Lady Vols vs. Stanford Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement
"Well, it was obviously a fun night. (We had a) great atmosphere in Thompson-Boling Arena. That was exciting - I think for both teams - to play in that environment. You know, obviously, we knew Stanford is extremely talented. They're very experienced, very poised. They play with great pace, both in transition and the half court, and that was definitely difficult for us to guard in the first half. I thought it took us a while to adjust to the pace. You practice all week, you work on it, but when you when you see it live and in a game, it takes a minute. We knew that might be the case and just wanted to hang in there. The tough part there in that first half while that was going on, we just could not make shots. The good thing about this team, there's no quit. They will fight; they're competitive. They're tough and gave us a chance in the second half. I thought the big turning points in that second half, I thought the three at the end of the third quarter was huge to get them back up to six, and then probably those 3-pointers really broke our backs when we were really trying to make a push."

On learning from the loss…
"I did tell them if we're not going to learn from this loss, then why'd we lose? So, let's just go ahead and learn from it. I think part of what we're going to learn is positive and part is negative. The positives: we know how we need to play, we know what needs to look like. I think today, we've got to find more consistency. We've got to be able to do it for longer stretches. We have to be able to make better decisions on both ends of the court that aren't going to lead to easy buckets or aren't going to lead to tough shots. So, I think there are a lot of things there. Obviously, we got out-rebounded. That's lesson number one. I don't think we had to lose to understand that. I think our players understood it. We're going to be able to see some things in film and show our team and continue to push them to grow. They're going to be very motivated."

On what happened in the second quarter...
"Well, I think their shooting percentage was really high that quarter, because they got open looks. They had so many layups in that quarter. Some were in transition, and some were in our half-court defense, and that's not who we are. Our defense can't give up easy buckets. You know, Tamari (Key) not being out on the court definitely hurt us. Everybody that stepped up there in that second quarter... by that point in that second quarter in particular, I think we just were two steps behind. Part of that was our offense. We weren't scoring; therefore, they're getting the ball and they're pushing it up the court. Everything was going wrong. Occasionally, you've got to score to slow them down. The easy buckets, we've got to do a better job of that."

On using Stanford's losses to common opponents to prepare…
"I think when you look at head-to-head matchups, I think it's less about the end result and more about the matchup and the style. There are teams that you just match up well with, and there are teams that you don't, and I think that's what you see there a little bit. I think Stanford ,early on in the season, was trying to figure out life without their point guard from last year, and I think you could see that a little bit. In that moment, Texas was the probably the worst game on their schedule to have in that moment. They're definitely more comfortable now. They've been getting better and better. For us, I think we still have to focus on what we need to do. We can't go out and be somebody else at this point. We need to go out and be the best version of us. For us, we went out and we were us. We just weren't the best version of us for 40 minutes."

On missing Tamari Key due to foul trouble…
"It completely impacts everything. You know, we were able to get the ball. We were going to her offensively, and then she's gone. Defensively, she's a game changer. She had several boards and didn't play a lot and had five boards there. Most of them probably came in third quarter. You know, she impacts the game on both ends of the court. We don't have that coming off the bench. I thought Keyen (Green) did a nice job coming in and being aggressive on offense. Obviously, in the second half, Alexus Dye was aggressive offensively in those positions. Sara (Puckett) can stretch the defense out a little bit, so we can't do the same things when she's on the bench. I mean, that's basketball. You have to play through it. You have to figure it out. You have to come up with a plan B."

On if Stanford's Ashten Prechtel was a matchup problem for Tennessee…
"We knew it was a possibility, but it was completely due to breakdowns on our part. They did a nice job of going to her to try to stretch us out. We knew that would be something that they looked to do. If we're playing football, it was busted coverage. I'll just say that."

On the message to the team at halftime that led to inspired play in the third quarter…
"You guys are probably thinking I went in and ripped them. I didn't. That's not what that was about. It was about, let's figure this out. Let's pick our body language back up and let's give ourselves a chance. I think what coaches have to do is coaches have to know their team. You have to know what they need in that moment. You've got to know when you can push, and you've got to know when you've got to pass. I didn't feel like going in and ripping them was the thing to do. So, we went in we talked about, 'This is the challenge that we have. This is why we haven't done well. This is what we need to do. These are adjustments that we need to make and we've got to go.' It was more of an inspirational message rather than a bark-at-you halftime. They wanted it. You could walk in and see their body language. They were already there mentally. They already knew, 'We've got to be better. We can be better. We've got to find a way.' I was proud of them. I thought they handled the halftime talk well. I thought they came out, obviously, very inspired. The biggest thing was we got stops. We got stops and when you get stops, you have an opportunity to close the gap."

