Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 62, Georgia 46

Head Coach Holly Warlick

Opening Statement:

"I'm excited about our defense; I'm excited about our rebounding, and I'm really excited about our effort. And those were three things that we really wanted to focus on. Georgia's a tough basketball team, and we had to make sure we zeroed in on those three things for us to really be successful. Now, I'm not really excited about our turnovers and free throws. I guess you have to be mad about something if you're a head coach, so we'll go over that. But I'm really proud of our basketball team for getting the win.

On if the team responded to this game being important:

"We've been really good at focusing in on one game at time, and we talked a lot about Georgia being ahead of us in the standings, and how we were going to get there. We had solid practices leading up to this game. We were really in-tune, focused, and we stayed in our game plan, so I thought kids stepped up and did some really good things. We've been so up and down, but I thought we were just a really solid team today."

On the home court advantage:

"We talked a lot about that before the game, and we talked about people with breast cancer and survivors and what they go through, just your passion and your energy and your effort and your positivity to each other. And you could feel it in the locker room that they really took it to heart. It was Georgia, it was in front of a big crowd, and I told them, 'Just don't come out and not play with everything you have. You're playing in front of people who are battling a disease, and then you have your fans coming that are there to support each other and the cause.' I think they took it heart. This crowd here is special, and when they're loud , they're loud. And they do give us energy, so it was fun for us to be in front of them. I'm glad that our kids played at the level that they should have for the people that were here."

On what defense Tennessee ran to limit Georgia offensively:

"We started off running our 2-3 zone, and I think we pretty much did it the whole second quarter as well. I thought Georgia's offense was a lot of attacking and penetrating to the basket, so we went with less zone and more active, and I thought we worked on it a lot more than we have in the past, and I thought it was pretty solid for us."

On Mercedes being one point away from 1,500 career points:

"As much as I wanted to play her, we have another game, and I didn't want her to get hurt. But Mercedes is a special kid. She came in here being ranked number one in the country, and was pretty much always injured in her young career. She took a lot of hits, but I'll tell you this, that kid loves this program and has worked very hard in getting to where she is. She's gotten stronger, and I keep saying that she's one of the smartest kids that has ever put on a Lady Vol uniform. She's a point guard trapped in a post's body. She knows the game really well. I'm really proud of her because she keeps her composure, she takes hits, and she deserves to be in that elite group. She's worked hard to get there, and I just can't say enough about her and what she's meant for this program."

On taking a big lead early on and closing strong:

"I wasn't cruising. I don't have my jacket on because I'm sweating. But we need to treat teams that are not ranked just like we treat Georgia, because the people in the bottom of the SEC keep getting better. We can't go in there thinking we're going to win big. I think our performance here versus what we've done in the past, I think they're going to get the message. It was good to see us maintain though, because they made some runs and we answered them, which was really good. And one thing about our 27 turnovers, a lot of those we turned it over, but then we forced them to turn it over. So we got a little sloppy, but at least if we're going to turn it over, let's force them to turn it over. There's a lot of things we can clean up, but we have to treat everybody like they're Georgia and South Carolina. We need to treat everyone on equal playing ground."

On more balanced scoring:

"This group, I keep saying, wants to hit a home run every time, but I just want them to get on base. And if we will move the ball, chances are people will be open. We've really tried to work on getting great shots, and we've really tried to make sure they understand what a great shot is. If it's off the first pass in the offense, they may think that's a good shot, but it's not. We've really put in a lot of effort to make sure our offense moves."

On the importance of winning games against ranked teams:

"These games coming down the stretch, it is an advantage to host the first and second round on your campus. That is one of our goals and to get a good seed. I have been on both spectrums. We have been a No. 1 seed, and we have been a No. 7 seed. When you play at home, it is a major advantage. It is important with who you get matched with. A one playing a four is so much better than a two playing a three. It's a big goal of ours. We tell them; it's hard for them to understand early. It was hard for them to understand in Cancun that we have to get these three games. We can't lose any of those three games. I know they get it. We were thinking big picture that teams are ranked. We are away, and they are tough teams. If you don't win those games, it will come back and haunt you, especially down the stretch. You have to stay focused and solid."

