University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols vs. Georgia Postgame Quotes
January 14, 2021 | Women's Basketball
Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper
Opening Statement…"I'm obviously disappointed in the outcome. We played a one-point game at LSU. We were one bucket away from coming home with a loss (there), and you get the win. (Today,) we were one bucket away from getting the win, and you get the loss. It's the SEC, and you have to play every single night, and you have to play for 40 minutes. You can't play for 30 minutes and think you're going to get a win. Obviously, I was really disappointed how we came out of halftime. I let our players know that. I was really honest with them after the game about what I saw. I think they'll be motivated after this to be a better basketball team. They better be, because it doesn't get easier. It is tough. It is every single night. Hopefully our players will take this one to heart. I know they were disappointed. You can't just lose this and be disappointed. You've got to lose this, be disappointed and be better because of it."
On if the loss was due more to a lack of execution or concentration…
"Both, maybe. It's hard to pinpoint just one thing. Obviously, anybody can read the stat sheet and say it was (due to) the third quarter. Georgia won this game in the third quarter. For us, it was a lack of focus, lack of toughness. Toughness is doing all of the little things. Toughness is boxing out. Toughness is taking care of the ball. It's sprinting the floor. Toughness is all of those little things that we had done, minus those 10 minutes."
On if COVID-19 impacting the flow of the season may be a reason why some teams have struggled with late-game execution this season…
"I think for a lot of teams, the start, stop and inconsistencies with practices and games, I think that can affect the execution. I think it affects coaches that have been coaching a while. You kind of have a rhythm of the season. You know when your team is going to peak. You understand the long haul that January is. It just feels different this year with the uncertainties, with the late start but the longer practices. It just feels different. I think it probably does have some effect. I was actually referring more to someone willing to work a little bit harder to get open on the wing. I do think there's a valid point there."
On how the lack of second-chance opportunities for Tennessee impacted the game…
"I think that stat is really key. We have been doing a really good job of offensive boards and scoring. We've been getting in, and that's a big chunk of our offense. Tonight, that's flipped. They (Georgia) had 14 (second chance) points. That's too many for us to give up. I thought a lot of those were just hustle plays where they just ran down with the ball and were able to get a score. Although the overall boards were in our favor, I was really disappointed in that offensive board category."
On how special it was to honor Pat Summitt tonight at that start of the annual 'We Back Pat' week…
"We'll actually get to play a few of these games that are considered our 'We Back Pat' games. It's a big deal. It's a big deal for me. It's a big deal for our program. It's a big deal nationwide. I had a text from one of my former teammates, talking about how much they loved our jerseys. I don't know how they actually felt about it, but if I would have put on a jersey that said 'Summitt' on the back of it, and that's who I'm representing when I go out there, that's heavy and inspiring. It should be very inspiring. I'm glad that our jerseys say that. One of the things that is important is that we continue to salute and honor her legacy. Obviously, we're doing that with the Pat Summitt Foundation. What she means to women's basketball, what she means to me, what she means to this program and this university, it's heavy. It's really heavy sometimes when you think about it."
Tennessee Senior Guard Rennia Davis
On what happened in the third quarter and what got away from them…"It's just like I told them after the game, I thought we got too comfortable at halftime. We were up 15, and I think Georgia adjusted and we stayed the same. We just got too comfortable overall, and we can't get too comfortable in this league. We play teams that are going to go on a scoring runs, that are able to come back from a 15-point lead. So, us as a team, we just can't get too comfortable."
On what Coach Harper's message was after the game…
"Obviously it wasn't a good one. She just didn't think we played hard, and I can agree. There were spurts, obviously, in the fourth quarter when we tried to come back, and we played hard during that time because we wanted to win the game. In the third quarter it got away from us, and for 10 minutes we can't not be a tough team."
On what the biggest lesson she learned from this game and what she will take with her going into two of their toughest games on the road coming up…
"We do have a couple tough ones coming up, but it's nothing we can't handle. If we take this Georgia game and learn from it, we'll be good for next two games. If you don't learn from it, we will have a long next two games. So, we are just going to watch film tomorrow, get back to the drawing board, and just get better."
