Tennessee vs. Carson-Newman Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement:
"I'm excited that we're finally here. We're playing games, and it's what we're here to do. I know our players were excited to get the uniforms on and to get the opportunity to play against someone else. We were really excited about this evening. I'm proud that we got the win. You never take those for granted. I thought we had good effort tonight. I think there are a lot of things we have to learn, and they're a lot of things we can still clean up, both offensively and defensively with a little bit more discipline on box outs and board play. But, we knew coming in that that was a point where we would need to improve. Our film sessions are going to be very important to our education, and I'm really looking forward to getting them into the film room and getting to praise them when things look the way they need to look, while also being very honest about possessions that need to be better."

On level of concern after low shooting percentage from the field:
"I'm a coach, so my level of concern is high on everything that we're doing. I don't attribute our shooting percentage to any one thing. I thought we rushed a few shots that we could have easily made. We had some lip out. I thought we got a bit excited a few times. We had a few times during the second quarter where we didn't take great shots. We had some good possessions where we had ball movement and attacked the paint, and then there were some possessions where we didn't. So, I think the more aggressive that we are, the better shots we'll get. I think our outside shooting percentage coming into the season is probably a concern, but I think we're going to get the players in the gym and they're going to be able to knock down some shots. I'm not overly concerned about our shooting percentage coming out of this, but I think my biggest concern is the quantity of things I want to correct or the quantity of things I want to improve. I think it's a lot."

On depth of the Lady Vols rotation in the regular season:
"Traditionally, I have played a lot of players. In my career, our best teams have had depth. We've been able to utilize that depth; we've developed that depth early on, and it pays off at the end of the year. Your team is peaking at the right time, and I think it builds some camaraderie. I don't know how many will make it in a consistent rotation, but right now it's open. We've got to have players that we can count on to be consistent and to do the little things, so right now, if you do that for me, you're going to get in the game. Tonight, we knew we were going to play everyone. I had the minutes scripted out prior to the game, so I knew exactly when and who we were going to sub. There were some possessions where I would normally sub, but I wanted to let it play out and keep us as close to that minute track as I could keep us. I also wanted to push some of our players. We got tired a few times. In a normal game it would've ended with a substitution, but I wanted to push them through so I could see what happens when they get a little tired."

On if the team had some pre-game jitters:
"I actually didn't think about it until practice yesterday when a few of them started mentioning it to me, and I had to step back and look at things and realize there were still going to be some jitters. And I do think sometimes you have to play through that, and I thought early on we had some folks that were really trying to ward those off, I think, and stay focused. But I thought they handled that and got through it, and hopefully now we're over the hump there. We've played a game with uniforms, with officials, and they'll be better now; that's what exhibition games are for."

On her goals going into the exhibition game:
"You know, I wanted to let our players show us that they know what we're asking of them. And at this point, they do; they understand what they need to do. I wanted to get a lot of different combinations of film, I wanted to get some statistics from those combinations, and I wanted to have an eyeball test on it and see who looked good together. This isn't unusual, we play with all different combinations in practice daily, so this is a very normal thing for them, but I wanted to see it in a game. I wanted to see what that looked like. I wanted to see them give us effort; I wanted energy; I wanted communication. At shoot-around today we were discussing how we were going to act on the bench. I mean, that's really how simplified we tried to be. How you enter the game, how you come out of the game, where you sit when you come out of the game – we were literally discussing that at shoot-around today. So, there was a lot that we needed to get out of this, being a practice run for the real thing. That's what it is. But the best thing for me right now is we've got it on film, and we're going to be able to show them exactly what we can do better."

On how she would evaluate Jordan Horston's ability to run the point today:
"I think Jordan was definitely a little nervous to start this game, for sure. You know, I think it was good for her to be able to see the game being played for a few minutes before she actually got in there. I think that helped her. She is really good. I know she had a few turnovers and a few missed plays, but her ceiling is really high. We're going to continue to help her and build her. We want her playing with great confidence, because she should play with great confidence. She's going to be an excellent defensive player. A lot of the time you can't say that about freshmen, but she's going to be an excellent defensive player – this year – I'm convinced. And she wants to do it right. She's a perfectionist, so we've just got to keep patting her on the back, because she's going to be something really special."

