Postgame Quotes: #13 UT 91, #7 UK 54

Feb. 13, 2012

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TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Pat Summitt
(general thoughts)
"This was a great team win tonight. I can tell you our players needed it, our staff needed it and I'm sure our fans needed this win, too.

"Everyone came in and contributed and that is the kind of effort I expect from a Lady Vol team. We lost Glory early to fouls and no one hit the panic button. Instead, we had players step up to get the job done. I can't tell you how pleased I was to see that response from our bench.

"Meighan and Shekinna opened the game with high energy, and that's what we need from them every night. Both of them have been struggling a bit, and it was good to see them have this kind of game. It was fun watching us play such an up-tempo game.

"Meighan played with so much confidence tonight."

(what did you say at halftime to keep the energy up)
"We told them it was a great half but it was in the books. As far as we were concerned, the score was 0-0 to start the second half. We weren't pleased that Kentucky had 12 offensive boards, so we asked them to do a better job boxing out.

"We asked them to refocus and to continue to play with high energy."

(on shooting 60 percent for the game)
"The players put in a lot of work on their own to getting into Pratt Pavilion and putting up extra shots after practice since last Thursday. I think you saw a lot of them shoot the ball with confidence tonight."

(opening up in a zone)
"We opened up in a 2-3 zone, and I'm not sure Kentucky expected us to do that. We were active in our zone so it was really effective and that was a bonus for us."

TENNESSEE ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH Holly Warlick
(opening statement)
"Obviously, we're thrilled. I thought we came out with great energy. We had confidence. We played hard. We had hustle plays. I'm just very proud of this team. They've been beat up and coaches have been hard on them, but they responded like a team we know can come on the court every night. I'm just extremely proud of them and their effort tonight."

(on Tennessee, not Kentucky, dictating tempo)
"I come in here and say `defense and rebounds' and I thought our defense allowed us to go to transition points. That's what we needed. We needed a boost to our defense. If you would have asked me before the game if we were going to play all 2-3 zone, I would've said you're crazy, but our 2-3 was very good. It worked. It was effective. It got us great looks."

(on why Tennessee started in zone)
"The last couple of games we wanted to start in our zone, but we didn't know if we would be aggressive enough. Tonight, we've been saying it. Tonight we just decided before the game, took a poll of our coaches, and just thought it would be really effective for us to go in our 2-3."

(on Meighan Simmons' game)
"She's a scorer. When she scores, we're an outstanding basketball team. I tell you what I was proud with Meighan is that as coaches, her scoring sometimes becomes a given, but I thought she was committed on the defensive end. She was not a liability. She played probably the best defensive basketball since she's been here. I'm proud of her. She's really worked hard on it, and she's made great strides. I thought tonight she was not a liability. She was key in some aspects in our defense."

(on fast-paced tempo, if that makes Tennessee a different team)
"When we run the ball, it gives us energy; it gives us a lot of confidence. When Shekinna Stricklen's sprinting down the floor and we shoot layups, and Glory Johnson's shooting layups, we're a great team. We really are. But it starts with our defense, and I thought our defense started everything for us and got us playing. I thought (Ariel) Massengale handled the ball tonight. We've been pretty tough on her as well. I thought for the most part we handled the ball. We got a little sloppy at times underneath the basket before the first half. Overall, I was pleased with our team effort."

(on whether Tennessee's performance was stunning to coaches -- in a good way)
"I watch them in practice and before way played South Carolina, before we played Vanderbilt, we were a different team. We play hard but it seems to me we couldn't transfer what we did in practice to the game. Tonight, this team was focused. At times we lose our focus. I don't think we were focused at Vanderbilt, and I don't think we were focused here against South Carolina. I think they made a conscious effort of getting themselves ready to play and it showed. You can look how we played those two games and see how we played against (Kentucky) and wonder `what team is this?,' but that's the team we're confident we need to see all the time and that's the team that can be there. They've just got to carry over the things we do in practice to the game."

(on rebounding)
"Kentucky's an outstanding rebounding team, and we really focused on that. We worked really hard the last two days in rebounding and defense, and I think it shows. I've said this program is built on defense and rebounding. And tonight, we did both very well, and when we do those two things, everything else falls into place for us. It was a focal point. At one point, Kentucky was out-rebounding us, and in our huddle, we made sure they knew what we were expecting of them. We played with a lot of heart and a lot of effort, and that's what rebounding is. We had a lot of effort tonight."

(on whether she has an explanation of the technical foul called on Glory Johnson)
"Not really. It was just an official's opinion of the call, and you go with it."

