University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols vs. Carson-Newman Postgame Qutoes
November 05, 2018 | Women's Basketball
Head Coach Holly Warlick
Opening statement:
"We focused on three things tonight: One was turnovers, and I thought we did a very good job from that end; defensive pressure, we forced turnovers; and rebounding. Now we're going to go back and watch tape. I'm sure we missed box-outs, and we did some things we shouldn't have, but overall, I'm really pleased with our effort and our ability to turn people over and score points."
On the performance of the freshmen:
"The freshmen have impressed me since they've been on campus. They play hard, they play without fear, and they play relentless. That's what has separated them. They're very talented and athletic, and they make things happen. They're really fun to watch."
On how good this team could be at rebounding:
"Forty-one rebounds, I don't care what size they are, that's pretty good. We could be really good. Now, I thought we missed box-outs a lot, and I thought we didn't go to the boards as much as we should have, but it's a great start. It's a great measuring stick for us."
On Zaay Green's infectious personality and if it comes out when she plays:
"She has a great spirit about her. She's that kid who energizes us. She can shoot a three; she can penetrate; she can turn it over, but she turns around and gets it back. Those kinds of players… it's contagious. She blocked a shot and got excited, and I loved that. As long as it's not directed at anyone, which I don't think it was, that energy and that excitement about blocking someone's shot is huge for me."
On what she learns about the team during exhibition games:
"I played a ton of combinations. You learn if they're going to fight when we're ahead. Are they going to stay focused? Are they going to do the things we asked them to do? I didn't think there was a lot of off-the-script for us tonight. I thought we stuck to the game plan very well. The freshmen were a little nervous when they came out, but that went away. We're going to watch tape tomorrow and take away a lot.
On Kasiyahna Kushkituah's performance:
"She has gotten more aggressive. She's stronger; she wants the basketball. I loved her stamina. She played 20 minutes, and she was up and down. You're seeing the result of someone who committed the summer to getting in shape, getting stronger, and getting in the gym and doing reps. I was really pleased and excited for her."
On the team's foul shots tonight:
"That is a concern. A free throw is focus and muscle memory. We're going to shoot 500 a week, probably for the rest of the year. We have to step up to the line and make free throws."
On the tempo of the game:
"My goal is to turn people over, and if you look, we shot a better percentage inside the three. We have the players to do that, get shots in the paint. Those are much higher percentage shots. I thought we took a lot of ill-fated threes. Especially when we're 0-for-4, we may want to get inside the paint and get a two (instead). We want to get easier shots, and when we turn people over, we tend to get easier shots."
On the impact of Cheridene Green and Rae Burrell:
"Last year Cheridene was put in a lot of must-need situations. She had to go in and we're down by five; she had to get the rebound and do a lot of things. You'll see now she's not as nervous with the basketball, but again, that's putting time into the gym. Rae Burrell is one of those kids where, if the ball is around, she's around. She's physical and she's got a little toughness to her. I'm a little worried about her fouling out possibly, but I'd rather her be over-aggressive rather than me having to get her up. Rae just makes things happen. You looked at how she played, and she had great rebounds, great drives. She battles, and that's what I love about her."
On the importance of the Daedra Charles patch on the jerseys:
"The best way we knew to honor Daedra (Charles) was to put a patch there. We took the time and the kids learned the history of the program, and they understand what Daedra did for this program. She won a couple of championships. (She was a) Wade Trophy winner, and they understand she laid the groundwork for what they get to experience right now. Daedra will always be missed, and actually, I think she was just inducted to the Detroit Hall of Fame, so I'm really proud of her on that end. Daedra is a part of our history, and we're not going to forget our history. We're going to learn it; we're going to understand it, and we're going to hope our history pushes us forward. I think that we represent this university as the people that came before them."
On having eight players in double figures:
"I'd take them all in double figures, I love it. This is a very unselfish basketball team, and this is a great example of our togetherness and (how we're a) tight-knit group. They're coaching each other, helping each other, excited about each other, and that's been a long time coming for me to see a group so passionate about each other's success. I just think they don't care who gets the credit, they just want to win the basketball game. As a coach that's what you want. You want to make sure you won the basketball game, and someone's not upset they didn't score 20 points, they're just glad we won."
Tennessee Players
Freshman Guard Zaay Green
On where the team stands after this game:
"This game gave us an idea of where we stand and what we need to work on."
On if the fast tempo helped the team's energy:
"The tempo helps a lot with bringing energy to the court and completing passes."
On if she saw herself leading the team in scoring during her first game in Thompson-Boling Arena:
"Actually, I'm really surprised; I didn't think I was going to score that many points. I'm really excited about moving forward."
On what went well for the team tonight:
"Definitely our energy on defense really helped me a lot. That's what keeps me going."
On how long she's been thinking about getting on this floor and playing for the Lady Vols:
"I've been thinking about this moment since I was very young. Tennessee has been my dream school, so this has really been an accomplishment for me, a high-set goal."
On if there were any jitters coming into tonight:
"At first, I was a little nervous. I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous before the game. I was actually jittery the whole day, but other than that, I started getting comfortable and started feeling like myself."
Freshman Forward Mimi Collins
On where the team stands after this game:
"I agree with her (Zaay Green). It just helped us a lot, because especially as freshmen, we get to see how college is and we can see the competition. Carson-Newman played great defense. They competed, they really helped us move forward."