On how it was to be in TBA for the first time as head coach:
"It was cool. I tell people this all the time, but it's hard to put it into words. I'm here. I'm back at my alma mater, the place that I love. It's a place of such rich tradition and history, and I do not take that lightly. It's just really cool. There is no way to explain it. It was great to walk out there and see our fans here on Rocky Top and to finally get to this point and to finally get to play a game. It was really special. It was for sure really special. I want it so bad for this program and for these players, because I know what it's like when it's amazing. I know what these players would feel like."

On Lou Brown and her progress from tearing her ACL last season:
"I think it's going to be a maintenance situation for Lou throughout the year. She is a little bit older than the rest of these players, and she is battling those injuries. We are going to make sure that she is feeling good, and if that means that we have to pull her out of a practice or two, we have to manage that this year. I thought that she was good. She was really anxious to get out there and get playing. I know it's not easy for her at times, but she has been very consistent for us by doing what she is asked to do. The little things - boxing out, knowing where she is supposed to be defensively and communicating. She does a lot of things that are very positive for our teams, so we want to give her extended minutes on the court. I want to make sure we have her throughout the season, so we are really going to manage that."

On Rennia Davis saying that she has no choice but to play good defense this year:
"She is really working hard on her defense. I know that is something that she is emphasizing for herself right now. We are emphasizing it also. I think right now her on-the-ball defense has got a lot better. I think she gets down wide and uses her athletic ability. I think that it is important to her when she locks in to guard. I think that she understands our system. In the last few weeks she has improved her off-the-ball defense. We have talked a little bit about that as well. She wants to be good and she is a very intelligent young woman. I'm happy that she wants to come in and watch film and come in a get extra shots up. She is putting in the time, and it is going to pay off."

On her team not running much zone in this game:
"We actually played zone quite a bit in the third quarter. I don't know how many possessions, but we played it quite a bit in the third quarter and a little in the fourth, I believe. I think the length we can have defensively in the zone will be a nice change up from our man defense."

Senior Forward Lou Brown

On finally getting to play and the reception she received from the crowd:
"Yeah, it was pretty surreal. I didn't expect that at all from the crowd. But I kind of figure, this is a home away from home now, so it just added to that and made my first game back even more special."

On what she saw from the offense tonight:
"I don't think anything was necessarily holding us back, but it's all new where the coaches are trying new combinations. We're still finding new ways to play with each other, play off each other, learning to feed off each other. Tonight was a good night for us to kind of be in that atmosphere and that environment and see how we play, but we can only get better and only grow from here."

On if there was any nervousness from the team:
"There absolutely was some jitters and nerves, from myself especially. Thompson-Boling can sometimes be an intimidating place to play, but we talked about channeling those nerves into good energy, and excitement. Sometimes you just have to go out and throw yourself out there without any thought about it, and I think some of the girls did that. Once you're out on the court, you kind of calm down a little bit."

Sophomore Guard/Forward Rae Burrell

On her approach coming into this season:
"I'm just staying consistent, working hard, doing what the team needs me to do to help them win."
On her role this season and her opportunity to be the spark off the bench:
"I just look at it as an opportunity to go out there and give them the burst of energy that they need sometimes, and I think that can really help our team win this season."

On how important it is to get some extra effort when shots aren't falling:
"(It's) really important, especially at that time when you're going through some adversity to keep working hard and to pick each other up, which is important. And that's something we are really working on, so just leaning on each other at those times and giving effort."

Junior Guard/Forward Rennia Davis

On how is the team adjusting to Coach Harper and her takeaway from this game:
"I think we're still adjusting as a team. I'm glad we won today, but I think we have a lot of stuff to keep working on and keep getting better at."

On something the team can improve on:
"I think that we should be more persistent on rebounding. I think we could be a really great rebounding team, so we just have to be consistent in that area. We need to continue to communicate. I think they (Carson-Newman) scored open shots just from lack of communication."

