University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 65, South Carolina 46
February 25, 2018 | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Holly Warlick
Opening statement:
"I'm really excited for this basketball team. We wanted to come out with high energy and play hard. Probably the first two quarters we settled. I thought South Carolina controlled the tempo. After the half we attacked and just ramped up our defense. South Carolina is a great basketball team. We had to be clicking on all cylinders. I was really proud of our team and excited for these seniors who have meant a lot to this basketball program to leave on a really high note."
On only being down by five at the half despite struggling from the floor:
"We talked about it at halftime. We weren't shooting the ball well, and we were only down by five. We made some adjustments and attacked the basket; that's what we did, and our defense got going. Our players love to press. I don't have to beg them to press. You look at Jaime Nared's stats and her presence on the press, it's just awesome. That got the momentum to turn our way, just by her presence on the ball."
On A'ja Wilson not playing today and changing the game plan:
"It didn't. We stuck with the same game plan. A'ja Wilson is a great player, but she's not here, and we have to move on. We've had kids miss and sit out from injuries or whatever. That's part of it. South Carolina is very capable of winning a basketball game without A'ja Wilson."
On the second half:
"We knew we were going to go to Mercedes (Russell) at the beginning of the third quarter. We set up a play for her. We went in to her, and she scored. We pressed. We started attacking the basket. Evina Westbrook was flying through the lane attacking the basket, either she scored or got fouled and that's what we needed to set the tone. Rennia (Davis) did it and Meme (Jackson) did it. Rennia had a great game. She is just so solid right now. She does things to get her easy looks. She gets position. She had 10 rebounds and five on the offense boards which allowed her to score points."
On possibly playing South Carolina in the SEC Tournament:
"I hope we get to play them, and that's fine by me. Auburn is who we are looking at (first). We've, at times, struggled with Auburn. They press. We press too, so it could be an up-and-down, fun game to watch, or it could be two teams struggling to get it past half court. If we get past Auburn we are matched up with South Carolina. It's a new game. They'll try something different. We'll try something different, just like Auburn. My concern is Auburn because they have a great press and a great zone. We are going to have beat the press and move. We can't look ahead."
On recent third quarter performances and not playing well in the first half:
"I'd like to just tell other teams, 'Let's just start in the third quarter,' because we are coming out strong. That's something we've got to get straight. We have to start the game off better, but a great sign is that (tonight) our offense did not affect our defense, and in the past it has. I think they understand that our defense can lead to easy buckets when we get after it and play hard. We'll go back and look at it and see what we need to do. They'll watch it. We will adjust and get better."
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Senior Mercedes RussellÂ
On what adjustments were made at halftime:
"I think we really came out in the third quarter and just jumped on them defensively. I think our press was really good; it really forced a lot of turnovers and sped them up on offense. I think that was really what helped us get on a run."
On how she reacted when learning that South Carolina forward A'ja Wilson would not play:
"We didn't find out until about 15 minutes before tip, so I don't think we changed our mindset or our game plan or anything. We were just ready to play no matter who was coming on the court. Obviously losing a starter like that is huge, but it's something you've got to deal with."
On having her mother at the game:
"It is her first time being here in Knoxville. It was awesome. Obviously, a lot of emotion just being the last home game as a senior in the SEC. Hopefully we get to host in the NCAA (tournament). She was excited, obviously very emotional like I said, but really happy."
On team's defense the past two games:
"It's been huge for us. We've really had a lot of time just to work on our press, and I think it's getting better each and every game. I think, especially the last two games, we've done a really good job just pressing teams and forcing a lot of turnovers."
Junior Meme Jackson
On what full court press does for defense:
"First of all, it gives us a spark for the offensive transition buckets. I know everybody is willing to give 100 percent effort and energy when they step on the floor, so being able to press full court the whole game is awesome for our team."Â
On team's turnovers in the first half:
"A lot of them were just unforced turnovers and careless mistakes that we were making. Coach was just telling us that we just have to slow down and play our own game and don't play into their hands. They were trying to control the tempo, so we tried to control the tempo in the second half, and we did a really good job at limiting turnovers.
On Cheridene Green taking team's first charge of the season:
"The coaches have been trying to get us to take charges. She set the tempo right there when she took the first two charges."
On playing Auburn in opening game of SEC tournament:
"Right now we take it game by game, but I know with Auburn, they like to press a lot and they like to show their zone press half court. We just have to take care of the ball and be patient and control our own tempo, don't play into their hands, and play our game."