On Kasiyahna Kushkituah's development this season and her decision to play her against Georgia:

"Kasi (Kasiyahna Kushkituah) got in as a result of having three great - I'm not telling you good - (they were) great practices. I told her, 'You know what, Kasi? If you did this the whole year, you would've gotten more playing time.' I said, 'I'm gonna play you.' I thought she went in, and she's a strong young lady. Her tempo has got to get up; she's got to get in a little bit better shape. But I keep telling her, 'Stay the course. You're playing behind an All-American who can teach you, and you can learn.' And I think she's done just that. We're going to need her. We were going to put Mercedes (Russell) in for Kasi, and she goes, 'Why don't we just play two bigs?' and I'm like, 'Alright, let's try it.' Mercedes can play out and away from the basket and play the four. Kasi's gonna be alright. She's just gotta keep working. Let me tell you, it's hard to not be a starter and sit there. The starters have to come in, and you've got to do it right then. There's no easing into it. Kasi's probably not sat on the bench all her career. As long as she's sitting and learning and developing her game, she has a great future. She's one of the kids that wants to play the five. This day and time, when you talk to high school players, (they say), 'I'm not a five. I'm not a four,' because they think it's inside. Kasi loves it. You saw how strong she is. She wants to bang, so she's a dying breed, and I'm glad she's here at Tennessee."

On team being 6-1 in games when they turn the ball over at least 20 times:

"Let me say this, you saw Anastasia Hayes attacking; you saw Rennia Davis attacking and Jamie attacking. They attack the basket, and we got a bunch of charges. We can correct those, but I love us being aggressive. I love us attacking. The things I don't like are like when we get a rebound and it fumbles out of bounds. That is either communication or not seeing the ball in your hands. I like us being aggressive. I tell them that if it's there, go. I don't like it (that we had so many turnovers). This is the most that we have had, and I think it's crazy. At the beginning of the game—I'll have to go back and look at it, but—we were trying to make a great play, and we don't have to. A great play to me is making a pass and leading someone to score. That's a great play; not that I have to jump pass, spin in the air, and do a twirl, because it's going up to John Adams up in the media row. That's not good."

On what the win does for the team's confidence:

"It's huge. Here is what I love about it: hard work in practice correlates to success on the basketball court in a game, and we have really done a good job of trying to focus in on what our weaknesses are and really pinpoint how we need to get better. We have shortened practices because of the grind. We have really been more in tune in practices as well. The only way we are going to get better is to practice it and understand it, and it becomes a habit. We will go back; we will work on our turnovers. We will work on our defense, and we will continue to work on our rebounding. Since the LSU game where we gave up 23 offensive rebounds, we have won boxing out and rebounding, and we will continue to do that because that is our bread and butter."

Tennessee Senior Mercedes Russell

On being one point away from becoming the sixth Lady Vol to score 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds:

"The names in the list are some of the best players to ever play the game of basketball. I mean, just to be added along them is very humbling. I'm very excited just to be on another list, but especially alongside those players is awesome. It's super humbling and a great honor."

On having a home court advantage:

"Home court advantage is huge. Our fans were awesome today. It was really loud in there, but credit to Georgia. They are a really great team. They just dropped to 8-3, that's huge. We just came out and played tough, and I think we played tough for the full 40 minutes."

On Tennessee's length affecting Georgia:

"Defensively, I think we were interrupting a lot of their offense, just not letting them do what they wanted to do, denying them passes, getting in the passing lane, getting steals, and contesting shots. I think it's a credit to our length."

Tennessee Senior Jaime Nared

On having a home court advantage:

"It's great. We have fans that come and support us. They are amazing. I think at half time when we were shooting they were doing a Lady Vol chant. It was so loud. They help us in tough games. Georgia is a really good team. Just to have the crowd intimidating the other team is definitely helpful."

