Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 82, Texas A&M 67

Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick Quotes

Opening statement:

"(It was a) fast paced game; that's how we wanted it. We wanted to run, to press. I thought that was huge down the stretch for us. We wanted to limit (Chennedy) Carter's and (Danni) Williams' scoring opportunities. First half we did, but (Jasmine) Lumpkin had a career high. She was outstanding. Our half-court defense was huge for us and rebounding. We had great energy on the bench, on the staff, on the floor. Great things happen when you do that. I was really proud of us to battle and compete. I love the win."

On having success getting the ball inside:

"We worked on it. We talked about it. We took maybe a couple of ill-fated shots. Especially at the beginning, we went to Mercedes (Russell), they were doubling, and she was kicking out. I thought it was important for us to attack the basket. That's what we were trying to do was get a great shot. I thought we did. They stuck to our game plan. Mercedes Russell is shooting at a high percentage, and you have to get her the ball. I love when Jaime Nared goes in because she is one of our best free-throw shooters. We missed four free throws in a row, and I was a little concerned. We attacked the basket, and that's what we have to do. We can't settle for jump shots. We attacked the basket and got wide open threes. They weren't contested. Annie (Anastasia Hayes) hit a big three, and then Meme (Jackson) hit a big three. That just separated us. It all kind of came together for us."

On the defensive and offensive effort in the fourth quarter:

"I thought we wore them down a little bit. I thought out press was really good. Jaime Nared did a great job on Chennedy Carter, who is outstanding. Annie (Anastasia Hayes) came up with some big steals. I think our ball pressure throughout the game kind of wore them down. We had a team in there that was pressing and was getting after it. We were causing them to turn it over and get late in the shot clock. That was our game plan. We wanted to run and press. I am going to guess we pressed about 30 minutes of the game."

On the importance of winning tonight:

"Every win is big for us. After the stretch we went through, the sky was falling. I will say this, we held on. We got after it early, and we competed for four quarters. There were spurts where we took some ill-advised shots, and we turned it over. This game, our offense and our turnovers did not affect how we played on the defensive end. That's a great sign. I was a little concerned we gave up to many offensive boards, especially the first two quarters. I just love that we competed and our turnovers were 13. I don't know the last time that we saw 13 turnovers. It's been awhile."

On Tennessee's ability to penetrate to the basket:

"It's a higher percentage, and it's hard to guard the penetration. We have kids that are very capable of penetrating to the basket. We wanted to go at them. We wanted to get them in and attack (Chennedy) Carter and attack all of their guards. We would have loved to have Carter get out of the game. (Anriel) Howard was big to get out of the game for us, because she is such a great offensive rebounder. Attacking, getting easier shots for us at the free-throw line, and just the better percentage shots (were big)."

On the team's confidence following the lower number of turnovers while forcing 19:

"It's huge. It wasn't that we didn't attack. We ran our fast break, and we attacked. It's huge for us. I can recall some of them, like Re's (Rennia Davis). Re's only turnover, I loved it, but she just threw it too hard. It was a great look, and she should have thrown it, but it just needed to float over a little bit. We need to work on Mercedes' (Russell) dribbling in traffic and us coming in and getting stopped and trying to spin and going back into the help. Those are correctable. I'm not trying to call out Re, but I just know the one she threw was a great look, and I want her to throw it every time. She'll get that."

On Tennessee's pressure defense:

"It's probably our best defense since our Texas game, with overall, 40 minutes of play. We talked a lot about it. We thought their scorers were going to get shots, but we wanted them to work for everything. I thought tonight that we made them do that. We wanted to wear them down."

On defending Khaalia Hillsman:

"We did and we wanted Mercedes (Russell) to have a piece of her body on (Khaalia Hillsman's) body. We didn't want her to help-over or help-up. We wanted Mercedes to really lock in and stay on Hillsman and not give her anything easy. I thought Mercedes did an unbelievable job. I really do. A lot of times, and this is what happened in the LSU game, our defense would rotate and Mercedes would have to help on a ball screen, and then nobody would help down, and they were getting offensive rebounds and putbacks. We wanted to stay at home with Hillsman, and the points she got, I think she earned them. They were tough points. We didn't want her to have any easy looks. I think Mercedes helped over one time, and they dumped it underneath. She just has to learn. You just have to tell Mercedes once, and she gets it."

Senior Center Mercedes Russell

On how much they needed the game:

"This was a huge game for us. It is not many times that you get to play a team twice, especially a team that beat you."

On the fourth quarter and how they closed it out:

"I think in the fourth quarter we came out with a lot of energy. We really stuck to our defense. We limited their points, and I think they had two points in the first three minutes, and then we really turned it on there. On the offensive end, we were coming down and taking really good shots."

On taking big shots and driving to the basket:

"Ball movement was huge for us, and I think it really opened up the key. I think our guards did a really good job of just attacking and getting to the line also."

On the difference of the energy level from Sunday to tonight:

"I think I noticed it from the tip. I think for the full 40 minutes, we played as hard as we could, which is something we did not do against LSU on Sunday. I did not feel like we played really hard that game, maybe in spurts. I think tonight we played hard, from the tip to the end, and it was our defense that set us apart."

Senior Guard/Forward Jamie Nared

On her success going to the basket:

"I knew I had to be more aggressive and not settle for outside shots and get easy buckets. I think that is something that I am capable of doing, and also my teammates found me cutting a lot. I think it was finding easier buckets than I have had."

