Lady Vols vs. Alabama Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement…
"First off, I thought we had a great crowd. That's really exciting. It's a fun atmosphere, great environment for a women's basketball game, and kudos to our fans for coming out and getting excited. They did have to stand up a long time in the third quarter, so I apologize. But you know, just starting your New Year's resolution early getting a few steps in. It's a good win for us, a really good win. We knew going into the game that we were going to have to win with our defense, that was going to be our priority. Obviously, not having Jordan Horston today was a major concern, especially on the defensive end and the defensive boards. I thought those were two areas that we were really going to be fighting a deficit there, and we gave up a few too many offensive boards, but our defense really came through and we're really proud of that."

On what was done to spark fourth quarter…
"I thought the group that was in the game at the end of the third quarter really settled us down. And I can't remember everybody who was in there... we had three freshmen in there with Brooklynn Miles, Kaiya Wynn, and Karoline Striplin, and I thought their poise and confidence allowed us to hang in there in that third quarter and then it kind of reset us a little bit for the fourth. That timeout between the third and the fourth, we talked about our body language. We talked about our effort, and we talked about moving past everything that had already happened. No matter what, we were going to go out with great body language and great fight, and you know, if it's possible, we turned our defense up a little bit there in the fourth quarter. I thought that the group that was in there - Keyen (Green) and Tamari (Key) - I thought we were really able to keep those two in for a long stretches. I thought that was important for our mentality."

On freshmen playing in first SEC game…
"I thought it was really good, and I think our non-conference schedule leading up to SEC, it's helped them. Our practices, you know, they're practicing hard and playing well. I think that's also given them some confidence. So, I think everybody knows they can contribute, and you know, it doesn't have to be on the stat sheet where the contributions come. I think just coming in and doing your job defensively, sometimes, and just being where you're supposed to be, that's really good. I think that's where we're really excited after this game as we go in the locker room and we know this was a true team win. It took everybody, and that's a good feeling."

On fighting through adversity for first SEC game…
"I think our team has a pretty good level of confidence right now with their ability. I think it reinforces that. I think it also, because so many people contributed, I think you know that confidence is spread out even more after this game."

On Tess Darby's three-pointer as the shot clock ran down…
"I thought that was probably the biggest bucket of the game. We were able to get it out of kind of a mess inside. They double teamed, and I can't remember, I think it was Keyen Green that got it out and got it to Tess (Darby), and she knocked it down at the buzzer. I thought that was huge. I'm telling you, that kind of gave our team a lot of energy. (It) got the crowd into it, and that was a big bucket."

On Brooklynn Miles' defense...
"I think Brooklynn... I think for her, she's always prided herself on her defense. But I'm telling you, defense in high school is very different than defense in college. There is usually a pretty substantial transition period for freshmen from high school to college, even good defensive players. We stayed on her all summer. Coach Sam (Williams) yelled at Brooklynn Miles more than anybody yelled at anybody in our program. She took it every single day and elevated her play. I mean, she absolutely elevated her play. From the moment she stepped on this campus, it was not easy. She'll tell you it was not easy, but it is paying off. It's not just her defense, she is playing very intelligent basketball, offensively. She is a great communicator with the bench and with our coaching staff and has a really good feel of what we need to be doing out there. What I like with her, Jordan Walker and Jordan Horston is you can play them all three; You can move them around a little bit, and they're okay with that. So, I'm really proud - really, really proud of Brooklynn (Miles) and how she's playing. She's affecting the opponents and really sparking our defense."

On Jordan Walker stepping up when needed…
"When I'm describing Jordan Walker, there's always going to be two words that I use: tough and competitive. She will not back down to anybody. She comes walking out locker room, and I think she's got 12 ice bags on her. I might be exaggerating a little bit, but you know, she's is a trooper. She's going to give everything she has for this team, and for this team to win, and that's great inspiration for your teammates. When you see someone out there who's going that hard and playing that hard, I think that it makes an impact and obviously, tonight she made big plays that got her a lot of plays on the stat sheet. She's competitive and just fun to coach. She's a great kid."

