Lady Vols vs. Notre Dame Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick

Opening statement:
"I first want to say that I appreciate Dan Fleser covering us for 30-plus years. I just want to make sure to give the appreciation for him covering the Lady Vols. He is just outstanding, and I appreciate his time. Secondly, it was our biggest fan total that we have had. That was huge. They were into it, and I appreciate that as well. It was a hard-fought game, and the first two quarters were great, but I did not want to go in at halftime. The beginning of the third quarter we had three turnovers, and they capitalized on us. That hurt us. I look down and we have 11 turnovers, and that is a lot, but not as much as we have had. But the third quarter we had eight, and they capitalized on them. (I'm) disappointed about the outcome, but our players did not have anything else left in the tank. They fought and they played hard. That is a great step for us and a good process for this team."

On Arika Ogunbowale and slowing her down in the first half and then she got going in the second half:
"I thought in the third quarter she was attacking the basket more. We would miss shots, and they would get rebounds and get the fast break going. We were really concerned about them getting the fast break going. She got out ahead and attacked the basket. We gave too many and-ones. We fouled and they would get the basket. She's one of if not the best players in the country, and we held her in check until she figured out how to get points. We have to be mindful of that. I thought our turnovers were too costly. Our missed rebounds were costly."

On Zaay Green's play and how encouraging it is moving forward:
"Zaay did exactly what we expect her to do. She penetrated and is one of our best players that can penetrate the gap and take good shots. I thought she took good shots. She did not take the floater. She stopped and jump shot. Her defense I thought was solid. We need her to do that all the time. I expect her to do that, and it has always been expected. Now she showed she can continue to do that."

On the defense in the first half:
"We did a lot of man and zone depending on if they scored or not. We needed some bigs in there because (Jessica) Shepard and (Brianna) Turner work well together. When Kasi (Kushkituah) got into foul trouble, we needed a big body. I was really proud of Kam (Harris). She came in and did her role. She was physical. She got rebounds. I was really proud of Kam. She has had about four really good practices, and I am going to reward her for that."

On the timetable of Meme Jackson:
"It is the same - day-to-day. We missed not having her on the defensive end, but it is what it is. Everybody played and we put it all out there."

On Rennia Davis:
"Rennia is a solid offensive player, she's just pressing a little bit. We're trying to get her shots around the basket. She's just thinking about it a little too much. She's feeling, at times, that she has to carry this basketball team. But she is going to turn it around. I have a lot of confidence in her, a lot of faith in her. People stepped up to help her tonight, it wasn't all on her shoulders. But, we'll go back and watch the tape. I don't think she took too many bad shots; they just didn't go in."

If the team valued its possessions more in the first half opposed to other games:
"We talked a lot about that. We talked about how Notre Dame plays off of turnovers. We talked about the value of the basketball and having the opportunity to get shots. We did a really good job and Notre Dame adjusted a little bit. They jumped out in passing lanes and got steals. I thought in the third quarter a couple times we were too quick to shoot the basketball. One of our game-planning goals was to move the defense and make them have to play, go side-to-side, and then if you're open on the first pass, you are going to be open on the fifth and sixth pass. I thought the third quarter we could have shot the basketball a little bit more like we did in the first half."

On the team being young and playing well against a veteran team:
"We had two really, really good, focused practices. Our game plan was very simple. We are young, but we need (everyone). We need to play these kids. I thought they competed. They are taking the loss very hard because of what they did. We have young players, and they're getting better and better each game. They didn't look at Notre Dame as seniors. They had a lot of respect for them as does our whole staff. But, that didn't deter us from competing, and that's what we talked about -- just compete."

On young players playing so many minutes:
"They were very focused today. I thought they played hard. Did they make mistakes? Sure they did. But, you have to go with it, because you can make a mistake and your effort can cover up for a lot of things, and I thought their effort was solid. I will continue to say that. Talent doesn't mean a lot if you don't have the heart, the effort, the grit. I thought we had that tonight. We're going to build on it, but these kids are being thrown to the fire. They're young, but I have a lot of confidence in them. When they're playing hard, they make things happen."

On how the team can show the same energy level as tonight down the stretch:
"We need to win every game. Whether we were 23-0 or not, we need to win every game, and it starts with our practices. These young ladies focus. I've just seen a different group and a different feel. They understand and they battled hard, we just didn't get it done. We're just going to keep doing what we've been doing. It's up to them to get themselves ready, to get themselves to compete. They're all going to have a chance to play, so we're going to keep pushing them, staying on them, coaching them and putting them in a situation where we can win a basketball game."

Freshman Guard Zaay Green:

On the effort during this game:
"I think what really flipped the switch is that it didn't matter who it was or who we were trying to play, we just really wanted to win. I think that was in all of our heads. We just needed to get it together and get the win. In the fourth quarter we fought hard no matter what."

On the intensity in the first half and if she felt more focused tonight:
"Yes, I felt very focused tonight. I just had my mind on the game, making sure we want to win."

On how encouraged she is by her personal performance against the top ranked team in the country:
"I felt very confident in my shot during the first and second quarters, and then in the third quarter I noticed they were packing it in. The paint was kind of packed in, so we had to kick it out a lot, but our shots are going to end up falling in, and we'll be alright."

Sophomore Guard Evina Westbrook:

On what this game does for the team's confidence after playing a really competitive first half against Notre Dame:
"I think if we come out the way we did for all four quarters, it's going to be really, really hard to beat us playing like we did. I definitely think that's a confidence booster for this team. It shows that we can play like that, and that's Tennessee basketball."

