Lady Vols vs. UConn Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement:
"That's probably going to be one of the best environments of the year for a regular season game. I'm really thankful and grateful to our fans for coming out. I know it's a tough year to be out, so I'm really appreciative of them. Our students had a really good student section. I'm really, really excited that we were able to do what we could do in terms of our attendance and our crowd involvement. Obviously, we're really disappointed. We felt like we had a pretty good game plan going into the game. Our players felt confident and good about it, and we were able to execute it for the majority of the night. Obviously, in the fourth quarter, we just could not find a bucket. They changed their defense a few times and threw our pace off a little bit. We got a little tight but had some open looks and just couldn't knock them down. Also, in that fourth quarter, we gave up more offensive boards in the fourth quarter than we needed to. We gave them some extra possessions. When you're not scoring, like we were doing in the fourth quarter, you've got to be better on the defensive end in finishing up with the boards. Obviously, Connecticut is a really good basketball team. They're so solid. They pass the ball well. They shot the ball well. For us, we're just disappointed that we couldn't come out of her with the win."

On the game coming down to the final minute and how the team can continue limiting turnovers:
"If we're under 15, then we've got to be happy with that. We want to continue to work at getting those cut down, but we had 27 last year (at UConn), so 14 sounds pretty good going into this game. It's disappointing. It's really disappointing. We felt like we could have won the game. We felt that way going in and felt that way throughout the game. When you can't pull those off, it stings."

On the team's mentality after the game:
"They were disappointed. You walk in and see them in there – they're disappointed. I think individually, they're probably sitting there thinking about what they could've done. How could it have been different and better. The good thing is that the losses that we have had, we have come out of those better. We have handled them very well. We have had growth after both of those. I'm hopeful that we can do the same this time. I don't ever want to get complacent and accustomed to losing, so that's not what I'm talking about. But afterwards, does it make you a better basketball team? Can we grow from it? We've been able to do that, so hopefully we can continue."

On how Tennessee forced UConn into uncomfortable situations throughout the game:
"I thought we guarded them well for the majority of the game. I thought our game plan was really solid. They're going to make plays. You're not going to shut them down. They're too good on offense, but I thought we made them uncomfortable on the offensive end. You just don't see that a whole lot. Defensively, although they had to go zone, they looked pretty comfortable doing it, to me. That is not what he (Geno Auriemma) does a lot. I know that. One thing, historically, that he does is make adjustments defensively throughout the game. We were anticipating switches. We were anticipating him making those changes. We just didn't execute. He went to the zone, and we really got stagnant and didn't execute the way we need to."

On what her emotions leading up to the Lady Vols hosting UConn in Thompson-Boling Arena for the first time in 15 years:
"My first thought was that I hate we weren't going to have 22,000 people here today. That would have been really cool for both teams. Them coming back in, for me, there was a lot of talk and a lot of nostalgia. I hear from a lot of former Lady Vols. They've got the games playing on the television. Our players were letting me know they were watching me play on TV. I don't know if I like that too much before the game. I don't know if that was very motivating to watch me. I think one of the things that we're trying to do is get eyes on this game, get eyes on women's basketball and build it up. It was a pretty good game, I think, for fans to watch. Obviously, we wish we would have been on the other side of it, but I think it was a competitive game that probably looked good on television."

On UConn's late 3-pointer to extend their lead to 66-61:
"I think there were some big momentum plays in that fourth quarter. That was obviously one of them, to grab that board. I don't know what the numbers are, but going back and looking, their fourth quarter offensive board production was high. They probably had more in that fourth quarter than they had the rest of the game combined. You can't have that down the stretch. You've got to be able to come up with those. That was big. I'm not sure when she made it, but I felt in the moment that (Aaliyah) Edwards hitting a jumper from the free-throw line (was key for UConn). I thought that one, at the time, was a big basket."

Freshman Guard/Forward Marta Suarez

On what happened in the fourth quarter:
"I mean, obviously, it was two good teams, and we had small errors we have to correct. We have boxed out better and taken better care of the ball. Also, our shooting percentage wasn't great. When a game is this close, every single little thing matters."

On what they need to do better on holding onto leads:
"We are still a great team; we just need to keep trusting the process, and we know what we have to work on. We know the talent we have. We just have to fix some small things, some small details. We just have to keep working in practice and keep on defense, boxing out. That's mainly the things we have to work on. I mean, we shouldn't be too worried about it; we are still a great team, and we know what we have to work on. We know what we have to do, and I believe we are going do it."

On how the crowd affected the game and if you could feel if it was louder:
"Yeah, definitely. You could feel the fans. (We're) really grateful for the fans, it meant a lot. It was crazy to feel that atmosphere; it helped motivate us a lot."

On what they need to do to cut down on turnovers:
"We just have to be more patience and take care of the ball. UConn was doing a good job of working on the passing lines and we just have to be a little smarter and more mature. Just have to be a little bit more patience. It's something we are working on and I believe we are getting better; we just need a little bit more time.

On her performance tonight and shooting percentage:
"I mean, they are alright. They weren't enough though, so I just have to keep working on it. Maybe instead 50 percent, if it had been 75 percent, then maybe the final score would have been different. My job is not to care about my stats, care about my scoring, so I'm okay with it."