Tennessee Sophomore Guard Jordan Horston
On what are some things the team can do moving forward to not get too comfortable in games like tonight…"Just stay locked in. We need to remind each other to stay locked in for 40 minutes, no matter what the score is, and we have to play like we're down. Those are the teams that when they play like they are down the whole game, those are the good teams. We're capable of doing it, but we didn't do it tonight. Don't get me wrong, because I've got faith in everyone on that team, we just didn't show up in the third quarter and it hurt us."
On if they had confidence at the end that they could pull it out…
"We had confidence, but it just didn't go our way. We wanted it and we fought, but we didn't fight for it for 40 minutes, so that's where we messed up."
On how they can put this behind them and get ready for Alabama and what Coach Harper said to them to get ready for Alabama after this tough loss …
"The message was we have to keep playing, and we have to be tough for 40 minutes. I'm sure everyone got the message, and they know what we have to do. We're going to go back in and watch film, and also get better tomorrow, and that's all we can do. We just need to continue to get better, because I want to get better, and I believe my teammates want to get better. We just want to take this loss and learn from it."
Georgia Head Coach Joni Taylor
On the adjustments that were made between the second and third quarter...
"So first of all, Tennessee is an outstanding team. They gave us all we wanted tonight. We knew it was going to be a tough battle, and we have got to face them again. So, to answer your question, we went with who we thought had the best energy in the first and second quarters. So we started Mikayla (Coombs), and we started Maori (Davenport) with our usual group of Gabby (Connally), Que (Morrison), and Jordan (Isaacs). And they gave us the spark that we needed. When we play as many people as we do, it sometimes takes us a while to figure out who has the hot hand every single night. And that is why our bench and our depth is so invaluable, because Maori Davenport stepped up for us in a big way tonight, Kayla was great, everybody who came in during the third and fourth quarters contributed. So, we just went with who played the best in that first half, and we rode it out."
On what Coach Taylor learned from her team tonight...
"Well, there are a lot of things. I felt that this team was different. We have in the past played teams really, really tough and haven't been able to come out on the winning side of that. And I knew this was going to be a game that was going to prove that we were mature enough to win a tough game on the road against a really, really good team. Being down 15 at halftime, I learned that we have some fight to us. I learned that we can finish a ball game. Our mantra this year is 'showing up,' and that helped us out a lot tonight. Everybody was ready to go and again, (I'm) really proud of everybody that played. It took a lot of fight and took a lot of courage to go out there and do what we did in the third and fourth quarters."
On the historical significant of this win tonight and the difficulty of playing in the Southeastern Conference...
"I was talking about this earlier in the week. Even as a player at Alabama, that Georgia and Tennessee game was something you always circled and watched because of the history and tradition behind it. When I think about what happened here tonight, for me, my thoughts go to Coach Landers; they go to Saudia Roundtree who was on that 1996 team that won here that last time, and just all the former players who just paved the way and made it possible for us to be in this position now. That's what I think about. I do not think that our current ladies have fully grasped what has happened, and I don't want them to because again we have to play them again. And in this league, because of how talented it is, we've got to keep the main thing the main thing, and that is the next game we have to play. So, we are going to enjoy it tonight and then get ready to focus on our next opponent on Sunday. But this league is tough one through 14, any single night you line up, it's a toss-up as to who is going to win that basketball game, and so it's why I always say, 'If you want to play with the best against the best, please come here.' Because you are going to get tested every night, you are going to get challenged every night. There are great coaches in this league, and there are tremendous players in this league. And if you are a competitor, it is what you want to be a part of."
On what tonight's game showed her team and the confidence that can be gained from this win:
"I think tonight showed them that they could play with the best, because I consider Tennessee to be the best. I think tonight also showed them what could happen if you don't come out ready to play. We were fortunate to get back into this ball game. So, I like to look at it from an entire 40-minute perspective, not just 20 because there are things that we can learn from this game too. Because if we go against another team and we are down 15, the outcome may not be the same, so it also shows us why it is important to get off to a good start. But yes, I think that it gives them the confidence that they need, but I will go back to what I said earlier, I want to know what we do from here on out, how we handle this."
