Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 90, Carson-Newman 57

Nov. 9, 2014

TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Holly Warlick

(Opening Statement)
"The game did what it was supposed to do, it was an exhibition game and it made us look at things that we did not so well and we did well. With seven people I thought we wanted to keep our game plan, we wanted to press, we wanted to run the ball. And with Carson-Newman, the first half was a challenge for us. We had four kids that really hadn't experienced the college game in the paint. We can get better obviously the first half but I thought we made some great adjustments in the second half. I thought Nia Moore was outstanding for us. You are talking about a young lady who has sat on the bench for two years and been our biggest cheerleader. I was very happy for her to get in and get time. She has paid her dues. I thought the guards got her the ball and she kept her game simple. Jordan Reynolds didn't overly shoot the ball well but I thought Jordan ran the team, was very vocal, was very calm, 11 rebounds and six assist, so pleased with Jordan as well. Overall, I thought our freshmen hung tough, they did some things, probably [Alexa] Middleton, maybe looked the most efficient and the most comfortable out there. But I think Jamie [Nared] and Kortney [Dunbar] had their moments of doing some really nice things. The end of the game, it is a great feeling for us to go back and watch and learn, see what we did well and see what we needed to work on. Was happy with the outcome."

(On the point guard position)
"Jordan [Reynolds] started off and Alexa [Middleton] played point in high school, so I thought she got some good touches as well. I thought those two worked really well together. I think our point position is pretty solid. It is us playing different combinations, those combinations we really hadn't played or used the last month and a half but I thought once they settled down they did well."

(On Isabelle Harrison not playing today)
"Izzy told me at the beginning of the game she didn't feel well. I didn't feel the need to play Izzy. I didn't want to push matters and I thought it would give Nia a great opportunity to get some time."

(On Isabelle Harrison being sick)
"She just said she didn't feel good. I trust that if they come up and tell me that, I trust they don't feel good."

(On Harrison sitting out another game)
"No she will be playing Friday."

(On Jasmine Jones getting sick)
"Jasmine, that is just something Jasmine goes through and I knew she would be back. She is a tough kid."

(On the tempo)
"We wanted to get the tempo up the first half but we were a little hesitant. We didn't get out and pressure the ball. So we are playing in between. I didn't think our help was very good. We really talked about forcing the tempo, forcing the action and getting after the ball. The first half, what we have done in practice against our practice guys, I didn't see the the first half. I don't know if it is jitters or nervous. I think once we settled down in the second half, we got after the basketball and we trusted our help."

(On defense)
"That was a big, crucial, point that we made at half, along with not getting up and defending the basketball. We weren't going to the boards, our guards were not going to the offensive boards. It is part of our game and it always has been."

(On Alexa Middleton)
"I just think [Alexa] Middleton is a competitor. I asked her before the game if she was born ready and she said she was born ready. So I liked that answer. She was born ready."

(On the young players being nervous)
"All of them. Absolutely, we will go back and watch it, we will watch tape with them. You are talking about a lot of these kids, two of the kids, this the most they have ever played probably combined their whole season. So I would say they were a little jittery and a little scared."

(On Alexa Middleton comparison to Kellie Jolly)
"I do. I don't think, Alexa is not the quickest, she is not the fastest, she just gets the job done. She hits a shot when she needs to, she makes a pass, I thought her passing into the post was outstanding. Just what Kellie did. She got the ball to people at the time they needed to get the ball. Like I said, she is just a competitor and when you are a competitor, you go out and you are not worried about how many shots you are going to make, you are not worried about how you look, you are worried about the team and how you are going to help this team. And I think that is what she does very well."

(On Nia Moore)
"I think with Mercedes [Russell] sitting out, I have said all along that Nia Moore is going to have to play and step up and play. All she needs is experience on the court. I thought today was just a great start. She didn't do anything out of the rim of what she can do. She didn't do anything fancy, she mainly caught it, pivoted, scored. Stuff that she has been working with Dean [Lockwood] on. So I didn't think she got out of anything that she is not capable of doing. The only thing I said to Nia, she usually never misses free throws, so I was getting a little concerned, she missed two. Just proud of her. She has been watching people do what they do and then she got the opportunity to play and 29 points isn't bad in your first start at the University of Tennessee."