On how much of a focus is defense for her this year:
"I feel like I don't have a choice right now but to play defense. I think that's what my team needs from me. If we're consistent on the defensive end, the scoring will basically handle itself. (Playing) defense is mentally wanting to do it, which is my biggest thing right now."

Carson-Newman Head Coach Mike Mincey

On what changed after the first quarter:
"Probably a lot of that is my fault. After what happened down here last year, we tried to run with them. The game was obviously much different. We tried to run. We are a quick shooting team at our level, and I didn't want to come down here and give them a lot of run outs or leak outs and easy shots. We were not going to shoot the quick three like we would normally; we are going to run a little offense and play at a slower pace. That is not what we do; we are not comfortable doing that. So, we found ourselves late in the shot clock and not getting the shot that we wanted. After a while… we only scored 13 points in the first half, so something had to change. We went into more motion and dribble-drive sort of thing and tried to kick it. A lot of times they had big players on our smaller guards, and if we had a three-point (opportunity), we had to shoot it because we got nothing at the rim, and we didn't go to the-free throw line all night."

On what defense was giving them the most success:
"I thought Sydney (Pearce) did a great job. She is the only player we had that even matches their size at 6'3. We didn't have Katie (Bean), who is 6'2; she was out tonight. I thought Pearce did an excellent job at trying to guard their bigs, and I think she had six blocked shots tonight. She covers up some paint and covers up the rim pretty good. I thought the kids stayed up front okay, but I thought Tennessee had a game plan to try and get it inside. I think their guards probably could've driven by us some, but I think they did have a game plan on getting the ball to the post and trying to get some of those young players shots."

On if he liked their effort against Tennessee:
"Yeah, that is one of the things I mentioned to them in the locker room. Abby (Wilson) was all over the floor late in the fourth quarter. I thought we had kids diving on the floor. The game was over, but those kids were playing for playing time. We are still in our preseason, and it is competitive. I was really proud of them. I was really proud of how they were getting back on defense and trying to make a play and not just letting Tennessee go in and get easy layups. I have been on the other side of that where we have just given up on it and let Tennessee score an uncontested layup. But Abby, especially in the fourth quarter, they were ready to get a couple run outs, and she had good foot speed. She was able to come out and make a play happen. But I could talk about a lot of our kids there, because there were some loose balls on the floor, and they could've just not gotten on it, but they decided to get on it. That is one of the things I told them - we may not be able to win the game, but we could definitely win some fans over on how we played with our effort."

On what his take is on Kellie Harper and the Tennessee team:
"I have known Kellie and John for a long time from my days of being an assistant down at ETSU, and they were assistants at Chattanooga. I knew when they hired Kellie, like I have seen her on the recruiting trial, she is no nonsense. She is out there to get a job done. So is John. I think it is a great fit for the university, obviously with her being a former player, and I think this game in particular is a testament to Kellie. Kellie worked on things that they needed to work on. They probably could've done some things to expose us a little bit more. They probably could've ran out a little bit more. They probably could've pushed the point totals a little bit more. I think they had a game plan. They wanted to get the ball more inside, and I think it was reminiscent of those days back when she was playing about how they played and how they were huge and big. They were trying to get that ball inside. From a head coach, I appreciate how they took the exhibition game because I have been down here when it has been a lot worse. I think they could've potentially exposed a little bit more, but I appreciate that they were working on things that they know they will have to play against South Carolina, Texas A&M and those type of teams. It won't be as easy to press us and take the ball from us. They are going to have to get to half court and play and probably get easy buckets near the rim."

Freshman Braelyn Wykle

On how she felt about her first start:
"It was exciting. I was a little nervous, but honestly this part makes me a little more nervous than playing. I have played since I was little, so I was just kind of told myself, 'It is the same game,' and I think that helped."

Sophomore Sydney Pearce

On what it felt like competing with her size against Tennessee:
"It was pretty cool, because a lot of times in our league there are not girls as big as me. So, it was a little different to try and match up against them. My teammates did a really good job at guarding the penetrators and stuff like that, so it made it a lot easier for me in there."