On being up 60 points at the end of the game and keeping up the mentality:
"I would say this is just a team thing. Even though we were in at the end of the game, us freshmen, we just come together and always have that mentality. Having that defensive, going-after-it mentality worked really well for us. As a team as a whole, we always get after it. It doesn't matter if we're down 50 or if we're up by 50, we'll always get after it. That's what we plan to do this year, compete and be all over the floor."
On the teams rebounding today:
"I would say that's a real asset. That's what Holly put in our heads, that we need to hit the boards over and over. So, that's what we've been trying to go out and do. As a team, that's just what we plan on going out and doing. If we go against real SEC teams and we miss block-outs, we will get killed, and that's just what we don't want to do."
On if there were any jitters coming into tonight:
"I'm a very calm person, so I don't get nervous and jittery. Coming into this game I was so calm. I was like, 'This is a basketball game.' I think of it as me going into another level and knowing that basketball will always be basketball no matter where it's taught."
RS-Senior Forward Cheridene Green
On how confident she feels about their offense:
"I feel very confident because it stems from me working my game a lot, working out and making shots. During the game, when I got the ball I just shot it. It was just natural for me. I didn't really think, and I have a habit of overthinking, but tonight I just played."
On if she thinks tonight's pace was a reasonable pace for this team:
"I think for this team, if we just play at the pace that we need to depending on who we're against, I think that we'll be good at it. We want to play fast. We want to play how we need to at that moment in time, so we're really just stressing taking it one game at a time and doing what we need to do to execute."
On how much the team worked on defense in the offseason and if it payed off tonight:
"It really did. We worked a lot on our defense, and we had a lot of drills that we worked on, and I think it did (pay off). It works. I think when we start playing the top teams, that's when our defense can be put to the test."
Carson-Newman Head Coach Mike Mincey
On playing Tennessee:
"It all blends together to be honest with you. They are very sizable, athletic, and have length. We tried to make them shoot outside, but we didn't always get a hang of that to try to compress them defensively and make them shoot outside as they only went 5 of 24, but they can shoot it. Coach Warlick knows there is a size disadvantage, and they tried to take advantage of it, and they killed us on the offensive glass. They are a very good team. How good can they be? I can't answer that, but this one of the biggest Tennessee teams that I have coached against. I have been coming down here a long time, and it is getting back to the way it was when coach Pat Summitt was here. You come in as a coach and you watch them warm up and you can't believe the amount of size on the floor."
On learning from UT and UNC:
"We are a team that went 32-3 last year. I was encouraged by tonight. I thought our kids really battled. When you look at the starting lineup, every single player was outmatched by a few inches or more than that. I thought we were trying to get bodies on people boxing-out. Maybe a couple were over the back, maybe they weren't. But the thing of it is that it is a different physical game at the Power 5 level. We got humbled at Carolina. We don't typically turn it over like that and get pressed that way. We didn't handle it as well at Carolina like we did tonight. I'm not saying who is better, but I think we went into the Carolina game and got sloppy with stuff even though we turned it over one more time than we did against Carolina. I was pleased how we handled the press. I thought we got some good looks. You're only going to get one shot and it's done. We got nine offensive rebounds, and probably none of those accounted for second-chance points. It's hard to make those open shots when you know you are probably not going to get a second chance with their size. So when we go back into the Division II level this weekend, I think we will be just fine."
On preparing for freshman/Z.Green:
"We didn't try to get into a scout, per say. We had a lot of disadvantages coming in and playing against them. The things we wanted to do was to control turnovers and get offensive rebounds. I felt like our effort didn't match where we wanted to be at Carolina. I thought the effort tonight was much better. Our body language was much better tonight than it was at Carolina. What we wanted to do was to fix some things we did at Carolina and do it on this stage. They are all really good, and they are really big. The only thing we really had game plan wise was to take away the paint, and we didn't do that. We got extended, we allowed drives, and I don't think we took a charge all night. There are things we can always improve on. Getting to play these physical teams really helps us moving forward when it counts on Friday."
On the tempo of the game:
"It is fast, I love it. That is the way we play. That's why you see the high score, because we are going to get down the floor. If we have an open shot in Division II, we are going to take it. We talked about taking it out and trying to burn clock to shorten the game because the tempo was the way it was. This is the way we are going to play, and we are either going to make shots or we're not. I like the way Tennessee is playing. I like getting up and pressing people, and they have the length to do it. I think they have the quickness, and stamina-wise, they played all 10 guys tonight and they all contributed. The thing of it is they are able to get those easy baskets where as we aren't able to get those easy one-foot baskets at the rim. They have the player personnel where they can do it against us."
Junior Guard Mika Wester
On playing in TBA as a senior:
"I can just remember the nerves throughout my whole body when I came out onto this court. I am from Tennessee, and I grew up a Lady Vols fan. I came to the camps my whole life. Just being on this floor was so exciting. My senior year I just had to remember to be poised. I probably led the team in turnovers, but I had to have good body language this game no matter what happens, because we are probably going to lose. You have to know that going into this game."
On recovering from start:
"I think we really just focused on our effort, especially from the North Carolina game, and we really just wanted to get back on defense no matter what happens just to give that effort. I think overall for the North Carolina game we probably had better stats, but it was a different feel for this game. I feel like we had better chemistry, better unity, and just sticking to that. Even though they had a good first start we just had to play through that and play as a team."