On the SEC standings for the SEC Tournament:

"For the SEC Tournament, of course, it's important especially for two byes. In the NCAA Tournament, we're playing for bigger than now. Winning games and getting better at this point in the season is just huge for us. This was a good win. We just played well together. We have to limit our turnovers, 27 is a whole lot. I'm surprised we still did as well as we did having that many turnovers. We just keep getting better."

On the team having a huge second quarter:

"We held them to single digits that quarter which is huge for us, especially against good teams. We want to do that every quarter, but in big games it's tougher. I think our length was disruptive during the course of the game. In our 2-3 we were roaming around and just communicating which helped us."

On the meaning of today's Live Pink, Bleed Orange game:

"It means so much. It hits home. My aunt was going through breast cancer last year. I mean, just playing for people that are fighting for something that is bigger or that they can't control. We play this game; we are blessed with so much. Sometimes we can take it for granted with what we do and everything we are provided with. Just playing for people that are fighting something that is so tough. We don't even know what they are going through, but you see their positive impact and how they live life. Just playing for them is amazing."

Tennessee Freshman Rennia Davis

On showing emotion during the game:

"I don't know. I just get excited for my teammates to make big plays. People want to make plays themselves, but for me it was exciting to see my teammates finish the pass I gave them."

On her confidence:

"Every game is different for everybody. I think last game I had to do more of the scoring because they were doubling Jaime (Nared) and Mercedes (Russell). This game I didn't have to do as much. I just tried to play within the offense, and we had good results this game."

Georgia Head Coach Joni Taylor

On how difficult it is to play here in Knoxville with the home crowd:

"Well of course it's a tough environment to play in. Tennessee has great fans that pack it out, and they play well at home. That's what you want when you walk into your home arena. You want it to be a tough environment for the opponents. They have done a good job throughout the history of Tennessee basketball in making sure they have a good environment, and their team plays well at home."

On Georgia's offensive struggles:

"First of all, Tennessee is really good, and they're good defensively. Their length bothers a little bit. I think that got us a little frustrated. We started settling for open shots instead of making them guard us in the half court and getting the ball inside and working it inside-out. Fortunately, we were able to, for the most part, hold court defensively. I thought we were pretty good defensively, we just weren't making shots today that we normally make."

On the strength of the SEC and Georgia exceeding expectations:

"I think it talks about the league. When those rankings came out in the beginning of the year, our message was, 'It's not where you start. It's where you finish.' We have put ourselves in a good position, and now we have got to secure that. It's not going to be easy by any means. We have a tough schedule remaining, as every team does in this conference. We have got to take it one game at a time, not look too far ahead. Our conversation isn't even about seeding. It's about the next game we play, and that is the mentality that we have. We have a young team, and so we don't try to get too far ahead of ourselves by talking about the tournament or seeding. It's taking care of the next game in front of you."

On missed opportunities in transition after Tennessee turnovers:

"Yeah, we were bad in transition today, which is not typical of us. But then again, I think Tennessee's length had something to do with that. I also think we started overthinking things and trying to force the issue and get it all back in one possession instead of just making the easy play."

Taja Cole

On how Mercedes Russell's size and length affected Georgia's offense:

"Mercedes Russell is really tall. I think that we were trying to alternate our shots a little bit instead of going directly at her, but we will work on it. We need to be able to finish over—that's not the first time we are going to see a big player like that. We have A'ja Wilson coming in on Thursday, so we will get better at it."

On how big of a battle it is to get byes in the SEC Tournament for a team that was not picked to be in the top four teams:

"It's huge. In the SEC you can never take a break. Every SEC team is a challenge. So for us, I know that we are going to prepare for every team the same way. We are going to continue listening to our coaches and just try to execute what they say the best way."

Mackenzie Engram

On what caused Georgia's offense to get so off track:

"Like you said we were just missing shots that we usually make. In practice we are constantly told to go full speed and not let up. I think that kind of caught up to us tonight, but we were missing shots we usually don't miss, and unfortunately, it didn't work out in our favor."

On their struggles in the second quarter:

"We were prepared for their zone. We knew that was what they would probably come out in, so I don't know if that exactly affected us. I just really don't think that we could buy a bucket, and we were settling a lot for outside shots instead of trying to take it in and get the foul."