On if the team's rebounding struggles were due to lack of aggressiveness or Stanford…
"I thought it was a little bit of both. Stanford's very disciplined in the way they box out. I also felt like we weren't getting the attack on the offensive boards that we needed in the first half. We got a little better in the second half, but not nearly where it needed to be. They know it. They take great pride in that, so that was a gut punch for them. We come into the first quarter, and we shoot 30 percent. We had zero offensive boards after the first quarter. That was a gut punch for our team. That's not who we want to be. They felt it. There's a little bit more try, but you've got to be able to capitalize on your strengths as a team."

On if there's concern that COVID-19 could impact on the team's season…
"I think all coaches right now are concerned. We do the best we can and handle the protocols the best we can. It is what it is. We're still in the pandemic. We've been very fortunate, and we're hopeful that we can stay that way, but I hate it. I hate it when teams are having to cancel, because that's the last thing any of these players want right now. They work so hard to play games. They practice so many more times than they get to play—so many more. I hurt for every team that has to miss a game. But, also, I'm very grateful when we get to play them."

On not overlooking Monday's home contest vs. ETSU…
"I will say this, I talk very openly about this every single year with every team I've ever coached. I might have to go back and check it someday, but my teams don't check out. They will not check out on Monday. It is not an option. We'll figure out what we want to do tomorrow. We'll have a holiday get together with our team tomorrow as well. I think that will be really good after this loss. Sometimes, you just need to be with your teammates after a tough loss. Hopefully, that will be the case, and then we'll figure out how we want to handle the court stuff tomorrow, in terms of our prep. They'll come very motivated on Monday. I'll be honest with you, I think they would have anyway. That's how much confidence I have in in their competitiveness."

On the team's solution for when Tamari Key is not on the court…
"I thought we settled for jumpers a little too much at times. We'll go back, watch it and really be able to break it down, but we didn't get a lot going strong to the basket. That's where I think we need to find a few more opportunities to get to the basket. A great example of that in the first half was Alexus Dye catches it and she's trying to shoot a jumper over Haley Jones. In the second half, she rips, drives and gets a layup. I think with those types of plays, you're not going to get a layup every possession. It's just not going to happen. But, we have to look for a few more of those. I think that's where, especially when you've got Tamari sitting on the bench, we still have to have paint touches. We still have to have paint points. I think that's one way we can do it."

On positive takeaways from Saturday's game…
"I challenged some players. I challenged Tess (Darby) on the boards, and I thought she did a great job in the third quarter of boxing out. Several times she was in there battling. I thought our pace was better in the second half. We will compliment our players on that. I thought we got the ball inside better in the second half. We will compliment them on that. I thought our awareness defensively, other than I can think of three plays, was better in the second half. We didn't give up a lot of easy buckets in the second half. We made them work and earn their points. They're good enough. They can do that. They can work and score. But you can't beat Stanford if you give up easy buckets."

Tennessee Junior Guard Jordan Horston

On success in the third quarter...
"Honestly, I feel like we started off, and I think the nerves got to us. We knew that they were a great team, and we couldn't have any mental lapses, and so we came out in the second half, we got it under control, our nerves were together, and we just played basketball. But unfortunately, with good teams like that, we can't start out the game like that. I mean, we all saw how we played… you all saw what we're capable of; we can beat any team, I stand on that."

On what impact Tamari Key made…
"Like I always say, Tamari (Key), she's a major factor even when she's not scoring points. Defensively she's our eraser. She rebounds; she makes it easier for us. I mean, we have a 6-6 post player that can move, block shots, rebound, and it's going to make your life a lot easier."

On takeaways from a loss…
"Biggest takeaway? I mean, I don't like feeling like this. The biggest takeaway is we've got to start off how we finish. (And) execute every possession because we can't take plays off against good teams. So, I know we can do it. It sucks right now, but we going to go back to the drawing board, go watch film, and make us better."

Tennessee Graduate Guard Jordan Walker

On her biggest takeaway...
"My biggest takeaway right now, and like you said, it's early, so my biggest takeaway right now, and I feel like the team's biggest takeaway is, just like Jordan (Horston) said, it's being able to start how we finish. Against teams like that, and when we get in our SEC play, we can't dig ourselves into holes like that. And so, it's just to start off with that same punch that we finished with, and I think that it's a different outcome every single night."

On her fourth-quarter mentality…
"You know, what was mainly going through my head in the fourth quarter is really just get stops. Because I know that once we play defense, we just get riled up and we can get going. So, really just getting stops, coming down, trying to make the right plays. Whoever has the hot hand, making sure you're getting them the ball and running plays that coach is calling or what I can see out there, running that. But really, just trying to be smarter and trying to take care of the ball and get stops on defense."

