Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 92, App. State 66

Dec. 14, 2016

Head Coach Holly Warlick

(Opening Statement)
"Well first it was really exciting to see my great friend Angel Elderkin on the sideline. It takes a lot of courage and will to battle breast cancer and take care of your basketball team. That's the kind of person that Angel is. She's a great example of when you think you're having a rough day, you just have to talk to her and you'll understand that she values every day of her life. It was fun seeing her on the sideline.

"We played three great quarters. I have no idea why we didn't get off to a good start in the first quarter. We hung in there. I don't know. It just takes a while to get going and when we got going we were very good. Looking at Jaime Nared's performance, she's our blue-collar worker. She works and she demands it. She demands it from her teammates. I've got to give her a lot of credit for getting this team moving and motivated.

"Alexa came in and just was solid. I thought she took shots that were very makeable. She shot layups and I'm really proud of her effort. I'm really proud of everybody coming out and getting past the first quarter and staying solid."

(On the three-quarter court press)
"We have not worked on it because we needed to focus on just half court one-on-one. I thought we needed to press to get us going and moving and try to get us to get some easy baskets. I thought they handled it well. We probably haven't worked on it in three weeks. If you're a basketball player and you've been taught it, you know your areas. I thought they handled it very well. It was effective too."

(On Alexa Middleton's performance tonight)
"I've told Alexa a lot of times, `just play within yourself.' Alexa doesn't have to make an outstanding play. I just try to tell her to let the game come to her and I thought tonight she did. She drove to the basket when she needed to. I thought she was a solid leader. I think when she just settles down and doesn't worry about missing the shot or getting beat on the drive, I think you're going to get the result that she did. She came out in the first quarter and asked me what she was doing wrong on defense. That was huge because she wasn't concerned about anything on the offensive part. I just thought she was very focused tonight and prepared. She didn't do anything to cause her to have any turnovers and she didn't need to create anything. She just played within her game."

(On Tennessee's rebounds tonight)
"We got the ball inside. There's no secret. We need to get the ball inside. You see Mercedes Russell got it and Jaime Nared posted for points, drove to the basket. That's how our shooting percentage goes up because we're attacking the basket. And we're getting second-chance points. A lot of times we needed to get some more rebounds and we're going to continue to do that. If you're going to be a solid basketball team and you're going to win at the highest level, you have to be able to defend and that's usually one on one. You have to be able to rebound on both ends of the floor. You have to make sure your opponent doesn't get the rebound and you get the rebound because you need second chance points. I know we've always preached it here at Tennessee, but it's been proven. You have to have those things."

(On altering Tennessee's three point shots)
"It was just stop shooting the three. Don't shoot the three. Get the ball inside. Attack the paint. I guarantee if you poll the majority of the people in the stands, they would say the same thing. The degree of difficulty shots for us in the first quarter were like six to eight. It needs to be a one through three. It needs to be a layup. It needs to be an uncontested shot and that requires moving the basketball. Don't let the basketball get stuck in your hands, passing and cutting. We've gotten better."

(On the production from the bench)
"I thought they came in and made a difference for us. I thought Jordan Reynolds was struggling a little bit early and Alexa came in. I thought Kortney Dunbar came in and did some good things. She rebounded. We've really been on her about rebounding and playing in a stance. You look at Schaquilla Nunn and you think, `how did she get 12 points?' She figures out a way to do that. I was glad to get Kamera Harris in and get her some experience. That's all she needs as well. I thought they came in and were solid and they didn't make a lot of mistakes. Between our bench, there were no turnovers. That's huge. There were three steals. The thing about being on the bench is you're not at the advantage of playing. You normally come in when somebody is tired or somebody is not doing too well and so you're immediately expected to raise the level of the game. It's hard for somebody to come off the bench and I thought tonight our players coming off of the bench were solid. They were very effective. Alexa Middleton held it together for us in the first quarter."

(On aggressive starts in the future)
"I don't know. Instead of getting introduced down the stairs, maybe we need to run up the stairs a little bit. I'm watching them and we're back three feet off the ball handler and I'm telling them to get up and I'm acting like I'm crazy. We didn't practice getting back off of them. I don't understand why we're doing that. Until we get a timeout and send them in the right direction, we don't tend to do it but we'll straighten it out tomorrow."