Freshman Rennia Davis
On hitting a 3-pointer to end the third quarter:
"We didn't even run the play right. I was just happy the shot went in, really. I just think it was a spark for us along with the defense. I think we started hitting shots in the third quarter. Obviously, that was a big shot for us."
On what she is looking forward to at SEC tournament:
"The SEC is the best league in the country for women's basketball. We get a reminder of that every night with every team we play. I think that for us, we've just got to stay defensive minded. When we're getting defensive stops, and we're running in transition, we're one of the better teams in the SEC. When we sag off and play casual on defense, it's not as good for us. Going into the tournament, I think for us, we just gotta stay defensive minded as a team."
On her favorite moments with the seniors:
"It's just fun being around all three of them every day to practice with them, play with them. Their leadership… coach Holly always says it's improving throughout the season. I think that for me being a freshman, somebody like Jaime - specifically, because we play most similar out of those three - it's just nice having her to practice with every day."
On why it took until the third quarter for Tennessee's defensive pressure to pay off:
"I've been saying all year that I think we're a third quarter team. I think that third quarters in most games, we came out way better than the first half. That's a consistency thing right now that we can definitely improve on. I think third quarters for us, especially if stuff isn't going well in the first half, we're a team that doesn't like to lose, so the third quarter is always huge for us."
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South Carolina Head Coach Dawn StaleyÂ
On when A'ja Wilson is expected back:"I'll be on bended knees, hoping that she will be back Friday. I don't know. I think, first and foremost, (what's important) is her health and making sure that she is healthy. We are going to take it day-by-day obviously, because vertigo isn't something you mess around with."
On when Wilson's vertigo first presented itself:
"I think she had some symptoms on Friday, and we didn't really know what it was. It was confirmed on Saturday."
On if this is something Wilson has dealt with before:
"It is probably something she has dealt with, not during the season, but this is just the first time during the season we have had to deal with it."
On what she is looking for from her team in the SEC Tournament:
"I just want us to compete. I thought we competed today, but we just had too many live ball turnovers. If we can set our defense up, I thought we were pretty good. It's just the live ball turnovers that create easy baskets. And then, just taking care of the rebounding. We didn't do a great job of doing that during the second half."
On if the turnovers were the biggest issue in the third quarter:
"Yeah, live ball turnovers and rebounding. They just out-hustled us. When we are undermanned like that, we have to win the hustle plays. We have to box out. It doesn't matter if we score a whole lot of points. We can't allow them to have multiple opportunities at the basket."
On if Tennessee being a No. 7 seed at 11-5 in conference play and South Carolina being a No. 2 seed at 12-4 speaks to the depth of SEC:
"It does. This has been going on for some time now, where we beat each other up, and its really hard to get a top-four seed heading into the tournament. I think it shows great coaching, great players, great teams, great programs, and ultimately a great league to be a part of because it is so competitive."
On how critical it was for South Carolina to clinch a top-four seed:
"I thought we controlled our own destiny. We took care of what we needed to take care of. Just not having A'ja (Wilson), it's a big deal, but we are going to the tournament with nine players, hopefully. The more rest we can get the better, because we are going into the tournament to win it. We have to play three games to do that. The more rest we have, the better for us."
On how aware the team was of having already secured the two seed before the game started:
"We knew Georgia won, so that was good. We had our eye on that particular game, because that was the deciding factor. It was good to come into this game without any pressure, but in the back of my mind, I'm thinking about what does this do to us as far as the NCAA selection committee. I hope they don't hold our two losses against us—two of our five losses not having A'ja (Wilson). I hope they take that into consideration."
Sophomore Tyasha Harris
On the difference in the third quarter:
"They came out ready to attack and kind of put us on our heels. They went on a run, and they just kept going with their run. They just went down with it."
On difference between this time and last time South Carolina played Tennessee:
"They were out there more and denied me the ball a lot. That was probably it. I didn't look for my shot that much either. My teammates, they took care of the ball and got their shots up, so that was good."
On what the team wants to get squared away over the next week heading into the NCAA Tournament:
"Probably just getting healthy and getting back to normal. Not being so tired, and getting focused and locked in again."
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan
On when she learned she was starting and how it felt:
"It was similar to what happened last year. Coach let me go out there and be comfortable in my game."