(On exhibition games)
"This is good enough. This is what we want. We have been scrimmaging against our guys. That is our choice, that is my choice really, I think that now we go and lets let it be the real stuff."

(On Nia Moore's improvement)
"I think Nia did a lot of work with Dean. I think she did a lot of work in the offseason. Nia's is just confidence. I thought she gathered a lot of confidence. She put in the time and when you put in the time you develop some confidence and I think that is what Nia did."

(On player suspension)
"Let me just address one thing and this will hopefully be the last time I will address this. I think through our suspension there has been a lot of misunderstanding so I am going to kind of clear it up a little bit. Ariel Massengale missed a class. Jannah Tucker missed two classes. Andraya Carter missed curfew. Cierra Burdick missed curfew and was disrespectful. So these things fall into our academic standard and team rules. All four of these young ladies are in great academic standing. Three of them made the SEC Honor Roll. They are great role models but they are kids and they made a mistake and we have addressed it and we are going to move on. But there is standard here at Tennessee and we are going to live by it whether it is big or small. The punishment may seem harsh and you may think, `Is that all they did?' But I just wanted to make sure that this program strives for excellence. That is my job. These are my decisions. They are positive young women and I have no doubt that they will represent themselves and the University of Tennessee with great pride and great passion. Just wanted to clear that up. Thank you."

TENNESSEE JUNIOR C Nia Moore

(On how this performance helps with her confidence)
"(Scoring 29 points) helps a lot with my confidence, knowing that my teammates are looking for me down in the post."

TENNESSEE FRESHMAN G Alexa Middleton

(On why she was so comfortable out there)
"The upperclassmen have done a great job talking me through things. The ones that weren't on the court did a great job of giving me tips, so that helped me feel comfortable."

(On the value of getting so much time in the first game)
"I think it helped being thrown in the fire the first game. that's the best way to learn. Everyone came around towards the end of the first half and we started playing really well and got us off to a good start."

TENNESSEE JUNIOR F Bashaara Graves

(On how the team came out to start)
"I definitely think there was a little nervousness in the first half. We were playing freshmen and there were only seven of us playing. At halftime, we got together and talked about what we needed to fix and we did that. we played a lot more aggressive in the second half and it definitely helped our offense."

(On Nia's performance)
"I'm very impressed with Nia. We know what Nia can do. She's been working hard every day at practice and we've seen it at practice, so we knew once she got the opportunity to show it, she'd show it to everybody. You can tell by everybody's expression on the court (and) we are just so happy for Nia and we hope she can continue playing like that."

CARSON NEWMAN QUOTES

C-N Head Coach Mike Mincey

(Opening Statement)
"Typically we jump down here and can't feel as good as we did after that first half. As a whole, we met some of our goals: we wanted to try to hold them under 100 (points), we wanted to try to score more than 50 (points), we wanted to hold them to less than 20 offensive rebounds. The only goal we set out that we didn't meet was to have 20 or less turnovers, and we had 21. I'm proud of the players. We had some of the same looks (from three-point range at UNC) that we actually made. Typically, when we come down here, we don't make the baskets that we made tonight."

(On having Holly Warlick keep them on their exhibition schedule)
"For some of them, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When we come in and play well like we did tonight, it certainly makes it more enjoyable. This environment compared to anywhere else that we play is just incredible. For these kids to drive down 25 minutes really helps us. We always start the year strong at Carson-Newman because of the Tennessee exhibition and we hope to keep playing them. They know that this is an opportunity to come down and showcase Carson-Newman women's basketball and when we play like we did tonight, we look really good."

JUNIOR GUARD TATUM BURSTROM

(On the hot start from 3-point range)
"It was really nice to start off that way. Usually when you start off missing, you start slow. When you start off making them, it really fires the team up and gets our confidence up, so it was really nice."

(On not getting flustered from UT's aggressive defense)
"Our coaches preach about being poised and keeping our heads and controlling the tempo. When they get turnovers, they start running up and down the court and control the tempo, so I think we did a good job (of controlling that)."

SENIOR GUARD JASMINE POOLE

(On how helpful the experience was overall)
"I think it was very helpful. We didn't play as well offensively as we did tonight when we played UNC. We had to come here and compete and Wednesday's game really helped us with that."

University of Tennessee Athletics

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