Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 90 Stetson 56

Dec. 30, 2015

Highlights |  Warlick Presser |  Players Presser |  Box Score |  Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick

(Opening Statement)
"I thought we played hard. I was pleased with our effort. I though that was one of our better games here at Thompson-Boling Arena. We're getting there. We are making great strides. I'm just proud of our effort."

(On the difference in the offense tonight)
"Well, I think Stetson started off in a man-to-man and we got great looks, and then they went to zone. We've really worked hard on our zone and moving the ball and getting inside. We get a little happy with the three point shot. I think we made five of them, so that kind of sucks us in a little bit. We attacked the basket. We moved the ball. I thought out passing today was really, really good. When you move the ball and cut, you get open looks, and I think thats what we did. We've really committed a lot of time to our offensive play. Our defense is solid. Our goal was to disrupt. Disrupt, make them uncomfortable, take them out of their offense, I think for the most part we did. They scored a lot by just putting their head down and going to the basket. We've got to get a lot better of defending one-on-one when people just go hard to the basket. I thought we challenged the ball. We got up and denied the passing lanes. Mercedes Russell was huge inside. I've asked her so many times to just be a presence inside, and I thought she was tonight."

(On Diamonds DeShields play)
"I've watched Diamond [DeShields]. I've said earlier that she was thrown in early without a lot of practice. Everybody's expectations of Diamond was for her to take up where she left off. She was out a year, and she's had problems with her shins. I've been really encouraged. She's practicing hard, but she's getting to stay in practice. She doesn't have to sit out of practice now. I think you're seeing the results of her getting a chance to play with the team, getting up shots, and just practicing a full practice."

(On if you've found your starting lineup)
"Well I think I found one. I think Mercedes [Russell] and Bashaara [Graves] are solid. I think Andraya Carter has been solid. Diamond [DeShields] has a really strong game at Oregon State. Kortney Dunbar has just been reliable in practice. I preach a lot of `If you practice hard, you're going to get the opportunity.' She's started for us. She's gotten herself to a good start. I just thought she deserved to start. Last year, she was learning to play defense, and this year she has not been a liability for us. She's rebounding, and we know what she can do on the three-point shot."

(On if your disappointed in the number of three point shots)
"I think the difference in this game and the Oregon State, Oregon State fanned out and guarded us more outside the arc, and Stetson didn't. They were giving us open looks. Not so much disappointed, I think we have to understand that when we're not hitting then `ok, let's get a couple of twos, then maybe we'll come back to the three-point shot.' They were wide open. I don't think we shot a bad three point shot. They're wide open. I can't fault them for that. I think today with the success, the shooting percentage, we probably should have gotten the ball in on penetration more."

(On where team is at heading into SEC play)
"You know, I feel great about us. I really do. I keep saying I think the Oregon State game was a great turnaround game for us. We identified what we thought our weaknesses were. We've really worked on them. The players have bought into what we want, what we need. When your players buy into a system or game plan, it's powerful.

"I feel good going into the SEC now. Missouri is a tough opponent. Missouri isn't your typical SEC team. They spread the floor. They have three-point shooters. They penetrate. They're hard to guard. They've got a freshman right now who's been phenomenal. They're 12-0, ranked 16th, so we've got our hands full. I like our chances because of how we're playing and how together we're playing."

(On Alexa Middleton's return and having a healthier bench)
"I thought Alexa came in and got some good minutes. I don't think she's badly out of shape and if she was, she wasn't going to let you know. I thought she had some great passes. I think the last person that I know who stepped out of bounds and hit a three was Cindy Brogdon and that was before the three-point line. She got called for stepping out. That's pretty good range and she made it. That's even better.

"I thought Jaime Nared had an exceptional game. She started playing off-balance early, taking shots, but she got under control. She was working inside. I was really pleased with our defensive end and offense. Probably in the second quarter was not our best. We just kind of settled. We corrected some things at halftime and came out, and I thought the third and four quarters were good for us."

(On takeaways from the night's game)
"Probably a couple of things. My goal is to get inside more. our post players are shooting above 50 percent. Now that's going to vary when people double down on you and it's hard for you to get the ball, but we can get the ball inside with penetration as well. We've got to quit turning over the ball. There's a fine line. We turned the ball over tonight attacking. I'm telling them to push, so I've got to live with some of those turnovers. I think we've got to be a little more careful with our decisions. We've got to connect a little more. We need our turnovers to go down. There are some opportunities where we don't even get a shot off. Getting the ball inside a little better, lowering our turnovers and one-on-one defense. We're disrupting and now everybody's doing is putting their head down. We've got to disrupt and play one-on-one defense and keep them in front of us. Make them make plays in front of us. Make them make a shot that's difficult. A wide open layup with no one in between you, you should make it. You're in college. But you need to make shots difficult. And that's what what we've got to do better on."

