Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 89, James Madison 60

Head Coach Holly Warlick

Opening Statement:
"We started the game with great intensity. I'm really proud of our group. We took excellent shots. We shared the basketball. We had 21 assists on 32 makes. Our defensive presence was solid. The one beef I have is making free throws. We almost shot better from the floor than we did from the free throw line. That's a little scary. (We had) 40 points in the paint, 24 points off of turnovers, and 30 fast break points. I thought we played hard, smart and with great intensity."

On Jaime's game:
"She was awesome. Jaime took great shots. She just was a workhorse for us. She played great defense, she rebounded and brought the ball up the floor. She just took great shots. She took makeable shots for Jaime Nared, and that is a result of her getting in the gym and getting extra shots up. It doesn't happen by chance for Jaime. She has worked at it, and tonight was the result of her putting in the extra work."

On Anastasia's Hayes' aggressive offense:
"I love her attacking. You want to pull them back; you don't want to push them downhill. Annie just has a knack for attacking the basket. She will understand as the game goes on when she can and can't. I'm not going to hold her back. She is great at attacking the basket. She attracts a lot of people. She is a great passer. I just love her energy."

On Cheridene Green's ceiling:
"There is not one for her. She is coming off a knee injury and hasn't played in a year. She is finding her rhythm. Tonight before the game I visited with her. I just want her to play the game and play hard. I want her to focus on defense and rebounding. One play she came out of nowhere and got a great rebound and put it up. Each game builds her confidence. We are going to need her down the stretch. We are going to need her effort, her ability to get the ball and chase down rebounds. She rebounds out of her area, not too many people do that. I'm really proud of Cheridene tonight."

On the improvement from game one to game two:
"We cut in gaps. We didn't force things. We got shooters the ball. We didn't have to force a pass to a shooter. We just played within ourselves. We had great fast break points. We really took care of the ball well. We got it to people who needed the ball."

On the difference in Meme Jackson and Kortney Dunbar from last year to this year:
"They both have confidence. They both are practicing hard. They know we need them. They are playing within their game. When you know what is expected from you, you are going to settle down. I think they both know what is expected from them."

On JMU cutting down the lead and calling timeout in first half:
"Giving up rebounds. Not playing hard. When we have a lapse, we let teams back in. We just can't have that. You don't play the score, you just continue to try to get better, and we were playing the score a little bit. We went down. We let our guard down. Too many second chance points, gave up too many open threes, and we can't do that."

On Hayes and Evina Westbrook getting the ball inside to Russell:
"I don't know her (Russell) shooting percentage right now, but she was seven-of-eight tonight. She is shooting the ball well. I think they understand that we have to play. We love to play inside out. Get the ball inside, if they collapse, we're going to kick it out. I think they understand the high percentage shot and getting Mercedes the ball, and they're both great passers. They're willing to give the ball up. Those two kids are not selfish. They can score, but they also love to pass.

On James Madison being picked to finish first in their conference:
"I have a lot of respect for James Madison. They do a great job; they play hard. The score was what the score was, and they continued to play hard. It's a big boost for us because they had a lot of kids shooting threes. They had a lot of kids penetrate, and we've had a hard time with penetration, so I am extremely pleased on what we did. They're going to be tough in their conference. I believe they're ranked number one in their conference right now, and they should be. They play hard."

On comfort with letting Hayes run the offense:
"I love it. I like when she and Evina are in there at the same time. That's two point guards. That's two kids that are great passers. That's two kids who have a point guard mentality. They both can score. I love what they're doing. They're continuing to learn the offense, and we're going to continue to put in different things. We're taking things slow with those two, but they're competitive. I love it. I love those guys."

On having balance when it comes to scoring:
"We've got great offensive players, who like to play defense right now, and that's solid. That's solid. I think everybody—well I know everybody on our roster can score the basketball, and we've really focused in on the defensive end. Now, they understand that they can guard as well. I didn't think—we didn't take too many bad shots tonight. We didn't make all of our shots, but we didn't take too many bad shots, so all of our players had the ability to score. That's a great thing to have."

On being calmer on the sideline:
"When you have a team like this, who are playing well together and have the ability to score and defend—probably the best thing is that this team is an unselfish basketball team. They're happy for each other's successes, and it just makes me happy. It makes me smile. We're kicking their butts in practice. Some days they respond, some days they don't. At the end of the day, they come together and say, "We needed it, we have to stick together." I love this basketball team. Times are going to get tough, yeah. I have confidence in them. I have tremendous amount of confidence in them because I see what they do and how hard they practice. We're not there yet, but we're getting there."

Tennessee Guard/Forward Jaime Nared

On the defense evolving:
"I think it's getting better, which is what you want to see especially at this time of the year. The first game I thought we showed little points where we played well defensively, but as a game, we didn't play how we wanted to play defensively. We are gradually getting better. I think the first half we played pretty good defense. We have little spurts that we go on, which when we start playing top teams, we can't have those spurts. We have to play defense and stay locked-in the entire game. We are getting better at it, but we're not where we need to be. We are going to get better."

