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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT


March 3, 2012


Vicki Baugh

Glory Johnson

Holly Warlick


NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

Tennessee – 74
South Carolina – 58


THE MODERATOR:  We're joined by Tennessee coach Holly Warlick, Vicki Baugh and Glory Johnson.
Coach, if you could start us off with an opening comment.
COACH WARLICK:  It was a great night for us.  I thought the first half Vicki Baugh was just dominating.  She kept us in the game.  Great team effort, great team win.
Let me say this.  Our fans are just absolutely incredible.  I never thought I would say this, that the arena would sound like Thompson‑Boling.  But that was a loud crowd tonight and we're so appreciative of them coming out and supporting us.  It's a tribute to this team, to Coach Summitt.  I'm just proud to be from Tennessee and know how many people we have that love our basketball team.
THE MODERATOR:  Questions.

Q.  Watching that game today, it was hard to think of you losing on your home floor.
COACH WARLICK:  I go back to our defensive effort.  South Carolina is a very athletic, very well‑coached basketball team.  We weren't ready to guard, defend their athleticism in Knoxville.
Glory got into foul trouble and we couldn't get in a rhythm.  It had a lot to do with what South Carolina did to us.  So we've gone back and we really put in the time with our defensive effort.
I think you're seeing it pay off for the amount of time we've put in working on our defense.

Q.  It seemed like one of the turning points of the game was midway through the second half, two blocks, transition baskets, then you pulled away.  How important do you think that stretch was there?
COACH WARLICK:  Well, it was huge.  Anytime you can get transition points and you score off your defense, it's huge for us.  It's a momentum builder.  It's a transition basket.  That's what we want.
We've always prided ourselves on defense and rebounding.  I thought we did those two things tonight.  So, absolutely, when Strick and Vicki had blocks, it's a great momentum for us.  When we can convert and score, it's huge for our basketball team.

Q.  For both players.  Can you talk a little bit about just playing for a third straight SEC championship, especially this year with some of the struggles that Coach Summitt has gone through.
VICKI BAUGH:  It means a lot.  We're always a great team and we were tired this year of saying what potential we have.  Now it was time to apply it.  We just worked hard in practice.  I think finally we figured out that defense and rebounding is the philosophy here.  That's Tennessee basketball.  It opens up a lot in the transition game, especially where we're most comfortable.
So I think we're figuring that out, just taking it game by game.  Now we're where we want to be.
GLORY JOHNSON:  Getting into the championship game is huge.  We put in so much work in practice, out of practice for so long.  I think it means a lot that we can show people what we've been working on.  We've had lapses throughout our season.  We are strong players and being together and working consistently is what we're trying to do.  It kind of show, three years getting back to the championship game.  That was huge for us.

Q.  The second half, for the second day in a row, really is when you made the big push, obviously.  What is it about that second 20 minutes that made such a big difference?
COACH WARLICK:  I'm just glad we have it in us, in the second half.
GLORY JOHNSON:  Meet at halftime, discuss what we're doing wrong.  The coaches are really positive with us.  We can fix it.  We know we did wrong.  We talk to each other, try to communicate in a positive manner.  Second half is our half, we can correct it.
VICKI BAUGH:  We put together two halves of basketball.  That's something we struggled with.  We needed to mature.  I think we stepped it up this tournament and we definitely need to do it one more time tomorrow.

Q.  What did you try to do to negate South Carolina's athleticism?
COACH WARLICK:  Well, we started off in our zone defense.  Against athletic teams, it's really helped us, gotten us off to a great start.  I think the games that we have lost or not played well in, we have not gotten off to a good start.
I credit our seniors.  It's probably our best defensive team that we start with.  It's really worked for us.  And we mixed it up.  We felt like once they got into a rhythm against the zone, we would go to man.  We tried two different zones.  We tried two different types of man‑to‑man.  So it was a collection of our defense.  Our players were very receptive.
As Glory said, we worked hard on it and we communicated.  That's been our second biggest problem, is communication.  When we're doing those things, we're playing good basketball.

Q.  Glory, Vicki, could you talk a little bit about how you played the first two teams that had wins over you this year, what motivation that provided?
VICKI BAUGH:  We were definitely motivated.  We were fortunate to play the teams that we wanted to play.  We wanted revenge.  I think that was our motivation stepping into this tournament.  We just wanted to prove that we were the better team.
We played two great teams that pushed the ball, great tempo.  It was going to be a challenge.  But in order to get to where we wanted to be, we had to overcome that.
GLORY JOHNSON:  It shows our development, shows what we've been working on.  When we make mistakes, lose games, come back and play the teams, we've got better.  It shows our team has grown since then.  It's a steppingstone for us.

Q.  Glory, could you address what Holly was saying.  Every time she thinks you played as hard as you can, you raise it a level.  What do you need to do tomorrow?
GLORY JOHNSON:  Go up strong, stay strong with the ball, whether it's a guard passing inside, or a post going up.  Play through fouls.  Don't worry about how the other team is playing.  We're trying to play good as a team first.  We'll figure out how LSU will guard us, figure out what we need to do on defense to stop their offense.
Right now we need to focus on the small things and work on ourselves and then it will all come eventually.

Q.  Did you feel like LSU might have been as physical of a team as you played during the regular season?
GLORY JOHNSON:  LSU is a physical team, just like us.  They match up with us well.  One thing we have on them is speed.  Our post has been working with Heather Mason all season long and we're willing to run.  I think that's going to be the huge difference, is running in transition.
VICKI BAUGH:  It's definitely going to be a physical game.  LSU is a very strong and great team.  So I'm looking forward to a good basketball game tomorrow.  We have to be mentally strong and physically matching it up with them.

Q.  Sometimes you face your best friends in games.  Nikki was saying earlier if they were to face you guys, it would be a testament to the Tennessee legacy to have the two of you squaring off.  Talk about that.
COACH WARLICK:  Yeah, Nikki, we talk before each game.  It's going to be different because I'm not calling her tonight or tomorrow.
But it is, Nikki has done a great job.  She prides herself and her team on defensive rebounding.  As I love Nikki Caldwell, she's not going to be a great friend of mine tomorrow.  Maybe after the game.  But I respect what Nikki and her staff has done.  She's just an example of the success of people who have played and have coached for Pat Summitt.
I'm not surprised how successful Nikki has been.  She had a great high school coach.  Obviously she had a great teacher in Pat and a great friend.
Looking forward to it.  It's going to be a great battle.  It's going to be physical.  It's going to be two good teams going at each other.  I'm excited to have the opportunity to play Nikki again.
THE MODERATOR:  Thank you, ladies.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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