University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Baylor 77, Tennessee 58
March 26, 2012 | Women's Basketball
March 26, 2012
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TENNESSEE ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH Holly Warlick
(Opening statement)
"Hats off to Baylor. They played a great game. Odyssey Sims was fantastic. We had five seniors who battled and fought; I'm extremely proud of them and the way they represented the University of Tennessee."
(On Baylor)
"I said it before the game: It goes further than Brittney Griner. They all play well together, and they were exceptional tonight. We look at what they did offensively, but they're outstanding on the defensive end. They force you to take quick shots. They're just a great basketball team."
(On Baylor's shooting performance)
"You can't give that team eight [3-pointers]. I think Sims got loose a couple of times, so when we made our run and she hit a three it was like a dagger. I thought we did a good job on Griner early; I thought, really, we did a good job on her the entire game. But on a great team, other people step up and make plays."
(On the emotion of this season)
"This team is about Pat Summitt, and this team has battled all year. I'm proud of them. I thought our team and coaching staff obviously was in a difficult situation, but this team has battled. I think, like Pat, this team never gave up. And they never used it as a crutch. You know, as Pat represents this program, I think these five seniors represented it as well. And I think this coaching staff tried to continue on the tradition that Coach Summitt has built. We've got a great foundation, and this program's gonna continue to do what Tennessee has always done."
(On head coach Pat Summitt's fiery demeanor on the sideline tonight)
"That's Pat. Her love of the game, she's not lost that. She may forget where her phone is, but she's not gonna forget to yell at the officials. She's still competitive. I don't care what disease she has; she's gonna go down swinging."
(On Odyssey Sims)
"It's difficult to guard someone with as great of speed as Odyssey. She's just done it all. I can't think right now of a better point guard than Odyssey Sims."
(On the senior class being the first not to make a Final Four)
"We hadn't talked about that, because these seniors have done a hell of a job. Competition is getting better, and these young ladies are not only expected to uphold the Tennessee tradition; they're expected to win a national championship every year, and it gets more and more difficult. I know they're disappointed they didn't do it, but we look back on these seniors and understand what each one of them has contributed."
TENNESSEE ASSISTANT COACH Dean Lockwood
(On Baylor's perimeter play)
"It was very good. Quite frankly, we did not want to give (Odyssey) Sims the looks that she got. We didn't do a good job in either half. Both she and (Kimetria) Hayden were focal points in our scouting report. We were very clear about that. We just gave (Sims) too many open looks. We knew she could hit big shots. We knew she was going to take shots, but we wanted them to be more contested and more difficult than they were. That's on us for not doing a good enough job. Certainly, we didn't want to just give her and concede those shots. We were willing to do that with the other perimeter players, but not with those two."
(On Tennessee's defense against Brittney Griner)
"I think it's very deceptive. I made a note on my game card. There was a timeout at just under six minutes. At that time, Brittney Griner was 4-for-13. In the first half, I believe she was 3-for-10. We'll take those numbers from her any time, any place. We worked on just not letting her have any free cuts or free movement. They (Vicki Baugh and Glory Johnson) both did a tremendous job, Vicki in particular. We're very proud of their effort. We can't fault their effort. Brittney did get a lot of things late. She got a couple things on offensive rebounds and stickbacks. It is deceptive, her numbers. But she's a great player and she's going to hurt you at various points."
(On Baylor)
"They have great guard play. They can hit the 3-point shot. They obviously have a tremendous inside presence. They rebound great. Their defense has gotten a lot better since we played them. They put all dimensions of the game together very well."
(On Tennessee's effort)
"What happened here tonight was not for lack of effort. We're proud of our team for that. Executionally, we made some errors. We didn't get some things done. We shot 30 percent. We shot 29 when we played them the first time. That hurts us. That part of it didn't happen. I go back to effort. We were proud of this team's effort."
SENIOR FORWARD Glory Johnson
(On coming back from a first-half injury)
"I can't leave my teammates out to dry, no matter what the pain is. A game like this, you can't sit out."
(On the future of the Tennessee program)
"This was a strong game that we played, and we only got better as the year went on. This program is only gonna get a lot stronger, and we're building off of this. We're just gonna keep on making our mark and keep on getting stronger. We're [the seniors] gonna be gone; we left our legacy. We'll just look to the underclassmen to keep playing hard for these great coaches."
(On Baylor)
"Baylor's a strong team. They have an inside presence and an outside presence. We played them as strong as we could, and I think everyone on our team gave all the effort they could have."
(On leaving it all on the floor)
"As a senior...it's your last opportunity to show people the type of player you are. I definitely left it all out there. Shekinna left it all out there. Vicki left it all out there. All of our seniors just played as hard as they could."
SENIOR FORWARD Shekinna Stricklen
(On Baylor coming back after a strong Tennessee start)
"The shots just weren't falling. I give credit to Baylor; they were really pressuring me, face guarding me. We were rushing a little bit, but, you know, the shots just weren't falling."
(On her altercation with Baylor's Odyssey Sims at the end of the game)
"I'm not that type of person. I don't fight on the court. I did trip, and it looked like I was trying to push her and she just took in the wrong way and we had a little talking back and forth. I'm actually cool with Odyssey."
SENIOR FORWARD Alicia Manning
(On how physical the game was)
"We battled the whole way. I'm not going to say they were tougher than us; they hit some big shots, and we couldn't hit our shots. It's just how the basketball gods wanted it to be tonight."
(On clutch shots by Odyssey Sims and Kimetria Hayden)
"When we would go on runs, we just couldn't sustain it. [Sims and Hayden] made plays. Some of those shots can be back breakers. We tried so hard, but it just wasn't going our way."
(On what she and the four seniors have accomplished)
"We are such hard workers. People will say we didn't make it to a Final Four, but we accomplished more within ourselves and more than will ever be on a piece of paper. I think we have left our legacy. Sometimes it's not all about winning. I feel like we worked so hard the last four years and we accomplished good things. We won the SEC tournament and we made it deep in the [NCAA] tournament. You can't take that for granted. A lot of teams can't say they have done that."
SENIOR GUARD Briana Bass
(On the physical aspect of the game)
"The tougher team wins. But we went out there and played hard. It just wasn't our night tonight."
(On the guard play of Baylor)
"The plan was to stop Brittney (Griner). We didn't contain the guards, so the (Tennessee) guards take responsibility for that. We didn't do our job as well as we could have."
(On what she will miss about the team)
"The chemistry that I have built with these girls. They are like my sisters, and I will miss them all. I will miss being a part of a team that is so special."
