Lady Vols vs. Lipscomb Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement:
"I'm glad we got the win, and I'm glad we got the rust knocked off. I think every first practice back from Christmas is always a challenge. It's a challenge for the players, and it's a challenge for a coach. We didn't have that. We tried to get up and down a little bit more in our shootaround today. We went a little bit longer than we normally would to try to help with that. In terms of knocking the rust off, I was pleased. I thought our players did OK in that area. I thought we made some adjustments – and most of those were just mental. I was pleased to see the way we came out in that second half. Overall, I think we accomplished what we needed to accomplish."

On how important Tennessee's depth will be entering SEC play:
"Every time you can get everybody minutes and everybody gets to put a point on the board, I think it's good for moral. I think some of the players that don't get as many minutes in some close games, I think it's good for them in these games. At any point in any game, you're going to need somebody. You don't know when that's going to happen. Everybody has to be ready. Having these games, having these opportunities for everybody on the team is important. It hopefully gives them confidence and gives their teammates confidence in them as well."

On Tennessee's success in the paint during Monday's win:
"I think for us going into this game, we knew we would have the size advantage. We wanted to get the ball inside and give ourselves opportunities to score. We wanted post touches, paint touches. Both are really important. Also, I think their game plan was to keep it beyond the three-point line, so they weren't going to attack. You're going to see a little bit of disparity there, because the game plans were going to lend toward that, but I am proud of our team for getting it in there and scoring, because I think that's where our strength is."

On Rennia Davis tying Tamika Catchings for the sixth-most double-doubles (32) in Lady Vols' history:
"When I got the word that you're talking about – Tamika Catchings and Rennia Davis in the same sentence – that really puts things in perspective because, obviously, she's one of the greatest. I think Rennia right now is playing with confidence, but she's also understanding how important it is for her to rebound. I thought she defended pretty well today. Those things are also really important. She's played better and her games have been better when she has rebounded better. She was really going after it tonight. If that's to get her a double-double and move her up in the rankings, we'll take it. She understands that that's important for this basketball team, and she can do it for this basketball team."

On the Lady Vol reunion with Lauren Sumski and Ariel Massengale returning to Rocky Top as coaches for Lipscomb:
"They've got a couple of players, a daughter of a Lady Vol, a sister of a Lady Vol, two former Lady Vols. We were able to get some pictures before the game. I called it 'point guard power.' I have a lot of respect for what they're doing over there. I think they're really, really good. You can tell when you watch them play. You can understand what they're trying to do. The way that Lauren was coaching them, it was really impressive. She's going to be a superstar. She's really talented. I think a lot of them. I think first off, they're really good people. Both Ariel and Lauren and that whole staff. When you start with good people and then you've got some talent, you're going to have something special."

On her takeaways from the team as they enter SEC play:
"Now you're in SEC play, and there are no easy wins, no cupcakes. It's all tough. You've got to have a team that's willing to step out and compete every single night and be able to get back up the next day. It's very rigorous in the SEC. It's very physical. It's demanding. It's taxing on you mentally and physically. You can't be fragile. You cannot have a fragile team and be successful in the SEC. I think we've shown some toughness. I was proud of our competitiveness and our fight at West Virginia. We didn't pull off the win, but we were able to do that at Indiana with competitiveness and toughness. I liked to see that attitude and poise down the stretch in that Indiana game. I think our players are ready for this. I think they're excited about it and looking forward to the challenge ahead.

Junior Guard/Forward Rae Burrell

On what Coach Harper told them at halftime that made them come out in the second half and play better:
"She just said to execute our plays more and the get the ball moving a little bit more. She also told us to take great shots instead of just good shots."

On how much the team had to focus after being off for about a week:
"It was strange jumping right into a gameday, but we were able to just focus in and go to shootaround and learn the scout quick before the game."

On if it gives the team confidence going into conference play knowing the depth that they have and having everyone contribute in tonight's game:
"Yes, it is just good knowing we can have people come in the game and benefit the team and not just count on a few players to get shots up as well as make plays."

Senior Guard/Forward Rennia Davis

On moving into the SEC schedule:
"I see us competing with whoever we play, and I don't think it matters who we play. I know we play a lot of good teams and there are a lot of good teams in this conference, but at the end of the day, I know this team will compete with whoever, so I am excited about this conference season."

