Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 93, Union 45

Nov. 8, 2011

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LADY VOLS HEAD COACH Pat Summitt
(on tonight versus last week)
"Thought it was better, thought we were much more focused. We obviously played everyone and our bench came in and responded well."

the play of the freshmen)
"The play of our freshman was better tonight. They came in and didn't try to do too much tonight. Really let the game come to them. I think getting those first game jitters out of the way in the Carson-Newman game was huge for them. Ariel came in from the start and got us going...having her in the role as our true point guard has a calming influence on this team. She gets everyone involved and is such a great distributor of the ball.

"Izzy continues to alter shots, and she is so long and rangy. She is only going to get better and better. She doesn't act like a freshman in the paint. I like the way she plays within herself. She likes to get it right every time and has great focus.

"Cierra continues to improve on defense. She is a great passer and likes to get her teammates involved."

Taber Spani)
"Taber was in a `zone' in the first half and forced them to pull a little bit out of their zone defense. It was good to see her shoot the ball like that."

Vicki Baugh missing the game)
"Vicki missed the game tonight in order to attend class. We have a game next Tuesday night (versus Miami) and we didn't want her to miss two weeks in a row. I thought it was good that other players, actually the team as a whole, stepped up and filled her leadership role. Great communication...it was a team effort. They were constantly talking on the bench to each other and had great communication."

her observations)
We're excited to get the season officially underway on Sunday against Pepperdine.

"I'd like to mention our fans...over 11,000 for our exhibition games. Hats off to the Lady Vol fans! Our crowds have been great in the first two exhibitions and our players really feed off of their enthusiasm."

TENNESSEE ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH Holly Warlick
(opening remarks)
"I was extremely pleased with our defense. Scoring 37 points off turnovers is exciting for us. We've worked a lot, very hard on our defense. I thought the play of Taber Spani was outstanding and then you got a chance to see Ariel Massengale, and you understand why she is a true point guard and the outstanding play she brings us. I thought our biggest concern tonight was our turnovers; we had 17, way too much for us, and those are things we need to work on."

(on UT's turnovers because of Union's small size)
"I think so, and I think we had a tendency to get a little complacent. We've got to learn to play watching the scoreboard. We've got to work on things we need to and taking care of the ball. We've got to get better at that."

(on UT's pressing defense)
"We've put a lot of time in our press, and it makes us very aggressive. We're an athletic team, and we should be very good at it. Right now we are good at it, and I think the last two games have given us an opportunity to work on our press, on our defense. It's going to be a staple for us this year just because of how active and athletic we are."

(on the freshmen's ability to press)
"I love Izzy (Harrison) up on the press. You can tell she's got a little bit of volleyball in her because of her timing and her blocked shots, but I love Izzy's aggressiveness and Cierra's as well. We're trying to put different people in different spots so that we won't get locked into a certain position. So, overall, I am very pleased with those two and the rest of the team as far as pressing tonight."

(on the freshmen fitting into the defensive scheme)
"I thought they had the ability, but until you see them out there and play, you don't really know how they're going to perform. I think especially with Izzy up on the press. I think she's had a chance to watch Glory and see what Glory's done. She's picked it up really well and Cierra and Ariel (are too). They like that style of play, and they did it this summer, so I think it's natural to them. It kind of fits into our scheme."

(on Massengale's contributions)
"When things weren't going right she put the ball under her arm and just totally took control, and that's what Massengale can do. She, it's not slighting anybody else, Massengale, she's going to get the ball to where the ball needs to go. We said in the huddle, `You have to be ready at all times, on the break, in the half-court game.' She just understands how to get players the basketball, and that's the sign of a great point guard. You cannot teach how to pass to an open player. You can work it, work it, but in a game situation, she delivers the ball."

(on Taber's defense)
"It's wonderful to see. I think Taber gets a lot of energy off her 3-point shooting, and obviously tonight she was lights out from the 3-point line. Taber's worked really hard in practice on her defense, and I think tonight it carried over."

(on Massengale's anticipation on defense)
"I think Ariel is a lot better defender than I thought. I thought she'd be good. She has the potential to be a great defender for us. She's really tough on the ball, puts a lot of pressure, and that's what we're preaching: ball pressure, being aggressive, and she just does it naturally. From that standpoint I was a little surprised, but when I'm around her and the more I see her play, now I'm not surprised because I've witnessed it, and I see how relentless she is."

(on Ariel's confidence)
"She's had that confidence. She's put in a lot of time; I know she's worked with her father a lot, and she's developed a lot of confidence. We're glad she's at Tennessee."

(on the passing combinations because of Ariel)
"If you have a solid point guard, and that's what she is for us. She gives a comfort level. We had players come up after missing a shot and say, `Man, I'm sorry I ruined your assist.' I think our players understand the impact she has on our team. She's made Bri (Bass) a better point guard. She's made Meighan a better point guard. Those kinds of things are the signs of a great point guard. I just think she's going to get better and better for us."

(on Vicki Baugh's absence)
"She has a Tuesday night class. She can only miss one night, and since we play Miami, Vicki had contacted me last night and said she needs to miss tonight because of class. She was in class tonight while we played, and she'll be able to miss (class) on Tuesday night when we play Miami."

(on the opportunities for Izzy)
"It did get Izzy a lot more minutes. It was a different lineup."

TENNESSEE PLAYER QUOTES
Tennessee Freshman Ariel Massengale
(on her first start)
"It was a lot of fun. I had a week of practice under my belt after being out for three weeks with an injury, and so I'm just getting back in the flow of things and playing with my teammates and getting ready for the season to start."

(on conditioning program over the summer)
"Every day was a challenge. You had to go out there knowing we're the best and knowing that we're preparing to cut down nets this year, and this is what it's going to take to be what we want to be."