On shooting better from three this game:
"I don't think it was anything different. Some games you miss them. I think you just have to get back to work, get back in the gym, and keep working on it. You have one game where you don't shoot well, but you don't hang your head. We still won the game, you just find other aspects that you can improve on in your game and move on to the next one."

On the offensive performance:
"What I liked about us was a lot of our defense transferred over to offense. We had a lot of fast break points. We had a lot of deflections, a lot steals. That helps us because when we are playing hard defensively and really working together, that just translates over to offense. Especially when you are playing tough games, you need fast break points. You need a lot of offense to come from your defense. It was nice to see. I think when we were in the half court we were running things well. Sometimes we got a little stagnant, but it was just good to see us growing this game and us keep growing. I'm excited to where we can go."

Tennessee Guard/Forward Rennia Davis

On trying not to pick up a second foul in the first half:
"I still picked it up though. It was just later in the first half. I was just getting cold on the bench the last game and sleepy. I don't like sitting over there, so I was trying to be alert on defense and more attentive."

On what she has learned from the first two games:
"I learned that I still have a lot to work on, which I already knew. I feel like these first two games showed me a lot, especially the first game because I was sitting out for so long. It taught to cheer on my teammates and be more of a team player. Tonight, I was just able to stay locked in on defense a little bit longer."

Tennessee Guard Anastasia Hayes

On having fewer turnovers this game:
"Well, I knew that we had a lot of turnovers the first game. My thing was to just try not to make crazy passes and try to find my teammates when they were open."

JMU Head Coach Sean O'Regan

Opening Statement:
"We found out some weaknesses today and played a really good Tennessee team that, I think, has earned the right to be in the Top-10. They've got everything. They've got leadership. They've got balance. They've got talent. I love (Anastasia) Hayes. I think she's going to be a great point guard for them. Coming in here, I knew it would take an A+ effort, and we didn't bring that, exactly. I thought we fought, but in the end, we get back to it and learn from it. (We'll) find out our weaknesses and improve."

On what happened when JMU cut the Tennessee lead to 11:
"I thought we were making a good run, chipping away at it. I thought Lexie (Barrier) got going a little bit. That was the goal, to chip away at five, chip away at six, chip away at seven. Obviously, the timeout was a good one, a timely one. I don't know what it did to their team. I didn't think it changed anything for us, other than to re-focus Tennessee a little bit. So, credit to Holly (Warlick) for a good coaching move. But, I didn't think it was anything monumental. I didn't think they came out and played zone, or anything different like that. It was just, we came out with that kind of balance. I guess that's the time you could pinpoint, maybe, that it turned their way."

On trying to figure out who can be a go-to player for JMU:
"Last year, the only difference was (we had one player). We have those players. They're just not 'that one.' With P (Precious Hall), it was easy decision making down the stretch. It was going right to her. (She was) a senior and had proven that she could score. It was easy. The thing right now that we miss the most is the mentality. She always believed that she was the best player on the floor. I'm still trying to get this one over here (Lexie Barrier) to believe she's going to be the best player on the floor. It's coming, but it's one of those things where we're working our way there. I like being able to have it spread. I know that sounds crazy after you're coming off a 29-point loss. I think we've got a great three-headed monster. I think Kayla Cooper-Williams can eventually get there. I think Aneah Young has shot it absolutely terrible right now, but she's good for six to eight points. I like the idea of having it spread and moving the ball, but so far, it hasn't worked like that. I think the sooner that Lexie (Barrier) can understand how high I think she can play, the better. I think she can be. I think she can get a shot anytime she wants. She can shoot the three. She can drive. She can finish with contact. She needs to get to the line more. But, with P (Precious Hall), that was it. It was just the mentality, but that was built over a long time. She didn't come in that way. Her sophomore year, she wasn't (averaging) 25 per game. It's a part of our growing process, I guess you could say."

On struggling at the start against Tennessee:
"I wish I could say I was surprised, but I wasn't super surprised with it. They jumped on us, doing exactly the things that I feared. Against a team like this, you watch them on film, and it's a situation where you don't quite know how fast or how athletic they are. I think we took that first five minutes. What I was disappointed with most was that we were more shell shocked than I thought, as far as the offensive end. On the defensive end, yeah, they're going to score on us. They're an extremely prolific, scoring team. Offensively, I felt like we passed up shots early that I thought we earned. That was a little bit, maybe, of shell shock. What I saw, is that we passed up open lanes for a drive-and-kick. We looked just a little rattled early. That, certainly, was the first punch. We just couldn't ever get in a flow. We just, overall, didn't bring our A+ effort. You can't beat Tennessee, at Tennessee as a ranked opponent, unless you're bringing you're A-game. We didn't today, but we found out some weaknesses, and we'll be able to shore them up."

JMU Guard Lexie Barrier

On what happened after JMU cut Tennessee's lead to 11:
"I don't know if I could pinpoint one thing that really hurt us in that time. But, I would just say that we had a defensive lapse, a little bit of a lack of focus. They made a little run. That's all I can really say about it."

On having success against Tennessee's size:
"I think out of this game (I learned) to just take a little more confidence to it. Tennessee has great defensive players, and there is a lot of size going into it. So, I think at first, we were all very hesitant, but I think we all have to go into it knowing that we can do it no matter who we're playing."