Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 70, Auburn 59

Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick

Opening statement:
"I thought our freshmen started as freshmen, and they ended up as seasoned players at the end. We got big rebounds when we needed it. I thought the key play was when Anastasia (Hayes) went to the block and Evina (Westbrook) cut in the middle, and she passed there and she made the bucket. Then we went down and Annie (Anastasia Hayes) got a rebound and penetrated the floor and got fouled. Our freshmen were big down the stretch, and it's a game. They are going to grow up and learn. I told them great teams find a way to win, and we found a way to win tonight."

On Anastasia Hayes making a big play in the fourth quarter:
"(Hayes) had to save the ball. She attacks the basket. She attacked the basket, and they came over to help, and threw under and Evina (Westbrook) had the basketball savvy to cut, and Annie (Anastasia Hayes) got her the ball. I thought that was a huge turnaround for us. It got us on a roll, got us confident, and then our defense stepped up and put us in position to get a lot better shots down the stretch."

On having 28 turnovers in the game:
"We can't (have that many turnovers). We've got to shape that up. If its turnovers from attacking and making great plays (that's one thing), but we had unnecessary turnovers. We'll just go back and watch it. We'll continue to work on it. We are getting the taste of SEC basketball, and we just have to learn. As long as we learn from it and adjust, we are going to be fine. That's something we really have to shore up."

On staying calm against Auburn:
"We didn't feel a panic in our team and on the bench. We stayed the course. Auburn is great at forcing you into turnovers. They are great at it. Terri (Williams-Flournoy) does a great job. We knew it, and we didn't handle it. Down the stretch we got better, and we attacked. We made plays. You make plays down the stretch, and we did. The ball didn't get stuck in our hands. We moved the ball, and we distributed the ball. Mercedes (Russell) hit some free throws down the stretch and so did Jaime Nared. It had to be a team effort because it was equal opportunity of turning the ball over today."

On playing at home and the impact of the crowd:
"It's huge. Our crowd is big, and they were into it. They yelled at the officials when they needed to. They yelled at us when they needed to. We just have great fans. When they're into it, it keeps us in the game. I loved it. It was loud. They were not going to let us lose."

On Auburn's speed and athleticism affecting the game:
"I think they affected us by their press, that's how they affected us. I didn't think at half court it was as much of a problem, as we were turning it over due to their tremendous amount of pressure."

On Evina turning things around in the second half:
"She doesn't dwell on the past, and that is what I love. She was upset about the turnovers but came back in and made some bigs shots for us to go ahead. They are competitiors, and you always have to think about the next play. She doesn't get overly excited or overly down, and I'm great with that. We needed her to step up, and she did."

On Westbrook's swagger when she gets rolling:
"I see confidence in her because she's gotten in the gym and taken her game to the level it's at now. Anytime you work on your game and do things in the gym, you will be confident in it. I will tell you this, she will look over and see her nine turnovers and won't like that, because I won't like it. Everything else she did across the board was huge, so she didn't let that affect what she needed to do and lead the basketball team."

On the calmness of the team during the game:
"I think it comes from the calmness in our staff and team. I think the hard work that they've put in has given them confidence. This is a tight group. They don't care who gets the points or glory. They just want to win. I give them input, so sometimes they are more confident in the zone and other times in man defense. But down the stretch, they know they need each other. It's not about the starters. They just want to win and have the opportunity to keep playing and putting this program in the best situation it can be."

On preparing for Vanderbilt:
"I haven't watched them much yet. I watched their game against Louisville. They hung with them in the first half. Stephanie White is a great coach. We will go back and watch the tape. Their record means nothing to me. It's Vanderbilt, and they have quality players and an excellent staff. We have already scouted them, but I haven't had the opportunity to look ahead."

Senior Forward Jaime Nared

On what made difference in the final minutes:

"I think we got stops towards the end of the game. Obviously, the game was ugly. We knew that playing it, but we got stops when it mattered. It was a close game throughout the whole 40 minutes, and we knew that they were a tough team, but we got stops and converted them."

On what the freshmen learned about SEC play from this game:

"I mean it's a glimpse. We still have a lot of games. We are not even halfway through the season yet, or even a quarter. They got a glimpse of it, but that is every game. Every team that you play is tough. Every team is going to try to beat us. We are obviously ranked pretty high. Every team is going to come into the game against us wanting to beat us, so we just have to understand that and never take games off."