On what comparisons can be made from this game compared to the Arkansas game:
"One big difference is the way that we started. Our defense was on point. I think we were just clicking from all cylinders from the beginning. When it starts with our defense, our offense will flow and respond with everything that we had. Zaay had the hot hands, so we continued to go to her. And when they packed it in, we just lost sight of what we were doing. In the Arkansas game, we kind of just lost track from the start. We didn't know where to start, actually. But, like I said, we're moving on. We're not worried about Arkansas; Notre Dame is over, on to the next game."

On the first half and energy they came out with:
"I think it's just all about mindset. A great team like Notre Dame is going to come out punching and swinging after halftime, so we just have to be ready for that and just bounce back and get stops. We weren't able to stop one of their top players, and that was one of our game plans coming in. We gave up about 20 points in that third quarter to her alone. We just have to be well aware of where the shooters are, where the scorers are, and defense in general."

Redshirt-Senior Forward Cheridene Green:

On the 'noise' around the team, and how they've been able to remain focused and engaged like they were tonight:
"You pretty much said it yourself, we just stayed engaged within the team. Like you said, there's a lot of noise, but we just have to focus on the goal. We just need to stick together and execute."

On getting back into SEC play and if this game gives them some momentum/confidence going in:
"Like Evina said earlier, we definitely have to rebound from this game. We had effort. We fought; we just have to carry it over."

Notre Dame Head Coach Muffet McGraw

Opening statement:
"I was pretty happy with the second half. Offensively we just came out and were way out of rhythm. We were trying to get the ball to the post, and we settled for jumpers. Once we started getting into the post, I thought our high-low game was really effective. And then the second half, I thought we moved the ball a little bit better and defended a little bit better. We rebounded a tiny bit better. I am most disappointed on our rebounding. They (UT) do a great job on the boards; (they) are so aggressive and active. All of them. They really went after the rebound. Sometimes that adds three or four shots. So that was kind of disappointing. But overall, I am pretty pleased with the game."

On if being down by 10 messes with their transition game:
"Yeah. I mean if they keep scoring, how are we going to run? We need to get the rebounds in order to run. We don't get a lot of steals, so we need to get it off the backboard. Normally (Jessica) Shepard and (Brianna) Turner are so good at it, but (Turner) only had one rebound at halftime. (Jackie) Young didn't have as many. We weren't doing our job in the first half."

On how they defended Zaay Green in the second half:
"We were trying to contain the ball. That was our big issue in the first half. Our guards were running on her. We wanted to give her the three and play the drive, but we did pretty much the opposite for pretty much the whole first half. I thought we finally figured it out. I thought the guards did a better job at containing it in the second half."

On what impressed her with Tennessee's playing style:
"I think really just the rebounding was so key. They were really active on the zone offense. They were moving quite a bit. They had a double low, which was pretty hard for us to figure out. It took us a while to just sort of adjust to that. I thought their zone was very effective. I thought they did a good job in the zone."

On if she was worried about this game:
"I was worried for a couple reasons. One (was because) last year's game really turned our season around, and I thought they would be talking about how this game could turn their season around. It was a game where coming down here is always a tough place to play. The crowd is terrific and really into the game. I thought they were backed against the wall, playing as hard as they could against the No. 1 team. I was worried. It was a dangerous situation. They battled throughout the whole game. I know things are going to turn around for them pretty soon."

On players playing a lot of minutes and if it is based on really strong offseason conditioning:
"Yeah, it is. I was actually worried about the posts. I am not worried about the guards. I am worried about the posts. But they handled it well tonight. I thought just giving them that one little break was good. I was really happy. Jessica's conditioning has really improved. Arike, Brianna and Jackie are probably in the best shape of anybody on this team."

On if the Tennessee-Notre Dame rivalry will stay alive:
"Yeah, we are continuing it. I think we are going to move it earlier in the season, like November or December. We have a date already for next year, and I want to say it's November. I love this series. Now that we have gotten off the 0-20 start that we had, it has been better for us lately."

On why they did not exploit Tennessee from 3-point range:
"I think it was a combination. We shot it poorly from the start, and we were 0-for-6 at halftime. We started to get the ball inside. It was effective getting it inside, so we wanted to keep that up. Then, we hit a couple of big threes in the second half. We can be a dangerous team from the 3-point line, but I would like to get some inside touches first."

On what Jackie Young has meant to the team:
"She is the glue that keeps us together. She is someone we can count on to do absolutely everything. She is going to guard the other team's best player, she is going to be contending for every rebound, she is going to lead the team in assists, she is going to score, and she is going to get to the free throw line. We like the ball in her hands late-game because she is such a good passer. She does everything really well and I was pleased that she made the watch list for the top-25 players in the country. She is on her position watch list too, which is well-deserved. She is not as flashy as some of our other players, so she does not get as much credit as she deserves."

On what she sees from Tennessee:
"I do not want to play them again. I mean, they are a dangerous team. They are young, and with Jackson out, leadership was probably a little bit of a question for them. She is someone that really keeps them together. That was tough for them tonight, but they are growing and learning. They are not quitting, so there is a lot to build on there."

Junior Guard Jackie Young

On her triple-double and how she felt about it:
"I actually didn't know until Holly Rowe said something after the game. It was pretty exciting to just hear that I had a triple-double. I was just trying to get my teammates the ball. We ran some good plays for (Arike) Ogunbowale."

On how they re-grouped after the first half:
"The coaches told us to take better shots, I think that was a problem. As the game went on, we were able to stay on offense, look for open shots and take wide-open layups. I think at the beginning of the game we were a little rattled, and we were trying to score as soon as we could."

Senior Guard Arike Ogunbowale

On Tennessee being young and UT fighting back:
"Even though they are young, they have a lot of athletes. So that was really tough for us. They crash the boards really well. They just played hard and when teams play hard they are going to score and always going to do well. It was definitely a challenge for us."