University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 59, Georgia 51
January 25, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick
(Opening Statement)
"It was a great win for us. We will take it and move on to our next opponent."
(On free throws)
"For us to shoot 95 (percent) it is huge. We put in the time. This game was a huge bonus for us to be able to knock down the free throws. I can't remember the last time we shot 95 percent. It's huge."
(On Jordan Reynolds being aggressive now and last year's tournament game against Kentucky)
"I thought the past two games she has played very average. I spoke pretty sternly with her. I hope she continues to do what she did tonight. She was aggressive, solid on the defensive end and I thought she pushed the basketball. She hit big shots. She is having to get people to go where they need to be as a point guard. I'm asking her to do a lot of things. You saw her against Kentucky. I have seen her so now nothing else is acceptable. My expectations of her are for her to play like tonight and the Kentucky games. I'm not going to stay off of her."
(On Jordan Reynolds having a lot of responsibility at point guard)
"I think that is what point guards do when they take on that responsibility. I don't even think she thinks she has the biggest responsibility. I think she just plays. She loves the game and plays hard. When she plays hard with great effort that is the Jordan we know. When she is not into it then we don't like Jordan then. I just think she is a point guard. She knows it. We have sat down and talked. She has been a point guard pretty much her whole career. It's in her blood. I think Jordan is a great leader on the court. She knows who to give the ball. She knows when she needs to shoot. She has just done a great job for us this year."
(On the struggle with Tennessee's offense against Georgia's defense)
"I think it was a combination of both. I think the game was real physical. I don't know what Izzy (Isabelle Harrison) played the first half but our best player can't be sitting on the bench. Cierra (Burdick) was out too. I thought we had great looks and we missed them. I think four layups in one segment. Andraya (Carter) missed a layup. Alexa (Middleton) missed a layup. It kind of snowballed. My problem with us the first half and probably a large part of the night was we shot the ball quickly. Ariel (Massengale) had a shot transition quickly. So those are the type of things that if we are not shooting the ball well, come out, make them play defense, move it around and get a good shot. When you are not hitting and scoring you just can't shoot the ball quickly. A lot of times we were shooting and nobody was down under the basket to rebound. I'll go back and watch it to see. I'm just telling you we shot the ball too quickly tonight."
(On liking what she is getting out of Alexa Middleton, Jaime Nared and the other bench players)
"Well all of them, I thought Kortney Dunbar came in and had hit a big three I thought she was solid. I do. I think Cierra [Burdick] and Izzy [Isabelle Harrison] they didn't score the first half so the people off the bench carried us and got us through that first half. Jaime, we just want her to be aggressive, don't settle for the three, attack the basket, be a great rebounder. Alexa as well, just play as hard as you can. Kortney needs to shoot the three. Just do your role and do it well."
(On this being a test of the depth of the team)
"Well it was huge. I mean it kept us in the game the first half. Our bench kept us in the game the first half. And we keep preaching to them, `Your time is coming. It's coming." And today their time, they stepped up and did some big things so and it's just gonna continue and they're gonna have to step up like Jordan [Reynolds] did last year in the SEC Tournament. They're gonna have to hit a big shot. That's why we continue to tell them to be patient, keep working hard in practice, and do the things that we're asking you to do and your time will pay off."
(On free throw shooting being an asset to rely on)
"I do. We've just spent a lot of time on it and this team seems to be understanding the importance of it. So tonight yeah, I wanted to quit stop jump shooting the basketball and try to get inside and not so much draw a foul but attack the basket and we stepped up. We don't hit big free throws, we don't win the game."
(On if it is hard for the players to hear their time is coming)
"I think anybody that's competitive and has played throughout high school, I think it's hard for anyone to sit on the bench and know their time is coming but that's a part of what we stress as a team and you got to buy into it. You got to buy into it. Isabelle Harrison her freshman year played I think five minutes. You look at Ariel Massengale she was name the starting point guard before she even got to Tennessee and now she's coming off the bench so it's what's important to you is end results. Tonight we talked a lot about team. It wasn't about me. It was about what we can do as a team and until they grasp that, they have to. Because it just you're worried about the wrong things instead of focusing on what I need to do. I think every team goes through it. We've got kids that we think can contribute, some right now more than others. It's a team game and somebody's not scoring, somebody has to come in and take up the slack."