On Evina Westbrook's ability to turn things around in the second half:

"Yeah, she came in and made some big shots. We have seen that from her. She just came in ready, and it didn't really affect the rest of the game. She didn't let the rest of the game affect her and came in and made big plays for us. We need that. We understand that. We see it every day in practice. She is capable of making big plays like that."

On how important it is for young players to have short memories regarding negative plays:

"You have to have that each game. You can't let past plays affect the way you are playing, or else you are going to have a rough game and rough games to come. That's just something that we take pride in - helping each other, not letting people get down on themselves, and just understanding that we all make mistakes. We make a bunch of mistakes ourselves, so I think just staying together and helping one another and just staying tough the whole game is something that we think is important for our team. "

Freshman Guard Anastasia Hayes

On getting the ball to Westbrook who scored in final minutes of game:

"I guess I just used my athleticism. It was a big moment, and I was trying to get (the ball). Even if it was going out-of-bounds, I was going to try to hustle and make it not go out-of-bounds. I just drove to the rim, and then I saw Evina open, and I just dished it to her. (I was) just playing hard."

On big play after Mercedes Russell block, and if the crowd helped them get back into the game:

"The crowd was really good. That gets us going. When she made that block—I don't know—I just got the ball, and I just used my speed. When she did that I knew I was going right to the rim. I knew that I had to finish. I finished and got the and-one. That was a big moment."

On Auburn's pressure:

"Yeah, they pressure. They play really good defense, and we knew that coming in. But when we first got in they were getting steals and stuff, but like Evina said, we just have to get past it and forget about that and keep going and keep playing."

On how important seniors were in keeping team calm:

"They were very important. They were never negative. They were always positive the whole time, believing in us, telling us to keep pushing, and that we were still in this. That felt really good."

Freshman Guard Evina Westbrook

On what it was like playing against Auburn's defensive pressure:

"Honestly, it's just basketball. Coming from high school, AAU, or whatever, we are used to getting pressed like that. Obviously, the college game is a lot different, but it's something that we prepared for in practice. We just have to do a better job of coming in and just really focusing."

On what was going through her mind when she was hitting big shots at the end of the game:

"Yeah, it just kind of happened. I was open, so I shot it. Once the first one went in, then the second one, and it just kind of became a rhythm for me. I am confident in making big plays for my team, and I know my team is confidant in me."

On how Lady Vols defense affected Auburn:

"Overall our defense wasn't all the way there, but just making big plays down the stretch really worked in our favor. Obviously, boxing out is huge and we still need to continue working on it, but overall, we just need to get better defensively. Offensively, obviously it wasn't our best game, but we will be back."

Auburn Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy

Opening statement:

"I thought our young ladies played a heck of a game. We came out, had our gameplan and knew what we wanted to do. We competed all the way until the end. If you look at the final score, it was not indicative of the entire game. Tennessee had a good run with about a minute and thiry left and took the lead in the game. I'm so proud of my team."

On Tennessee pulling ahead at the end:
"When we went up by four, there was still a lot of time left. There were like four minutes left. Our defense forced turnovers that led to some quick buckets for us, but Tennessee was playing at home and had a lot of time left in the game."

On using different versions of the press during the game:
"We always do. We will try to deny the in-bounder or the point guard. We can do a lot of things with our press to up the pressure. Tennessee did a good job of spreading us out in the first quarter of last year's game, so we wanted to up the tempo a little bit right away. Our ladies did a great job. We forced them into 28 turnovers. That is unbelievable."

On the competitiveness in the SEC:
"We have a stretch right now where we play Texas A&M and South Carolina. For anyone who doubts that this is the best conference in the country, I want to tell them to come join us and play in it and tell me what they think about it."

On confidence moving forward after tonight's game:
"I feel good. We came to No. 7 Tennessee's own floor with them 13-0 and gave them a heck of a game. That gives us the confidence that we know we can compete with any team in this conference."

Auburn Guard Janiah McKay

On attacking UT's freshmen with the press:
"Freshmen have never seen it, and there is no way you can simulate what we are able to do. Anytime we play them, whether you have seen it or not, it's always the same result."

On feeding off turnovers:
"It gives us energy, and we know that, if we can get our press set up and force turnovers, we can gain momentum offensively. Once we figure out we can get to the basket and get the ball in the hoop, it gives us confidence in the halfcourt."

Auburn Guard Tiffany Lewis

On if she gained confidence with her performance tonight:

"Yes, it gives me a lot of confidence. I just have to be consistent and believe in myself. I know I can do it."