(On Te'a Cooper's game)
"Take away the turnovers and she was being aggressive ... The cameraman didn't have his hands ready for that one. It didn't hit him right ... There are some we need to take back, but some were just attacking. Te'a likes to attack. What gets her in trouble is when she attacks and gets up in the air and decides not to shoot, so she's looking around for someone to throw to. She's got to get her mid-range jumper. She's got to take those a lot more. She can do it, but for some reason she doesn't like to take it. It's either all or none. She either goes to the basket or she's going to take a three. She's really really good at the mid-range jumper. She's just got to trust it and take it."

Tennessee Guard Diamond DeShields

(On continuing to get healthier)
"I feel a lot better, I do. I was definitely elevated a lot better than I have been all season. I give a lot of credit to our trainer and strength coach for helping me get through my injuries. So yeah, I feel better, but I'm still trying to work out some kinks. But I do feel a lot better."

(On how the team played overall)
"Like Holly said, we did a lot of great things, but we also have a lot of things to work on, our one on one defense being one of them. We had a hard time keeping our man in front of us. So we're definitely not satisfied, but very pleased with the win. You can't really discredit what we did out there tonight. We played team basketball. But we know we still have a lot to work on. So we're just going to come in and practice and get ready for Missouri."

(On starting the game fast)
"It's definitely a huge confidence booster for me. Personally, I've been pretty up and down this season, I'll have a great game and then a not so great game. So I think I'm really feeling out the game, and feeling out what I can do with the players that are out on the floor, and the spacing that I'm getting from them. So yeah it was just a huge confidence booster, hopefully I can carry it on to the rest of the season, not just next game. My teammates will continue to get me the ball and trust me to knock down the shots."

Tennessee Guard Te'a Cooper

(On continuing to learn to play with each other)
"We're all getting used to playing with each other with all the injuries we've had, but I think we've done a better job of playing with each other."

(On what changed at halftime to propel the team to a third quarter run)
"Holly just said we had to separate ourselves and dominate, so that's what we went out there and did."

Tennessee Wing Jaime Nared

(On continuing to recover from injuries)
"It's different practicing and then actually getting into games and playing with everybody because it's been a while, but it's just nice to be out on the court with my team and get a win."

(On the difference today offensively)
"We had a lot of transition points, we pressed them the whole game, and I think we played good on defense and played the passing lanes. Everyone did a great job of getting up and playing good defense as a team."

(On where the team is as a whole right now)
"The nice thing about this team is that we keep getting better. So this isn't the best that we're going to be, but it's progress from the beginning of the season. We will get better going into SEC play. It's way more competitive, and we'll bring it."

Stetson Head Coach Lynn Bria

(Opening statement)
"It was a good game for them. I thought we did a good job in the first half with handling their pressure. It is hard to simulate how good they are in practice. In the second half, that wore us down a little bit. I thought we kind of deviated from the game plan. In the first half, we didn't want to come down and take a quick shot, but in the second half, we got really rushed and took a lot of quick shots. We gave them a lot of run outs. I thought the pressure in the second half really bothered us."

(On Tennessee pulling away in the second half)
"We didn't start very well. Traditionally, we have not started very well in the second half. We traditionally do not come out ready to go. It is certainly something that we need to address. It wasn't just this game that we haven't started well. It has been about every game. Against a team like Tennessee, you can't afford to do that. They are just too good. They will make you pay, and they did. Watching them on film, you could tell their chemistry wasn't completely there. Today, they looked like their chemistry was very good. I think they are working out some kinks too. In the second half, they began to go inside more. I thought the offensive rebounds hurt us as they started to finish a little better around the basket."

(On benefits of a game like this)
"I wanted to play them because, for a team like us, it is all about winning our conference. What we have to take away is the kind of shots that we got. In our conference, they aren't going to be as big. They aren't going to block as many shots. For us, that is encouraging. For a team like Tennessee, they expose where we can get a lot better. In the second half, their pressure bothered us. I thought we handled it well in the first half. Obviously, we still have some work to do. They have always had a great rebounding team, and for a team like us, we have to make sure we get a body on someone all the time. They make us play more disciplined, and that is good for us. When it comes right down to it, we are trying to win our conference. That is the main thing for us."

"The last time I came here, Tennessee really walloped us. It was a regional tournament about six years ago. We were the No. 16 seed and Tennessee was the No. 1 seed. They pulverized us. I think they beat us by 60 or 70 points. The fans here are first-class. I knew if I brought them here, they would get a great crowd. It's an incredible atmosphere for us. I think they run a first-class operation here. We respect them. We wanted to come out and fight, and I think it is important for our players to come out here and be a part of this."

Brianti Saunders

(On playing Thompson-Boling Arena's atmosphere)
"It was a great atmosphere, but you can't worry about what is outside of the game. I knew I had to stay aggressive and stay with our game plan. I wanted to do what I had to do to help our team win."

(On what was made difficult by Tennessee)
"Their size was a big problem. We should have limited their paint touches a lot more and stopped their transition. I think those were they key points from the game, and we deviated from that. That is what caused us to lose the lead that we had cut down. If we would have done that, it would have been a much closer game for us."

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