On if she's learned about Pat since being at UT:
"Oh yeah, of course. Lady Vols basketball is Pat Summitt all over. The way Kellie Harper talks about her, the way the fans talk about her, you can see her all around here. Every day I feel like I get to know her better, and this week with the We Back Pat, it's been a great experience. We are so grateful for her. She has done so much for women's basketball, and she is the reason why we are here today on ESPN. We are so grateful for her and learning about her."

Senior Guard/Forward Rennia Davis

On how this loss feels:
"It stings for several reasons. Obviously, we were right there with them. Obviously, we feel like we are a better team than them. We just didn't do some things the right way. I still feel like we were close. Me and Jordan Horston got in foul trouble and that contributed to it. It was just so many things that didn't go our way, and we were still right there and still could've came out with that game. I think that is what is most disappointing for me."

On what was going on the two-minute stretch during the fourth:
"I think we just have to stay encouraged in moments like that. I know I don't like to blame things like that on being a younger team, but with things like that, maturity comes with a lot of those things. I just think we need to stay encouraged, both as individuals and as a team at all times despite what is going on. I still think we can compete with any team in the country, we just have to stay encouraged."

On how she keeps her younger teammates heads up after tough losses:
"Even being a senior, I still have to stay encouraged myself. I have had teammates that have been helping me work on that, and I've been doing the same. Obviously, we just have to watch the film, get better, and then on to the next. We have Kentucky coming up, and that is an SEC game. We want to bounce back and be able to win that game."

On what the halftime lead says about the younger girls play while her and Jordan Horston were on the bench:
"That makes the loss more disappointing. Just knowing we were right there with me and Jordan on the bench and just couldn't pull it out. That's tough, just disappointing."

On what they need to do to get ready for Kentucky on Sunday:
"They are a pretty good team. Every team in the SEC is pretty good. They're a pretty good defensive team; offensively, they have some pretty good players over there. We just have to play our game. I feel like in spurts tonight we weren't playing our game. We kind of got sucked into what UConn was doing. So, we just have to play our game for 40 minutes. Like I said, we can compete with any team in the country if we can do that."

UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma

On how well he thought Evina Westbrook handled herself tonight playing against her former team:
"As far as Evina's concerned, I pulled her aside today at shootaround, and I tried to point out the difference between playing with a lot of emotion, and not being emotional and letting your emotions get in the way. It was not an easy thing for her coming down here, but I thought she was unbelievably good. She made some really clutch shots in really big moments in the game, and I thought there was another one that was in. It couldn't have been easy coming back here, as it never easy when someone goes back to where they were playing before, but I couldn't have asked her to play any better, for sure."

On if he thought there were moments in the game where they were playing well, but not necessarily shooting well:
"Well, every shot we took in the first half was a really good shot. The only problem was they came out of nonsense, and they came out of nothing. So, by us saying the way they are going to guard these, the big guys are going to sag back, so our big guys will get the opportunity to shoot some open jump shots. I didn't know that they thought that meant they won't screen, they won't cut, passing it to anybody, and just stand here and do what coach said and shoot open jump shots. But they forget the other three things that I said that would lead up to that shot. So, were they open shots? Yes, they were wide open, but I just didn't like the way we were going about getting them. In the fourth quarter though, more people touched the ball."

On the emotions of being back and playing in Knoxville again during COVID:
"A lot of times when we have come down here in the past, we knew we were playing a great team, but I also knew I was coming down here with a great team. So, there was like this big title fight atmosphere to it, and there was going to be 24,000 people in the stands. But when I walked in today for shootaround and then for the game, it didn't have that feel. You know, you saw the game, there were games where it was like 85-80, and this one just did not have that same feel for whatever reason. So, I really did not think a lot about anything other than this is going to be different. Plus, I have COVID brain. I am going to be 67 in March, and in addition to all the other things that come with being 67, I think I have COVID brain. I do not feel anything about anything anymore. I show up, coach the team, let us play, and let's hope we play great, then let's go home. I am going to have a glass of wine on the plane, and I am going to feel really good about that."

On the impact of the turnovers that UConn forced and the points off turnovers scored in tonight's win:
"Yeah, we really did not execute great. We put them in a position to get back into that game because we did a couple of bizarre things. But on the defensive end, we started to get a little more active, and we were a little more engaged. We probably played more zone than we have played this year simply because of their size, and we couldn't guard a couple of them. And we were pretty active in that zone, and there were a couple of lost balls that we got. And Aubrey (Griffin) ran down for that breakaway, and we got a layup for her. Then Paige (Bueckers) and Christyn (Williams) on a break. So, there was a lot of good stuff coming out of our defense in that fourth quarter, and that is what you are supposed to do if you are a good team. If the ball is not going in and you are struggling offensively, you've got to get something out of your defense. They are just so hard to play against, man they are so big, so big."

On what Coach Geno saw from Aaliyah Edwards tonight:
"Well, Aaliyah Edwards gave us some great minutes. I mean, awesome minutes, because physically she can handle their size and physically she can handle herself around the basket. Being young, she still is not sure of certain things. You know, she made a couple of foul-line jump shots; she scored on a cut in the lane. There were a lot of good things that Aaliyah did, and we really did need those. We played a pretty good stretch when Christyn was on the bench with two fouls in the first half, and Oliva (Nelson-Ododa) had gotten whacked, so she was on the bench. So, that group gave us some really good minutes to go into halftime down one."

University of Tennessee Athletics

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Freshman Guard/Forward Marta Suarez

Senior Guard/Forward Rennia Davis

UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma

Players Mentioned

Rennia Davis

Jordan Horston

Evina Westbrook

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