University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: UT 97, TSU 46
November 24, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Recap | Box Score | Notes
Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick
(Opening Statement)
"I thought Tennessee State came out and gave us a great effort. Very athletic, very mobile, they are small but quick and I thought we had to adjust and play solid defense. I thought once we settled down we did just that. Played a lot of lineups, a lot of people, people got in foul trouble and I thought we had some good combinations. I think our defense got better and we settled in and played how we should play."
(On getting off to a better start)
"Yeah, we obviously want to get off to a better start. I thought their offensive rebounding was keeping them in the game early. It has been a long time since we have been out rebounded, we were today. That is a concern but I told the team that I would take blame for that because we hadn't worked on our rebounding this week. Sometimes rebounding needs to be repetition and competition on that end so I promise you we will do several rebounding drills tomorrow. But we didn't panic, obviously, we settled in, we stopped quick shooting the basketball. Those things were what hurt us, giving them second chance points. Then we come down and quick shoot the basketball. So I think once we settled in and settled down we got back to playing how we should play."
(On pursuing the basketball)
"That is exactly what we want. We talk a lot about pursuing the basketball and if we don't get the first trap we just don't give up on it. We just keep pursuing the basketball and hawking the ball. I think we are in great shape and I think we are playing a lot of people and I think our pressure just can wear you down. I thought Tennessee State handled it at the beginning and then it just, the pressure kind of wore on them and they started turning the ball over more than they started out with. That is how we play. We gave up some easy buckets but then we want to get the ball in and push it right up their back. I thought we did a great job of that as well tonight."
(On Andraya Carter)
"I said, I wouldn't want to have the ball when she was on me. Between her and Jasmine Jones, I would be throwing the ball up before I got to half court. They are relentless. They have that athletic ability and that ability to affect people. Whether they steal it or not. It affects you. That is the part that Andraya can bring to us. It is not going to show up in the stats, but we know what she does. She probably helped created a lot of these turnovers just because of her presence on the ball. That is what I love about Andraya and what I love about Jasmine as well. They are relentless."
(On if she will talk to the players about the last trip to UTC)
"We haven't even talked about it. We may use it as motivation. It was a great game. Chattanooga out played us and we didn't play very well. Chattanooga is a very good team, I have already watched them, they are really good. We are going to have to be on our A game. I hope that it won't take just me losing my first game as a head coach to motivate us to play hard. But, you know what, as a coach, if I have to pull that out I will."
(On Chattanooga)
"Yeah, I think once they get into it and get into the game I think they will be fine. I think they have been tested, they have been tested in practice. I think all of us, we haven't been on the road, so we will see. It is going to be a little different. So how are we going to handle it? That is a great question. We will find out late Wednesday night. Hopefully we have prepared them to go against Chattanooga's pressure. Like I said, I think Chattanooga has one of their best basketball teams. I think Coach Foster has done a great job in getting the talent that he wants there to teach the philosophy he has. I think you will see it. They are athletic, they are fast, they shoot the three. We are going to have our hands full.
(On update on Jasmine Jones and Isabelle Harrison)
"I hope that they'll be ready by Chattanooga. I haven't heard that word but I'm...I'm hopeful that they'll both be ready to play against UTC."
(On the changeup in the starting lineup)
"Um...well I wanted to do it because I wanted us to get off to a better start but that kind of blew up in my face didn't it. I just...you know I just thought we needed some veteran players in there because I think we're gonna need it at Chattanooga and I didn't want to do it at UTC. And I think were gonna need it down the road. Our freshmen have done great. It wasn't anything they had done to get out of the lineup I just thought we needed a little bit of experience going into the next couple of games and so I changed it up. But you see I thought [Alexa] Middleton was very vital in what she did. Um...I thought Jaime [Nared] had a lot better game for Jaime and I thought Kortney [Dunbar] came in and did some good things as well. They're still gonna get playing time it's just a matter of...and I'm not gonna say they won't start again either...I just decided to go with that group."
(On the level of the defense and its ability to smooth things out during the game)
"Well I've said this...defense and rebounding wins games, wins championships. If you can't defend then you're in trouble. You're relying on your team outscoring people and when the pressure is on, your shooting percentage goes down. But can you get a stop when you need a stop? That is why we spend a lot of our time on the defensive end. And are you getting second chance points? So if you're not shooting the ball very well and your percentage is down, can you get second chance points and put back points? So for us those are two big stats for us that we thrive on and it's a matter of us being successful in my opinion. Now, if they shoot well that's a bonus, but I just think that our conditioning and what we're trying to do on the defensive end has really come to play and I hope we continue just to wear people down and that's our goal. We want to keep pressing. We want to keep turning the ball over. We make layups a lot better than we make ten foot jumpers and that's not to say we're not good shooters, scorers, it's just a higher percentage shot and I want to continue wearing people down, use our athletic ability and use us being in shape. We have been tough on these kids. We've pushed them...um...we've been competitive with them and now they have to carry over what we do in practice into the game."
