always believed that if we would believe enough in ourselves that we could do far more damage than what most people realized. Perhaps that this team is one that understands that our greatest fear is ourselves, our own minds, what we're thinking. Fortunately for us, in that we've played the toughest teams in the country, we know it's just a matter of technically executing."

On what making a Final Four does to elevate the profile of a program: "Once you have established that you are a perennial power, people are just going to come. It's not really as difficult to recruit. I think that in a talent-rich area that is NY, NJ, Washington, Virginia, Connecticut, all those within driving range..but it's like anything else, as you know, when your successful, great goes with great, people want to be a part of it. I think that just the extra hours on television is going to help with our exposure. When you're trying to call people, and all of a sudden, they're trying to call you, that makes a difference."

Breakout Room Quotes-Rutgers Players

Cappie Pondexter on Tennessee "I guess they have more experience. At this moment in time in women's basketball it doesn't really come down to that. It comes down to who gets the most defensive stops." Cappie Pondexter on tough regular season schedules "It gives you confidence knowing that you can compete at a high level night after night."

Essence Carson on why she chose Rutgers and Coach Stringer "She was a mother-like figure. She's like family, we consider her our mother. That's one thing I was looking for in a coach."

Matee Ajavon on Tennessee "They're very high-force offensively, the team is high-force. We're just going to go out and try to play 40 great minutes of basketball."

Matee Ajavon on senior leadership "They have the experience. Being freshman, we can sit up here and say that we know, but we really don't know. Experience is the best feature, so there's things that we'll do and they'll just say, `No, Mat' or `No, Essence, you can't do that.' You've got to know the time, situation, score. So we try to embrace that and basically just feed off them."

Chelsea Newton on Connecticut's loss "I hate it for them because it's a Big East school. Even though we've had our ups and downs with Connecticut, they're still a great team. You want to see somebody go out playing their best basketball and I don't think they played their best basketball last night."

Michelle Campbell on last season's first-round loss "We did not feel that we should have went out in the first round last year. We didn't put stuff together, we didn't come out attacking like Coach asked us to do, so we fell behind and we could never recover."

Michelle Campbell on Connecticut's loss "Stanford played a great game last night. I watched the game, and they executed on offense and they got to the boards so I guess that was the difference. This year it's up for grabs. Women's basketball has become very competitive this year. There is no set team where you can say, `Oh, they're going to win.' Everybody's beating everybody this year."