University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL HOOPS REPORT (1/25/17)
January 25, 2017 | Women's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Head Coach Holly Warlick met with the media on Wednesday, as the Lady Vols prepare for their SEC match-up against Florida on Thursday. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. ET at Exactech Arena and will be carried online on SECN+ and through WatchESPN.
Tennessee (12-7, 3-3 SEC) meets the Gators (10-9, 1-5) for the 53rd time in the series. The Lady Vols are coming off a 91-63 victory over Vanderbilt and are aiming for their second SEC road win of the season.
Here are some of Warlick's thoughts heading into the game.
Head Coach Holly Warlick Quotes
(On Florida's team this season)
"Florida is a really well-coached team. Coach Amanda Butler does a great job, and she has kids that play hard. The kids don't care if there are five people or ten people; they come ready to play. I don't anticipate anything different. They have always played tough; they beat us last year coming in here. They are not going to back down to Tennessee, and (I) don't expect them to. Unfortunately, they lost one of their best scorers, but I don't think that young lady wanted to be on the team, so I think their team is playing hard and better off without the negativity."
(On how the bench performed last game)
"It is huge for us. It is tough to play five people, and we need our bench and they need to come ready to play. I am really proud of them. In the Vanderbilt game, they stepped up and did some really good things. They are capable of helping us, and they are capable of playing big minutes, so we need them. They have to perform because it is a 40-minute game, and I have said this before, but it's hard for kids to play forty minutes the way we want to play and need to play. We have to have them ready to play."
(On Alexa Middleton getting on track)
"I am trying to get her focus off of herself. She isn't selfish, but I think she wants to do so well and score, and it gets in her head a little bit. I think when Alexa focuses on our team she in turn becomes a better player. She hits big shots, she gets in the gym, and I really don't worry about her. She was in a little slump, but she can do things like shoot the basketball and is good at it. I am just trying to get her to focus on the ability to run the basketball, the ability to play defense and there are so many other things she can focus on. I think when she does that her shots are going to continue to fall."
(On changing up the routine on the road)
"We changed warm-up suits, so we are going with orange instead of grey. I am serious. We have had a couple of days of good practice, and hopefully, we will have a good one today to get us focused. I am superstitious, but we just have to go out and play."