(On Andraya Carter being aggressive and flying into the bench after a ball when the Lady Vols had a significant lead)
"No, I want her to. I want them to get hustle plays. I want them to dive for the ball. It's how they should play all the time and you just can't hold a kid back when they are competitive and they do stuff. You can't hold them back and I would never hold Andraya [Carter] back. Um...thankful that she didn't get hurt but that's how she plays and that's how we're gonna play so I was kinda glad she went for the ball."
(On Nia Moore's success this season)
"She's been tremendous. I mean she's come in and she's had the opportunity, and I think she has prepared for this moment, and she has just taken advantage of it and she's been huge for us. On the boards, on putting the ball in the basket, I don't think really people have expected this from Nia except us, using the time she's been putting in with Dean and the posts, and I think Izzy and Bash have really pushed her to be better, and I think it's showing night in and night out."
(On how the team performed in the first ten minutes of the game)
"Well I mean obviously, we came out flat. We didn't come out how we wanted to play. We weren't pressing the issue. You know, we want to be the dictators on the court and I don't think we were that. So, it was important for us to pick it up defensively and get on the boards. We did not rebound the ball well tonight, and that is not acceptable for a Tennessee Lady Vol team. So, we've got to go back to the drawing board and get better at that."
(On last time the Lady Vols traveled to Chattanooga)
"We haven't been talking about it. I mean I think the people, myself, Ariel, and Izzy who really lived it, no it's something that will always be in the back of our minds because it was such an unpleasant experience. It was embarrassing, and we didn't want to have that be Holly's first game, but you know what? It's a new year, we're a new team, and we've got to focus on us and do what we've prepared to do, and I think you know, we'll take care of business."
(On the team creating turnovers)
"Just after that first media timeout we talked about it in the huddle. We challenged ourselves as a team you know, to make them play faster and get steals in our press, and I think we did a better job of that as the game went on."
(On the team remembering the last time they went to Chattanooga)
"I don't think so, it's a new year it's a new team for both Chattanooga and us, and now we're going to go down there and try to win a basketball game."
(On what is leading the team to continue getting so many turnovers)
"I think it's just the philosophy and the take that we're looking out with this season. I think our depth is so well, we're so athletic, and quick, and fast, and you know we can play an up tempo game because let's say you get tired, you have plenty of people on the bench who can come in, and keep that same tempo going, and I think that really helps us."
TENNESSEE STATE QUOTES
Head Coach Larry Joe Inman
(On the effect of the Tennessee full-court press)
"We want to play that way to be honest with you. We want to run. We want to get up and down, and that's the way we want to go. I felt like their length hurt us a great deal, at times, out of the press. I thought that hurt us tremendously, trying to throw over kids. I didn't think we made really good decisions, sometimes, against the press on throwing passes, making sharp passes where they should be. Trying to throw over trees, I call it, rather than dribbling around it. But, I thought we played hard. You can't fault the kids for their effort. Great effort tonight."
(On the quick start)
"I started to turn cartwheels, but I thought that'd be a little obvious that I was happy so I didn't. Kidding. I thought the big thing was it gave us a lot of confidence as we played, as we started. We started with confidence. There's always that fear factor that you have to deal with, I think, in athletics and playing basketball. I felt like our kids just really met the challenge, stepped up to the plate. We did that, and I was very proud of what we did. We got a great start coming out of the block. We just couldn't finish the race, and that was the problem. But, we had a great start."
(On Tennessee)
"If they press for 40 minutes, they can cause a lot of problems for a lot of teams. Regardless of what level they are on, they can really cause some problems. They do such a good job on their coverage. They have length. If you don't have quickness, but you have length and quickness, then you have double trouble. That's what they have. They have good quickness, but they also have length, and they're just a great team. They are going to be a force to be reckoned with, I think."
Senior Guard Rachel Allen
(On team's fast start)
"First of all, it's just a blessing to be here. We always say, `Respect all, fear none,' and we all know Tennessee is a great program. Has been for years. We just came in here with no fear, no pressure and just played basketball. Thanks to God that we got a good start. It's a great opportunity to be here."
(On turnovers)
"Like [Coach Inman] said, this is great preparation, but the length up front is something. I'm 5-foot-2, and you have 6-foot-2 reaching over, so a lot of times you'd just have to dribble around them. It affected us, definitely."
(On out-rebounding Tennessee)
"Listen, Briana Morrow is a monster on the board. We have some kids that can rebound in there. They just play hard, like [Coach Inman] said, and let the chips fall where they may."