(on whether it's been an adjustment to play Tennessee defense)
"No, it's been pretty easy. My high school team was very up-tempo, trapping, pressing other teams. On USA Basketball, defense was the main thing, and we get after it day in and day out, so one reason I chose Tennessee was because of the way they play defense. That's how I like to play."

(on Ariel's thoughts/plans when Taber is hitting threes)
"It is a focus. When she knocked that first one down, I said, `Well, let's keep running the same play until they stop it.' And she kept knocking it down, so of course we're going to go to the person who's hot."

(on Ariel's leadership skills)
"I think it just comes from experience. At a young age, I've had the opportunity to travel the world with USA Basketball, and I've played with some of the best in the world and the best in the United States of America. Just challenging myself and always being a student of the game, wanting to learn and be better, doing what I can for my teammates and my team."

Tennessee Senior Shekinna Stricklen
(on Ariel)
"She makes a whole lot of difference. Just her tempo and pushing the ball up, she sees the whole floor very well and she's looking for the open player. She really looks to get us open, and she knows when she can drive. She is a good point guard, a true point guard. That's what we really need and we finally have that."

(on Tennessee trapping defense)
"We really like [this style of play]. We're really using our length. Like you said, we're very quick. We have very quick posts with Izzy, Glory and Vicki. They're as quick as the guards, so it really affects the offensive team we play, and I think it's really working with us."

(on being able to play all positions)
"I just wait [for her decision]. Wherever they put me is for the best of the team, and there's no complaining at all. Wherever they put me, that's where I'm going."

Tennessee Junior Taber Spani
(on her defense tonight)
"I think [developing defense] is our focus and the coaches'. That's what this program is built on. That's what we take pride in, and that's what we're going to have to do to get where we want to go. I think that the personnel that we have, everybody has really stepped up and taken a lot of pride individually and also as a team. I think it's showing. Obviously, there's a lot of room for improvement, but I think it's a good start."

(on whether her large quantity of threes or the steal was more important to her):
"Definitely the steal. The threes are the easy part."

(on conditioning)
"I think the fact that I've had an off-season to actually get in better shape and not rehab something has been great personally, and I think as a team, everybody on our team can hit guard times, so we don't really have a lot of gap between our posts and our guards. We're fast at all positions, and that's showing, so I think that's one of the strengths we're going to play to."

(on hitting shots better)
"I think it was more important to hit shots because they were playing a zone, and that's what we're going to have to do, if a team is going to come out and take the inside away, we're going to have to knock shots down on the perimeter. I think that was nice for us, to break their pressure and their game plan. Obviously, we want to play to our strengths, whatever game it is, and they were playing by packing it inside, so that's our job, to hit shots."

UNION COACH QUOTES
Union Head Coach Mark Campbell
(opening remarks)
"I'm glad they didn't press the second half. I think we really feel privileged to come and play Tennessee. To not only play against great players, but the greatest coach that has ever been in women's basketball, so for us it's a privilege to be able to come. The thing is, it is honest. Our job, and my job as a coach, is really to present an honest picture with our team and what we have to get better at. Obviously playing the best is going to expose those things.

"I was proud of our girls. I felt like our effort was consistent all night long. I felt like circumstances didn't dictate our emotions and one of the best things that we can teach our kids while we are here is that exact thing - that circumstances don't dictate. I felt like they played hard. They played better as the game went on and at the same time. We also realize that they could have pressed us well. Just really proud of my girls, proud of our youth. I think most of the game tonight; we played one senior and mostly sophomores and freshmen. I think we are going to get a lot better."

(on the athletic ability of the UT post players)
"I think that the game doesn't change. Our job is to not play against our opponent; it is to play against the game. So transition is a big part, and we lost our national championship game last year because we didn't get back and play in the second half. So, again, exposed some things tonight, especially some things in the second half after we called timeouts and talked about it. Obviously they present some problems we normally don't face, but we play against guys three days a week and they give us some of those same things. So what it does, again, is expose our weaknesses very clearly, and I want our weaknesses exposed this time of the year. To avoid that is to avoid the inevitable at the end of the year. So again, we want to present an honest picture and Tennessee makes us pretty honest about it."

(on the Tennessee press)
"Last year, they could have done the same thing to us with the personnel they had last year. I don't know what the difference was. Maybe they watched tape and Pat got mad and decided she was going to make a point early, which she should. I want them to play as hard as they possibly can and do what they normally do. I think we had 20 turnovers in the first half on 44 possessions, kind of hard. I was really excited we were only down six rebounds but than I remembered we didn't shoot very much. Again honest and I think obviously that they are a little bit more athletic. Isabelle (Harrison) makes them a whole lot more athletic inside and they are a lot more mobile than they were in the post last year with (Kelley) Cain."

(on how Tennessee prepares Union for making the transition to Division II)
"I don't think we are going to play a team in Division II or Division I that can do the things that Tennessee can do to us. If this is a representation of how Tennessee treats us when we come on the road, the NCAA does a great job of hospitality. We have played several Division I teams and no one treats us like Tennessee does. It is first class from the moment we get here to the moment we leave. Again, just privileged to be associated with a place like that and we try to do the same thing at our place."

(on how Tennessee is different)
"I don't feel like that they think they are better, and I think that is the way everybody wants to be treated."

UNION PLAYER QUOTES
Senior Lavanda Ross
(on what she took from the game)
"Like coach said, just getting better. Tennessee is a big challenge, so it opened up our weaknesses and getting better for the season."

(on being proud of the underclassmen)
"Our goal was to work hard throughout and compete and that is what we did."

(on what advice she would give opposing teams who are going to play UT)
"Transition, box out and get out on the shooters."

University of Tennessee Athletics

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