University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols Crush Dynamo Kiev, 144-52
November 05, 2000 | Women's Basketball
- Box Score
TENNESSEE VS. DYNAMO KIEV
November 5, 2000
Post-Game Quotes
TENNESSEE HEAD COACH PAT SUMMITT: "I told our team that it was a treat for us to face someone other than ourselves. In practice, we've been wanting to do some things but have not been able to do them because everybody knows everybody and knows what the calls are going to be. I thought we were able to go to the low block and post down low. I think it's obvious that we're committed to going with an up-tempo game. Our decision-making was greatly improved over yesterday's practice."
"I thought we showed much improvement over yesterday (in practice). Yesterday, we had an inability to get the ball inside. I told Kara (point guard Lawson) that hopefully she was playing against the best defense in the country when she faced her teammates. Today, the passing lanes were more open. The team responded and is committed to doing it."
"I thought Shalon (Pillow's) play today was a reflection of her commitment in the off-season. I know at our summer camps, it seemed like she was more serious about her game. It's an important time for her to step up. I said yesterday that I thought our post game was too soft."
"I was encouraged by our passing and our decision-making. There were a few breakdowns, but you can tell a lot about a team by how they pass. It's obvious if a player is selfish. We can be the best team in the conference and play for a chance to go to St. Louis if we play together. We've got to take advantage of our depth. We've got people who can knock down shots. It's like Coach (John) Wooden says, "A good passing team is a sign of an unselfish team", and we saw that in spurts today."
(on today's lineup) "I thought from October 14 until today that Kara (Lawson) was our best player at the point, and Semeka (Randall) was our best player in this offense. Tamika (Catchings) is playing a new position, and she has had to make some adjustments. Inside, I thought Gwen (Jackson) and Ashley (Robinson) have outworked our other posts. I expect more out of our juniors, so I rewarded these two (Jackson and Robinson) players. They showed a lot of poise."
"I think this team has a chance defensively to mirror the team of 1998. They have the speed and quickness, and the veteran players understand the mindset."
SEMEKA RANDALL: "It was fun, just getting up and down the court. We know if we don't do that (get up and down the court), Coach is going to sub us out."
TAMIKA CATCHINGS: "It was a lot of fun, getting down the court. We know that when we're in, we've got to go 4-6 minutes as hard as we can and then come out. We've got to run, make the transition baskets, convert, then get back on defense."
DYNAMO KIEV HEAD COACH LYUDMYLA NAZARENKO: (on the game) "Our team has never played against this caliber of opponent and we were not ready. Hopefully we learned some things tonight and next time we will play better. There is a big difference between the basketball that we play and the basketball that is played in the NCAA. This basketball (NCAA) is more physical and aggressive. This style of play is hard to adjust to if you have never really played against it."