(on players who picked up minutes in place of Johnson with early foul trouble)
"Glory, we had to take her out with two fouls, and Vicki (Baugh) came in and Cierra (Budick) came in and everybody came in and held their own. We rely on Glory to get us going, and she wasn't in the game, wasn't able to play. I was proud of people coming in and taking up the slack and making sure the team stayed focused and competing. Usually, Glory's the one who's our competitor, and tonight, we all competed."

(on if loss to Kentucky made Lady Vols more determined for this game)
"I think so. I think we went up there and missed 12 layups. That's been our demise at times. Tonight we shot almost 60 percent. Yeah, I think we had a little more to prove, were a little more determined because of what happened at Kentucky.

And they're ahead of us in the SEC. We've sort of dug ourselves a hole and we're climbing out. I think our young ladies wanted to make a statement. Kentucky's a great basketball team. They force you to play fast. They force you to take care of the ball. I thoughT we did all those things tonight. We beat a very good basketball game tonight."

(on defensive effort against A'dia Mathies)
"Mathies had a lot to do with our defeat against Kentucky, so she was a focal point for us. We were pretty upset at halftime that she scored the last four points going into the half. We've had a tendency of letting great players go off. We wanted to make sure she didn't have that game she had against us (earlier). We were aware of her, where she was, and wanted to make sure she took tough shots. For the most part, except for that stretch at the end of the first half, we did a good job on her."

(on generating turnovers from the zone, if that was a surprise)
"I am surprised. We never used our press. I kept thinking, `We need to press; we need to press,' but we didn't want to open up the floor. From that standpoint, I was surprised. But you know, when our zone is active, we create turnovers and it worked for us tonight. I think the last time we played 40 minutes of zone was against Georgia here last year. As we say, we're a man-to-man team, but we're going to go with what's going to win the game, and tonight our 2-3 was very good. Our effort was unbelievable for us. I'm proud of our young ladies."

TENNESSEE SOPHOMORE GUARD Meighan Simmons
(On the team's approach to opening this game)
"We knew we had to come out hard, and we knew that the game was going to be physical, so we wanted to be physical before they got anywhere near the physicality that they did the last game. I think we stayed composed during the game and just continued to keep our pedal to the metal. We just ran on them, and I think that's one thing we need to continue doing."

(On shooting well tonight and the Vandy game)
"Everybody gets in the gym. God is good. He has a plan for this team, and we've just got to continue to push forward. No matter what when adversity hits, we've just got to keep going. I was very confident today in my shot, and I was able to just continue to hit baskets. My teammates were able to dish me out the ball, and I wanted to give them the assist, so I hit the shot when I could."

(On her mindset on defense tonight)
"I think this game I knew that Kentucky was going to come out and play intense defense. It wasn't just me at all. I had help. If somebody drove past me, Glory was there to take the hit. Strick (Shekinna) was there. We worked together as a team, but I think my mindset was just to be like a bulldog. That was just really what my mindset was today. I knew defense was going to come first before anything because defense comes before offense."

TENNESSEE SENIOR FORWARD Glory Johnson
(On the crowd)
"We had a great student section for one. It's not hard to get the students out supporting the game of women's basketball. Our fans are always great when it's at home and just having them bringing a positive, energetic environment. That's amazing. I think that helps our team a lot."

(On making a statement tonight)
"Not only the loss to Vanderbilt but when we lost to Kentucky by one when we went over there, just show them that when we're at our house that stuff doesn't happen playing on our home court and having that advantage and having all our fans and our family here. It's great. We're trying to set an example."

(On playing zone defense most of the game against Kentucky)
"I think it was extremely effective. It was hard for Kentucky to run their sets, and when we were communicating and we had our hands high and quick feet and our bumps were quick, I think it was hard for them to set up their offense. They didn't really know what to do. We were out there on their three-point shooters, and they started driving a little bit and picking apart our zone, but when we started communicating more and getting our hands up and moving and talking to each other, that helped so much. That allowed us to be successful."

(On extending the lead after halftime)
"When we went out on the floor after halftime, we were like it's zero to zero. It's a new game. It's a fresh game. Let's start over, and let's play as hard as we can, as hard as we did from the jump. I think when we have that mindset it helps because we're not worried about how many points we're beating the team by. We're trying to work on us. We made a few mistakes, and we tried to pick it up second half. Anything we did wrong we tried to fix it, so just working on ourselves as a team and as individuals."

TENNESSEE SENIOR FORWARD Shekinna Stricklen
(On the importance of starting games with high energy)
"I feel like it's very important. Even my teammates are telling me that. That's really something I have to do every game. I feel like that's something I have let this team down. I just feel like this is a turning point for this team, and it's not just a one-game time. It's time to keep it going."

(On Glory leaving with foul trouble in the first half, creating energy with her on the bench)
"Honestly, being physical like her. She brings a lot of physicality to this team. When she goes out, you have to rebound. You have to be physical because she really brings rebounding to this team."

