Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 87, ETSU 49

Head Coach Holly Warlick

Opening Statement:
"We had too many turnovers and we gave up too many boards. Our defense was solid. I thought we defended the arc really well. Half of the time we were just getting the ball inside. We had 32 points in the paint which is huge for us. We had better team rebounding. The things that we worked on after our last exhibition game, I saw results in. It's one game at a time and I am pleased with the outcome of the game."

On needing big performances from the two senior leaders:
"Well they are our leaders. They are expected to have big performances. Both of them were solid, vocal, active, rebounded, and scored. They are seasoned vets and we are going to rely on them a lot."

On Cheridene Green's ball pressure:
"I love her defense. I asked her to do two things; be a great defender and rebound and she did just that. I was pleased. She is going to help us a lot in those two areas."

On the rotation of Green and the four freshmen:
"Honestly, I don't even notice that they are freshmen out there with her. I thought they played well together. The defense was solid, we moved the ball. We're going to rely on all five of those kids. I loved it. I love that they are all producing."

On working on other aspects of the game during games such as this one:
"I thought we worked on a little too much of our outside game in the first half. We shot 23 3s and probably 20 of them we not good choices. Yeah, when you have someone that is 6-6 inside, you have to get the ball inside. I understand that they were doubling down on our post. It probably helped Mercedes realize she has to really take care of the basketball. But when you have a presence like that, it's going to open the outside game. We need to get the ball inside more early."

On Rennia Davis having limited playing time in the first half:
"Two fouls. That's as simple as I can make it. She had two fouls, she's not going to play when she has two fouls in the first half. She didn't like it and I didn't like it either, but a rule's a rule. Don't foul, get your hands off of them."

On what to take away about the team from the game:
"There's so many things we can get better at. Giving up 21 rebounds, we can't do that. We turned the ball over 24 times, can't do that. As long as it's aggressive, I'm okay with it. ETSU penetrated, they were quick, and they pulled us away from the basket. I thought our post people did a really good job of defending away from the basket, but we were not going to take this team lightly. They're very capable of putting up a lot of numbers. You can always learn from a game like this, nobody played a perfect game. Nobody. We can always get better. So as long as we learn from it, we're in business."

On the upcoming game against James Madison:
"They've got two new kids that they've added that are big kids. They lost their big time scoring punch. They're penetrators, shooters, they'll mix it up on us, they'll press, and play man and zone. They're a well-coached team. And overall, we just have to continue to get better."

On Brittney Ezell's job coaching ETSU:
"I think they play with Brittney's attitude and her heart. Brittney was a feisty player and they do the same. They're well-coached, they play within their ability, penetrators are penetrators and shooters are shooters. She just does a great job of getting in the right spot. They play hard, and I told her after the game, 'your kids played hard, you made us have to make adjustments'. I don't think her kids came here thinking 'we're scared to go in there and play Tennessee'. I don't think they were scared one bit. I thought they attacked us and did some things. They'll learn from this. It'll be a great experience for them and if they play like they did against us today, they'll win a lot of game in their conference."

Tennessee Center Mercedes Russell

On the 17-0 run:
"I think it was our defense, just getting out and pushing the ball in transition and getting to the free throw line. We shot about thirty free throws on the night, which is good. We need to make a couple more. I think we really got out an ran on them, which is good."

On learning from the game today:
"I would say, taking care of the ball on offense. We had too many turnovers, but I think we could clean that up easily. Then just getting down on defense, getting down in the stance and boxing out."

Tennessee Guard/Forward Jaime Nared

On keeping the defense level high:
"I think for the most part we played pretty sound defense. I think we gave up a few line-ups and lay-ups which should never happen. I think we just took things away from this game. Obviously, we are getting better from the exhibition games to this game. We gave them twenty-three offense rebounds, so that's another aspect that we need clean up on the defensive end. I think we are getting better and I think that it's something that we are looking forward to. Each game just getting better and everything coming together."

On having a shutout on the first game:
"It's encouraging. I think it's just how we need to play all the time. We started off the game on a 17-0 run but it's just how we are capable of playing. I don't think we should take any team lightly. I know we've done that before, but I don't think that's our M.O. this year to take any team lightly. It's to take compete every game and compete our hardest."