Tennessee Guard Alexa Middleton

(On getting the game turned around)
"We just talked about how we needed to find some energy and I think that's what we did. We got some stops on defense and that turned into offensive points."

(On bringing energy off the bench)
"That's what Holly asks of me and I feel like I try to do that. I feel like that's my role."

(On not taking a 3-pointer tonight)
"I think that's just how it ended up, driving the basket was open so I just kept doing that since that's what they were giving us."

Tennessee Guard Diamond DeShields

(On if cleaning up the slow starts is a priority)
"A lot, it's been pretty trendy for us this season. Not in a positive direction, it's definitely had a negative impact on our team and the way we start games. That's what we need to focus on in warm-ups, when we come out how are we going to generate some energy so that we cannot have those slow, lagging starts. That's definitely going to be the focal point going into Sunday."

(On changing the defense to start the second quarter)
"We ran our three-quarter court press, which we hadn't worked on at all, which was kind of funny when Holly called it. We're like, 'alright let's run it.' We were able to get a couple deflections, get them out of rhythm, slow their offense down because they had been penetrating the heck out of us all game. I think that's probably what they're talking about; the adjustment we made but as far as half-court defense, just getting into a stance getting our feet in position that way we don't get beat middle and help outside is really just an effort thing."

Tennessee Forward Schaquilla Nunn

(On finding a grove within the system)
"I think it's just getting more comfortable especially with the team. This is my first year here and then I was out so I just think it's a comfort level. Just getting back into the swing of things. We have the opportunity to just focus on basketball since we're out of school."

Appalachian State Head Coach Angel Elderkin

(Opening Statement)
"I really like the way that our team started the game. That has been one of the things we have really been working on. I thought we came out and really battled in that first quarter. In the second quarter, the shots that we were making in the first didn't go down. It led to some transition baskets. We know as a group, we have to take some of the moments in this game that were very good and build on them. We need to go back and look at our transition defense and our rebounding. We need to improve as we move forward."

(On how Appalachian State played against Tennessee's defense in the first quarter)
"Part of our game plan was to get everyone high. We know that they are really aggressive. So, we were worried more about passing the ball with them tonight. So, our game plan was to get everybody high, and really look to attack off the bounce."

(On Appalachian State's defense throughout the game)
"I think when they went to the press defense, it slowed us down a little bit. When they were in the press defense, we didn't get a chance to set up our offense. So, we were taking quick shots off the press. That was one adjustment I thought they made that disrupted us a little bit. Anytime we were able to get the ball set, we had really good shots."

(On areas Appalachian State did well, and areas she feels that they can improve)
"I'll attribute their paint points to their transition points. When they're shooting layups, that is paint points. That was a lot of our transition defense. I thought that we missed a couple box-outs because we were rotating in penetration. One-on-one, I am really proud in the way our post players stepped up today."

(On what it meant to be back in Knoxville at Thompson Boling Arena)
"It was a great feeling. Before the game, I went my old path. I didn't walk by Tennessee's bench. I walked where Tennessee comes out. Holly came over and she said, `you went the wrong way'. I said, `Yeah, I know, but is it bad luck?' Then, she just game me a really big hug. I saw the same security guards and the same people. I just needed to take that walk one more time."

Appalachian State Guard Madi Story

(On quick start in the first quarter of the game)
"The biggest thing was having the opportunity to play against Tennessee. It was huge. We talked about it before the game; it's not our house to defend, but while we're on the court, we need to respect it. I think that was just the mindset of our team coming out. We just wanted to give it all we had. We wanted to really try and work as a team, because it was a great opportunity. There is so much history here. There have been so many great coaches and players here. I think the biggest thing was that we didn't want to pass up our opportunity."

Appalachian State Guard Joi Jones

(On what it means to play for Coach Elderkin and wear the `We back Pat' patches on Appalachian State's uniforms)
"It means a lot. Coach Angel is inspiration. Pat Summitt is inspiration. To follow under Coach Angel's lead, and know how legendary Pat Summitt was here, we had a lot to play for. We played for more than just ourselves. It meant a lot to us."

(On the differences of Appalachian State's performance throughout the game)
"We just got back to our offense. We shied away from it in the second and third quarter. That is why we weren't knocking down shots. It was about us getting back to the plays that Coach Angel drew up. We executed the plays."

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