KENTUCKY HEAD COACH MATTHEW MITCHELL
(Opening statement)
"What a great performance by Tennessee. Very energetic and firing on all cylinders tonight, and they were impressive. Our team is not feeling good, embarrassed, down after that kind of performance. As a coach, really feel like I should have done a better job of getting us prepared to play. It didn't look like we were prepared to play, so that's on me. It was a tough night, but where we have to be right now, we have to have great discipline. We have to have great toughness and bounce back because I don't know, probably should count more than one loss but it only counts as one, so we are leaving town in first place and we need to find some way to get it together and see if we can earn a victory Thursday night. Great night for Tennessee, poor night for us and we'll have to see what we are made of and see if we can bounce back."

(On the status of A'dia Mathies)
"Took a tough flying elbow, wild play under the basket and we're just checking to see if anything is in bad shape. She's being checked right now so hopefully that is not too bad and hopefully she'll be able to bounce back. She's a pretty tough kid, so we are certainly hopeful for the best there."

(On the main difference between the first game and tonight)
"We have not been a great execution team on the offensive end and at that point and time in the season, we were able to not let poor offensive play or execution affect us defensively. I just thought tonight, we're obviously struggling on offense right now. It's not going well for us, and I just thought tonight the biggest difference was we were not able to hang in there and keep it at eight or 10 where we could finally figure it out. We just had some really uncharacteristic defensive effort out there and that as a coach that is what you are so disappointed in. Look, let me tell you something, it is a lot easier for me to sit up here and talk about than it is for those players out there against a talented Tennessee team to stay encouraged and keep fighting, but that's what we should have done tonight and we weren't able to do it so you have to give that credit to Tennessee for playing so well. I think we were able to maybe continue to play defense a little bit better last time."

(On if other teams have played the entire game in zone defense)
"LSU did. We hit a tough spot here on the road. Active, big, athletic zones, they just stand in the paint and force you to make really tough decisions and tough plays. You know I thought we did a decent job of getting the ball inside early. It was a real physical around the basket and we just didn't do as good of job finishing as Tennessee did when they got inside. If I were a coach and I had a zone available, that is probably what I would do right now. Keyla Snowden is better than 0-5 and Amber Smith is better than 0-4 and you know it goes down the list of players who missed shots. This is why it is a long season. We are measured on the body of work for the entire season, so this is tough college basketball in the SEC and we just have to figure out a way to do better and that is a big, big part of my responsibility to coach them better. We are going to see if we can move forward and beat Alabama if we possibly can."

(On the opposition shooting better than 50 percent)
"Well you know, we are not getting as much heat on the ball and we're not able to pressure, and I think people are handling that. They certainly handled it better the last couple games to make enough plays. LSU didn't score that many points on us, we really struggled again offensively against LSU. Tonight was just a complete letdown in transition offense, and Tennessee was very energetic and just played so great, so well. They bounced back from a very disappointing game for them on Thursday, so that's the challenge in front of us now. We need to bounce back. This was very disappointing."

(On if he was tempted to use Bria Goss in the first half with two fouls)
"I was. I thought about doing that. I really thought until the very end of the half we were OK. I just kept waiting for us to make a run and we started turning them over a little bit, we started to get some looks, we just couldn't make any shots. We thought about that. Maybe that could have made a difference. I don't know."

(On whether the struggle in the half-court offense is missing shots or execution)
"It's a combination of the two. Everything looks better when shots go in the basket. That's a tough thing to go through in offensive struggles, but we still have a good team. We still have a lot of talented players. I need to do a better job of coaching and trying to prepare them. This was a very disappointing game, and I am very disappointed in my effort getting them prepared. We should have done better than we did tonight. You have to give a lot of credit to Tennessee in the way that those kids competed and played. They did a great job."

(On if the team should just forget about the game and move on)
"I think so. At this point at the season, I think that is probably the most valuable thing we can do is get the DVD and try to shatter it into a thousand pieces and get our mind focused. We don't have much time. We really have to get focused on Alabama. It is embarrassing tonight. We feel terrible. I wish Kentucky had played better, but we have a lot to play for and I think that would be the best thing for us to move forward and see if we can play a tough Alabama team that played us tough in Lexington. So I think that is probably the course of action here."

KENTUCKY FRESHMAN GUARD BRIA GOSS
(On the challenge of Tennessee playing zone defense)
"Just like coach said, (it was) just our offensive execution when the ball wasn't going in the basket. I felt like as a team we got discouraged where we needed to see that as adversity, which we go through every day and fight back strong. You know we just need to bounce back."

University of Tennessee Athletics

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