Tennessee Forward Cheridene Green

On her ball pressure and being back:
"Being back felt really good. I was really excited to play. I just wanted to do what I needed to do. As far as my ball pressure, I really like defense, so I use my size to help my team out knowing that if I give good ball pressure then it will be harder for them to pass, so I wanted to use my size."

On ending the fourth quarter with all new players:
"Definitely, with all of us coming in new together we are getting used to each other. Just working on our communication and when things get tough to try to stick together because we didn't have two of our main leaders on the court. It's good for us when things get tough to stick together because anything can happen throughout the season."

ETSU Head Coach Brittney Ezell

Opening Statement:
"I love my basketball team. I absolutely love their heart, their resiliency, how tough they are. Tianna Tarter going out in the first quarter really challenged our young team, and I think they showed me some things today that I wasn't really sure about. You get 21 offensive rebounds against the Lady Vols. That's almost unheard of. We turned them over 24 times. You get off 77 shots. Did we make very many? No, but I love my basketball team. I love what they are capable of doing. I love who they are revealing themselves to be on a daily basis. There's a lot that we can learn from today. There's a lot that we can take with us. I am so appreciative to Holly (Warlick) and to the University of Tennessee for continuing this series. It means a lot to us. It means a lot to the state of Tennessee, and especially, it means a lot to this region. There's really a lot to build on and a lot to feel good about today."

On Tianna Tarter's status and her impact on the game:
"When she went out, the score was 9-6. Then, after that, I don't we scored again in the first quarter. She took an elbow and has six stitches and a broken nose. She tried to come back in. I like to chalk it up to the fact that the Tennessee doctors said no. They didn't want her back in there. If my doctor was here, he probably wouldn't have let her either. But, we're just going to chalk it up to that. She's one of the top-20 point guards in the country. She's on the Lieberman's watch list. We know she would've made an impact. She was an honorable mention All-American last year, has an opportunity to do a lot of things that, in my opinion, could be a professional. So, that hurt us a lot. We can't make the NCAA tournament based on what we do in our non-conference. Our conference is a one-bid league, and we know that. If I would've beaten Tennessee by 60, I might have had a shot. That wasn't going to happen. We need her to be healthy. We need her to be fully-recovered, so if I have to hold her out another game, I'm not opposed to that."

On playing Tennessee after a big win against Cincinnati at home:
"I know it was (a tough turnaround). We came in on Saturday morning at 11. They could barely move. We played a very physical Cincinnati game in front of a very raucous crowd. It was a lot of fun. Adrenaline will zap it out of you emotionally, as well. We worked on a two-three zone yesterday, for the first time in all of pre-season, and then we played it against the Lady Vols. Either I'm crazy, or I don't know, we had to do something, because we didn't have the legs to be able to press the way we did against Cincinnati. It was a tough turnaround, but I like it, because that's how it is in tournament time. You play back-to-back, and you just get ready to go. I think you're absolutely right. It was very impactful in the way that we were able to perform today."

On playing an ambitious non-conference schedule:
"I think I wanted to give our kids the best experience possible in Division I college women's basketball, and it's not going to help them for me to play a bunch of D-II's and stack up some wins. It might help my resume, but I didn't do this to build a resume. I do this to give these kids the kind of experience I had playing at the University of Alabama, and that's to compete at the highest level, night-in and night-out. We played Tennessee. We played Cincinnati. We've got Michigan State coming to Johnson City, which is almost unheard of. We have Duquesne coming to Johnson City. We open the tournament down in Naples with Notre Dame. Yeah, I might be a little bit off my rocker, but boy, they're going to have some memories. We are doing a great job of expanding the brand of East Tennessee State University. We're doing a great job of putting a schedule together that recruits want to play. I think there's a buzz about us right now that wasn't there prior to us scheduling so ambitiously. We may take some losses, and I am okay with that. But like I tell my players all the time, my win-loss record isn't going to be on my tombstone. What kind of impact I made on my players will be something I have to answer for. I can make a really good one by giving them experiences like this one."