On what it means for her to tie Tamika Catchings record tonight for 32 double doubles in program history:
"I'm happy about that, and I actually knew about it before the game because one of the fans told me on Twitter. So the fans keep me updated, and I wouldn't have known without them. It gave me something to strive for tonight, and obviously, the points will come, but I am really trying to focus on rebounding right now for this team because I feel as if I can do that really well for us."

On the challenge they will face on the road against ninth-ranked Texas A&M:
"Texas A&M is a good team just like many other teams that we will play in this conference. And we're a good team too, so we are going to go out and compete with whoever, and it doesn't matter if you're home or away. I'm just excited because I feel as if this team is going to compete."

On the biggest lessons the team has learned in the first seven games going into the SEC slate this week:
"Just dealing with adversity – this whole 2020 has been about adversity, and it's about who is going to handle it the best. Every team has been through adversity, and every team has been hit with cancelling or rescheduling games. It's just about who is going to step up in that next game and get It done. For us, being in those situations has really taught us a lot."

Lipscomb Head Coach Lauren Sumski

On what it was like for her and Ariel Massengale to return to Thompson-Boling Arena:
"Obviously, it's nostalgic in a sense, having essentially gone from a girl to a young woman here. Just seeing everything, seeing old faces, I think it speaks to the legacy that's here. Obviously, having Coach Ariel Massengale here, she's incredibly invaluable to our program and what we're trying to do here as far as developing our young guards. I think you guys saw a lot of our young guards today, so goodness, it's just great to be back. It's been great to hear her reminiscing and telling stories and all those really cool things. I wish we'd put together a better first quarter, but otherwise, I'm just really thankful we had the opportunity to play a game in this crazy time of the year."

On the problem Tennessee's size poses:
"I think it's a combination of them being big, they're long, and I think Kellie has done a really good job of getting some decision makers and developing their decision makers. Obviously, I've been bleeding orange forever, so I've been following the program from some time now, and I've been really impressed with Jordan (Horston) and how she's developed, and obviously Rennia (Davis). And Rae (Burrell) is the person we keyed on early on in the game, and yeah, they just keep coming bigger, longer. They're just really tough to keep off the glass, really tough to keep from getting to their spots, for sure. And then, you all know the size that they have inside, and I think that's been a staple of Tennessee forever, so they just kept coming."

On Taylor Clark's performance:
"We all started off really, really slow. I think Tennessee's size, athleticism, length – all that, really disrupted what we were trying to do offensively. Even when we got those open looks, they have a way of speeding you up. We missed a lot of wide open shots that we traditionally expect to make. You know, a lot of them at the rim just worried about getting shots blocked even though we talked about how it's obviously going to happen. But I was proud of her. Taylor settled in in the second half, and I thought she made some plays. We were even able to try to play some small lineups. I think we came out positive by plus one or two, so we were thankful for that even though we gave up a lot of seconds, we were just content with trying to put them on the foul line to stay in it. But she's really just developed inside-outside. Obviously, against teams as big as Tennessee, we don't get to take advantage of her mismatch, being able to post. I think even in times when we got the point guard on her, we couldn't see over everyone defending us to get the ball inside, and I think that's just a testament to Tennessee and how they're developing their program and recruiting players."

On playing a challenging non-conference schedule:
"We go into the season every year trying to make non-conference tougher than what we'll see in conference, because our end-goal is always to play in the national tournament. We know that we're realistically from a one-bid league. We're going to have to win our conference tournament in order to go to the national tournament, so we try to put our ladies in as difficult situations as possible to mimic what we'll see in conference. And I'm just a big believer in that we're trying to be the best, and to be the best you have to play the best over and over and over again and learn from those experiences. We've taken something different from every game. Again, I think the game I'm most disappointed in is our MTSU effort, and I think we were getting into fatigue a lot there. But today, there were some positive signs for us and our young program going against this historic Tennessee program. We got outsized a lot, but we'll learn from this because the reality is we're not getting any bigger, and we want to compete in the national tournament, and we'll see a lot of teams like this. I'm proud of the way that we played as far as playing hard and playing together, and we've just got to view the tape and try to build from this. And as much as Kellie will have us, we will be back."

University of Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Junior Guard/Forward Rae Burrell

Senior Guard/Forward Rennia Davis

Lipscomb Head Coach Lauren Sumski

Players Mentioned

Rae Burrell

Rennia Davis

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