UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
#16 KENTUCKY-VANDERBILT
JAN. 3, 2019
MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening statement…
“Well, excited to start the SEC portion of the schedule off with a victory. Really proud of the players, they worked hard and prepared. We wanted to disrupt Vanderbilt tonight and try and force some turnovers and we were able to get that done. It was a really good win for us. We are really proud and excited for the players.”
On the number of steals and forced turnovers…
“When you feel like you can get that done against the opponent, you have to work really hard. It’s not going to happen that way every single game but we did feel like that was something we could do tonight. You have to credit the players, you have to go out there and do it. It doesn’t just happen on its own. I thought we hustled our way into some good plays tonight and also just made Vanderbilt uncomfortable and got them out of their rhythm. Sometimes what looks like an unforced turnover is really just because of the pace you’ve created and the uncertainty of what the next pass is so I think we did a really good job of that.”
On Rhyne Howard’s passing ability…
“It’s definitely made our team better to add another scoring, but I think you make a good point you know her passing is something that when you do try to devote some resources to her like double teaming, she is just so big and strong and has great passing ability and great vision. She makes some nice plays that I think set us into a good rhythm tonight where we were able to get some layups early on when it was still a tight ball game. I know from her teammates its fun to play with her because she has a great vision on the court and can deliver the pass. She can make the cross court pass with great accuracy and again I tell you she has so many areas where she can improve and get better in her understanding of her game. She is an extremely gifted offensive player.”
On what makes Howard a great player…
“Well she has a great mom and her mother and family influence are really high character people and I appreciate that so much. Their interest in us was when we didn’t have a lot of momentum going and through some tough things that happened she was able to see the character of our program. I think it starts there, you need to have some depth to you and some support as a young person with wisdom being passed on to you. She just has a real strong family and a real strong mom who has done a great job raising her. She has a great personality, her teammates love her, her coaches love her and she’s fun to be around. She has a great sense of humor and is a good person. It’s our job as coaches to make sure that we pass on our wisdom we have about playing in the SEC and the improvements she needs to make. She has so many ways that she can grow. She had a great workout yesterday after practice with Coach Niya Butts, really worked on some pace issues she has with her offense. I am proud of the defensive improvement she has made over the last few weeks. Great person, great family and great talent and we will just keep trying to develop her to be the best player she can become.”
UK Student-Athletes
#10, Rhyne Howard, Fr., G
On the defensive plan they had for Mariella Fasoula…
“We were just swarming her every time she got the ball to force her to throw it back out and not be able to score.”
On how teams have adjusted to defending her as this season goes on…
“They have kind of hinted at guarding me a little harder as we go into conference play. I just wait for screens and let my teammates set me up.”
On how she reacts when people say she is one of the best players in the SEC…
“I just say thank you. I don’t really let things go to my head. Anything could happen.”
#4, Maci Morris, Sr., G
On the jumpers she hit to start the game…
“I mean, our team just does a really good job of sharing the ball so I was getting open looks. Coach gave me the green light so if I have space I’m going to shoot it. They were going in and I was just feeling it at first and kept shooting.”
On the defense tonight…
“I think we’ve just been really focusing in practice on plant foot, lead foot. Coach has really been on us for that so just making sure we have more intensity in the press and getting traps set. Speeding people up is when they turn it over and we like to feed off of that.”
On how they settled down after the fouls in the first quarter…
“We just had to slow down mentally because when we get in a rush we take quick shots and that means we have to get on defense faster and it’s just up and down. We just had to play our game, get our pace the way we wanted, speed them up and slow ourselves down.”
On how UK wore UV down mentally more than physically…
“We wanted to make sure and attack them at first. We did that in the first half and then we put an emphasis on going out in the third quarter in those first five minutes and just hitting them in the mouth and taking over the game right there.”
Vanderbilt Head Coach Stephanie White
Opening statement …
“First of all, hats off to Kentucky. They’re back to the 40 minutes of dread and they really do a great job of coming after you and attacking you. I think you can see it on film and you can prepare for it as best as you can, but it’s tough to simulate the type of pressure that they bring, so hats off to them. We’re not going to position ourselves for much success when we turn the ball over 29 times. There’s not much defense for that. We’ve got to do a much better job of taking care of the ball.”
On coming in and not handling the UK pressure as well as they wanted …
“It’s frustrating, of course. But that’s why we do what we do – the challenge. It’s one thing to see it on paper, it’s one thing to go against the scout team or each other, and it’s a whole other thing to go against it live and then to some way find some calm through the storm. I think that’s the biggest growth edge for our team, is to find poise under pressure, physical pressure, mental and emotional pressure – all of that. That’s a growth process that we have to go through and it’s one where we have Lealea Carter, who really in her first two years hadn’t had a lot of minutes and now we’re asking her to do a lot of things and handle the ball under pressure. We’ve never asked her to do that before. We’re putting people in situations they’ve never been in before and there is no substitute for experience.”
On Rhyne Howard’s play …
“Yeah, I have loved her since I first got the (Vanderbilt) job and saw her play. I mean she is mature beyond her years. One of the things that I think really makes her really unique is that she plays with such great pace. She doesn’t really get rushed, her size makes it a tough match-up, her ability to handle the ball and make good decisions is unique. She is one of those players who is Candace Parker like in her skillset and I think she is just going to continue to get better and continue to grow. I know that Matthew has challenged her to play with a high motor all the time and to be a great rebounder and a great defender and she’s got a chance to be one of the best that has ever played not only at Kentucky, but in the SEC.”
On if she thinks her players know what the lessons of tonight’s game are …
“I hope so. I think that you can give them all the information you can give them, but sometimes there has to be an awareness of what it takes to get to another level. We’ll show it on film, we’ll come up with some creative drills to work on in practice and make it more difficult. Us going 1-on-1 is not going to simulate (game speed). We just don’t have the players yet, so we’ve got to come up with some creative drills to make us handle pressure and so we’ll do that. They probably won’t like it, but it will be necessary to continue to get better. It’s just like anything with young people. We were all there once so you finally have that “ah-ha” moment where the maturity meets the information that you’re getting. That’s where you really have the opportunity to grow.”
On the biggest difference in UK between last year and this year …
“I think they have more horses. They have more athletes that Kentucky is used to having. They have more firepower on offense, I think typically in the past when you looked at Kentucky’s 40 minutes of dread, they created a lot of offense from their defense, which they still do – but they also have the ability to execute in the half court. You have match-up nightmares on the court and you have to give credit to the players that have been here that have gotten better. Maci Morris and Taylor Murray have improved so much and every year they have added something to their game. That’s a tribute to this staff and the way they develop their players.”