On the challenge of guarding Chennedy Carter:

"She's a quick player. She will kind of lull you to sleep with her ball handling. She can blow right past you and pull up. She can shoot the three. She is a really good player that you kind of have to just limit her touches and make her take tough shots. I know I have length over her, so kind of making her take shots over me was an advantage."

On what was the difference in the fourth quarter:

"We took them out of their offense and made them uncomfortable. Obviously, (Chennedy) Carter runs a lot of their offense, and we just did a great job of denying, and making people that aren't normally making plays, have to make plays for them. We had to stop (Danni) Williams, Carter, and Hillsman, and also just keep (Jasmine) Lumpkin off the board. We did those things and had success."

On the way the effort was intense tonight:

"I think it was great. I think it is how capable we are of playing. The game was not perfect, and we had a couple of lapses. Our initial game plan was to let Lumpkin to score a lot. I think we did a good job of not getting frustrated when they scored, and kind of taking it back to them. We hit shots, and we've kind of have been struggling (with that) has a team. We just did good all around."

Freshman Guard Anastasia Hayes

On the attitude from the third quarter to the fourth quarter:

"We never gave up, and we continued to encourage each other. We knew we needed stops and we got stops on defense, and (that) just continued over to our offense."

On the press being good for the team:

"That really helped us. Once we started pressing, we kept getting loose balls, and I think that really helped us."

On if having played a team once already makes her more comfortable:

"Yes it does. We know how they play, and we are just ready. Being able to play them again, we just have to come in and play hard with no let ups."

Texas A&M Head Coach Gary Blair

Opening Statement:

'"I said Tennessee would come in with their A-game. I knew the effort would be there. I did not know that the execution would be there. You had a great first half with both teams. In transition, and scoring at will. Both teams were doing a great job at that. Breaking the press or us trying to get back, even after we scored, y'all were jamming it right back at us. We knew exactly what we would have when we got here. We have been a good road team all year. We were a good road team three quarters of this ball game. We let adversity bother us. We had body language. Our kids were griping about fouls that were or were not called. We let it totally affect what we were trying to do. In the fourth quarter, I felt like all we were doing was 'Hooping.' When you are 'hooping,' it means you were playing rec ball. You were not running an offense and everyone was trying to win it by themselves. You cannot do that when you are facing a top-10 team like Tennessee, particularly on the road. Your crowd stayed in it. Lumpkin had her career game in the first half. When you're a senior, and they aren't going to guard you, Lumpkin stood up to the challenge. No one has guarded her the whole conference season. That's a senior who found her way, and we found her. Y'all were doing a great job on Danni (Williams). Lumpkin is a senior who played like a senior. I am very proud of her. I am very proud of this young lady right here (Khaalia Hillsman). Russell is a little taller and has that 'Hakeem the Dream Sky Hook' that is impossible to stop. There is not a sportswriter in here that could stop her either, just by looking at you all. Russell and Nared had a great game. We did not stop the right hand drive all night. Hayes came in off the bench and played tremendous. Hayes is a true point guard. Sometimes, that is what you need in a game like this. Holly knows what she is doing. Holly needed this ballgame. We wanted this ballgame, and we tried to steal it. I was so proud of how we played under a great crowd and that pressure. At the end, it's a shame that it ended up a 15 point ball game after as close as these two teams matched up. Another thing that hurt us is that we are the two top teams in the country in made free throws. There wasn't much being made (tonight). With the transition of the game, there wasn't a whole lot of half-court offense with calls going either way. We didn't want to foul Russell, and they didn't want to foul Khaalia. We went to the line seven times and they only went 16 times. That was just how the game was played, very fast. The turnovers, that was us being tired on the road."

On Lumpkin scoring more than usual:

"It was transition, where she was and how we broke the press. She didn't score off of a single offensive play in the first half. She got them all in transition or on her own. There was not a single play called for her. She got to the paint and has a nice, high release. She is a great kid. I'm glad she had her moment. It really would have been a great moment if she would've went for 30 and we would've won. To tell you the truth I should've had her sitting in here. That is my fault."

Closing Statement:

"Hey, you have a great place here. Get off of Holly's case. She is doing a great job. She had the number one recruiting class in the country last year, she has the number three coming next year. How would any of you guys like to replace a legend? It's pretty hard. Get off of her case; she is doing a great job. I love your atmosphere. I love Thompson-Boling Arena."

Senior Center Khaalia Hillsman

On Mercedes Russell being difficult to defend:

"The hardest shot to guard is her jump hook. She is what, 6'6" or 6'7"? She is already long. She has a long wingspan; it's not like she has little arms or something. I tried to make her shoot further away from the basket. Her release was so high, and she finishes so well, it is very hard for me to block. I tried to make her go baseline, because at least I could try to tip it. She has perfected that jump hook. That's definitely her hardest shot to guard since she has perfected it so well."

On the physicality of the game…

"We fouled each other, but they just let us play. That's how it was at home. I think I shot six free throws, and she shot like four. They let us play down there, which is the way I like it. She is a pro. I love playing against competition like that. I don't like to play against soft post players. That isn't a challenge for me; that doesn't help me reach my dreams. I really love the competition. Mercedes (Russell) played with a chip on her shoulder, and I saw that from the moment we tipped off. I knew it was going to be hard game for me. I tried to make it hard on her too, even though you can't tell. I tried."