Tennessee Freshman Guard Sara Puckett

On getting out-rebounded for the first time…
"It was just we weren't… at the beginning of the game, they were just attacking the boards like crazy, and we just weren't doing the small things. It just all goes back to how we started the game. And I really feel like if we would've done the intangibles at the beginning, then the outcome would've been totally different."

On what she's learned about the team through 10 games…
"I feel like we definitely come together and push over adversity very well. We don't back down from people. I mean, we were down 20 and we come back and get it to three. So, I mean, I think that's the biggest takeaway, just that we're always going to have each other's backs."

Stanford Head Coach Tara VanDerveer

Opening statement…

"We're really excited about how our team played. I would say that for about 30 minutes. We struggled in the third quarter, but that's a credit to them. They didn't give up. Kellie (Harper) and her team played really well. Haley (Jones) really rebounded well for us - 19 boards. I don't know if that's a career high, but she was awesome on the glass. She knocked down 12 for 12 from the free-throw line. She helped us run our offense. Ashten (Prechtel) came in and made some big shots for us. It was a total team effort. Hannah Jump played a great game. Lexi Hull, Lacie Hull, Anna Wilson, Kiki Iriafen came in and did a tremendous job for us. I'm really excited about our team depth and how they stepped up. We wouldn't be excited unless Haley (Jones) had done what she did out there rebounding, scoring for us, running our offense, and playing good defense. Ashten (Prechtel) did so as well. I've been in this situation at Tennessee a lot of times where I'm not too excited, but I'm really excited today."

On what made Tamari Key score only one point and foul out…

"I personally, did nothing. She's a terrific talent. She really changes things in there by blocking shots. When you get (her) in foul trouble, I think it really changes things. She was in foul trouble. Cameron (Brink) was in foul trouble. That's one of the things. Our team has great depth, and this is where Ashten (Prechtel) came in, and Kiki (Iriafen) came in. Haley (Jones), she rebounded the hell out of the ball. It would be a different game maybe with her staying in there, because she does change things, but you've just got to go with who's available."

On what Tennessee changed in the second half…

"Basketball is a game of spurts, and they got on a run. They got momentum. They had a great crowd here, and the crowd got behind them. They're not undefeated for nothing. They've got very talented players. They made some shots, and they got some steals. We kind of helped them a little bit. In hindsight, I could say we were trying to keep it interesting for TV, but the truth of it is we were very sloppy. They took advantage of that. A credit to their team and their coaching staff, they kept playing hard. They were down, and they didn't give up."

On the biggest challenge Tennessee posed for them

"Tennessee lives on the offensive boards. Even though they did get 15 offensive boards, some of them were multiple possession, and multiple offensive boards on one possession, so it isn't hurting you as much. They're a great rebounding team, and they hang their hat on that. I thought our team did a really good job of keeping them off the glass, especially in the first half. I think we got our confidence. Ashten (Prechtel) really didn't get going until the second half. Hannah Jump carried us, Lexie (Hull) carried us, Haley (Jones) carried us. Anna Wilson had a great game for us. It was a lot of different people doing the right thing at the right time. Kiki (Iriafen) came in the first half. Agnus Emma-Nnopu, a lot of different people got a chance to contribute, and they did."

On what it means to come back to Tennessee…

"I can't walk in here and not think of the friendship I had with Pat (Summitt) and how special she was to women's basketball. I know that she wasn't cheering for us today, but I hope that she cheers for us in other games. I think it really reminds me to take every day and enjoy every day, and to love the team I'm coaching, which I do."

On possibly renewing the series…

"We really don't have a contract with Tennessee, we just have played them every year. I think it's a great rivalry for us to keep. If I were keeping track, Tennessee does owe us, because we came here first. I hope that it continues. I think it's a great rivalry with a great program."

Stanford Junior Forward Ashten Prechtel

On if she was confident in her role on the team…

"Absolutely. Whenever my names called off the bench, I'll be ready to do whatever it is that I can. Tonight, I was able to hit my shots later in the game. I was ready for whatever our team needs."

On the pressure that goes into taking a big time shot…

"I don't really feel pressure when I'm taking shots, especially when I'm making them. Earlier in the game, I honestly wasn't hitting. Tara (VanDerveer) kept telling me she had confidence in my shot. I kept running plays, so I had confidence that eventually it would go in, and then they started hitting."

Stanford Junior Guard Haley Jones

On what it says that they were able to out-rebound Tennessee...

"I think part of what makes our team so good is the job that the coaching staff does with our scouting, but also, in practice our scout team really locks it. We knew that today was going to be about taking care of the ball, but mainly rebounding, because we respect their rebounding game and how good they are at that. I think that we all just really locked in all week at practice, guarding different players, just crashing with everything that they have. I think that it really prepared us for today to box out to the best of our abilities, and make it a point to crash the glass, and make it a point to hold box-outs, get on the ground, be gritty. I think we really just bought into the scout, and it paid off."