Tennessee Guard Jordan Reynolds
(On Shooting Perfect Free Throws)
"My coaches have been on me lately because I just really haven't been in the game, my head hasn't been in it. So today's game was a chance for me to just bounce back, so I just had the mentality that I should have had all season long. But, I'm glad that it's coming out now. My coaches and my teammates can install confidence in me because they know what I can do, so today's just a good bounce back day for me.
(On Staying aggressive)
"I would say really because I have all these girls on my team. Sometimes you just get caught up in watching them. They can really do great things, C., Alexa, Izzy, they just really wow me sometimes. I just get caught up watching and sometimes I could be doing that too and I think that's what's really got me."
(On importance of free throws)
"Free throws are always very important especially in tight games like this. We shot very well from the free throw line tonight but had we not, we probably would have lost the game. Our coaches always telling us that free throws are free points and no one is distracting you, you just got to get up to the line and focus."
(On scoring right before half time)
"It just seems to happen. I don't really plan for it. It just always seems to be in my hands and I'm trying to make the best of the moment."
(On getting taken out)
"Whenever my coaches take me out, I am one hundred percent behind them. If they take me out, then there is a very good reason as to why. When I come back in, I just try to have that scorer's mentality as well just come in and attack. We were doing great off the dribble so I continued to attack because that was what was working for us."
(On troubles offensively)
"They had a great defensive game I would say. They really stayed in front of us and they had a great 2-3 zone. It was really hard to get our shots off but we really had to focus and bunker down and hit down those shots that we are really used to taking. We shoot those shots in practice almost 100 times each practice so it was really focused today.
(On coming off bench)
"I would say if you come off the bench and focus on your defense your offense will come to you. Especially as a freshman, you come in and the game is not going to come to you right then. You've got to work your way through it. If anything you can have great defense and your offense will come along later. She's [Alexa Middleton] has done a great job.
Tennesse Guard Alexa Middleton
(On good performance)
"Our coaches have just been saying to us to make an emphasis on our defense, when we come in, to really focus and key in on, and to make sure we stay aggressive. They say if we do that, then it will be a lot easier and it will just flow to us. I think that's true and I think we did that today and I think the rookies had a pretty good game today."
(On Holly letting play through mistakes)
"It's helped a whole lot. She had a talk with us and told us that she wanted us to play through those mistakes. She did that today. I think Jaime came in with a great mindset, going through contact and finishing. It does [give them time to fix problems]. It gives you an easy by to work hard and just try to play through it."
Tennesse Forward Cierra Burdick
(On catch and shoot and fan reaction)
"Honestly I forget they were still standing up. They're loyal and they're going to stay on their feet until we get a bucket. I was relieved because we get a little nervous when we aren't getting the ball in the basket and they are still up there clapping, loyal as ever. It was a good feeling to finally have them sit down."
(On coming off bench and getting in flow)
"That's why we have practice. We prepare for that. Our rookies did a great job just coming in and playing big when we needed them to. Izzy and myself got in early foul trouble and Alexa, Jaime, and Dunbar came in and hit some big shots. I think that's a testament to the work they've put in. They always get extra shots after practice and watch tons of film. One of the struggles of coming to an elite program like Tennessee is that you have to wait your turn, but that's just part of it. They've patiently waited their turn and when the opportunity presented itself they were prepared."
(On shooting drought during second half)
"We knew we had to get stops. We just couldn't get anything going on the offensive end. That's when you have to hunker down on your defense."
Georgia Head Coach Andy Landers
(Opening Statement)
"I think generally both teams probably did what they wanted to do defensively for the most part. I thought Tennessee defended well and made it hard for us to score. I thought we defended well and made it hard for them to score. Except, when they scored, we took unnecessary risk and ended up fouling them and putting them at the free throw line so much that it affected the game big time."
(On Jordan Reynolds' career-high night)
"It started early with Reynolds. Reynolds got by us early in the game and got into the paint at least twice real early. We didn't do a good job at keeping her in front of us. As the game went on we did a better job with it. Then when it got late she got by us again. I think one or two of those might have been off of ball screens. The ones early in the first half were just straight one-on-one penetration."
(On fouling)
"I'm really upset with the way that we fouled. We didn't affect anything. They have five, six three-point baskets. They hit the shot. We couldn't have fouled them very hard. We're out of position and we're fouling someone for no reason whatsoever."
Mackenzie Engram
(On Georgia's confidence)
"I don't really think that our confidence got down just because we were here. We were up kind of the whole game. Even towards the end we still had a lot of confidence. I think just making adjustments and now fouling as coach has been saying, and giving them the three-point play will help us a lot when we play them back at home."