On Keyen Green getting crunch time minutes…
"Well, Keyen (Green) is good. We had a lot of confidence in Keyen (Green). She had some fouls (early), couldn't play extended minutes in the first half. We were trying to figure out how we can get her in longer. I mean, she's aggressive. She's plays with great confidence, as well. I thought defensively, she did a really good job. We were going to have to guard four guards tonight, and I thought she did an excellent job stepping out on the floor and guarding. She's going to be aggressive offensively. I mean she going to be physical and aggressive on the boards, as well. Obviously, her play was absolutely tremendous."

On learning to work against a zone…
"This was interesting going against the zone for us. They collapsed in a little bit more than what we've seen in the past, so I think our team was a little stale, a little stagnant, so to speak, and we weren't getting the movement that we needed. We were trying to attack the paint when they were all sitting in the paint, and what we talked about was just opening it up, not caring about what defense they were in and trying to get just better ball movement. I think the other thing that helped us with the pace when we picked up our pace, we were able to find easier scores, and that was one of the adjustments that we made in the middle of that third quarter that I think helped us, kind of freed us up a little bit, and I think that was good for our team."

On how physical SEC play is…
"Well, I think you know, one of the things that we've been doing is talking to our team about how physical SEC is. Obviously, that's for our new players. For them, I think just getting one under the belt is good. Every team plays a little different. This team may not have the overall size that some of the other teams are going to have. This team shoots it really well. We guarded that pretty good today. I think that's a good game for our freshmen, and they should walk away feeling good. I mean, we're 1-0 in the SEC. You can't go 2-0 until you go 1-0, so I think that's that's good for them."

On Jordan Horston's progression through illness...
"Jordan (Horston), she was on FaceTime with us in the locker room after the game. She is feeling a lot better. So, we're hopeful for this weekend."

On Rae Burrell's injury progression...
"Rae (Burrell) is progressing. So, you know, we want to try to keep getting her... the biggest thing, I think I mentioned this the other day, the biggest thing that she's missing right now are live reps. I want to make sure that we keep her working towards feeling good in those live reps. So, we're moving in that way, in that direction. There's still no timeline. There's still no timetable, but you know, we're getting her in practice every day now. So therefore, dressing her out for games, I think is really important for everybody - for her, for our team, just mentally knowing that we're moving in that direction."

Tennessee Junior Center Tamari Key

On coming back into the game after being in foul trouble...
"I think in the third I kind of got in my head a little bit. I wasn't being as efficient offensively as I'd like to be. I know just being on the bench, I was trying to enjoy it, trying to stay in the game and cheer on my teammates. They're on the court playing hard. I knew coming back in the fourth I needed to get stops and just let the offense come to me and get out of my head."

On what she saw in Keyen Green that was working so well…
"Keyen (Green) is just relentless. I feel like that's one word to describe her. She's a leader for this team. She is just really good at basketball. We can count on her in moments like this and games like these to go in and get offensive boards, take charges, set good screens, and finish around the basket. All around, we're just really proud of her."

On how the team did not let up many second chance points, despite Alabama's 18 offensive rebounds…
"I think that's not a good number for us, with them being able to have that many offensive boards. I just know we have to box out more consistently. I think them getting an offensive rebound is one thing, but us trying to stop and play smart on their attempt off the offensive board is good. We were able to stay with it and play good defense."

Tennessee Graduate Guard Jordan Walker

On what happened to the team once Alabama took the lead in the third quarter…
"I think it's kind of one of the main messages: defense. I think that's really what flipped for us. We knew that we had to sit down and get stops. When we make a shift, that's when we kind of took over."

On her mindset going into the fourth quarter…
"Just being aggressive to the rim. Just knowing that if I miss, I have people in there that will help me rebound. I know we're aggressive on the boards, so by just playing hard and being aggressive, I knew that would lead to something good."

On team's performance without Rae Burrell and Jordan Horston…
"I'm really proud of this team and how we pull it together and continue to fight through adversity, big things like that, and little things in the game that set us back. I'm just really proud of us tonight, and I think that this will just help us grow and be able to play better together."

Tennessee Freshman Guard Brooklynn Miles

On how team regrouped later in the game…
"I knew that we, as a team, had to play hard. We can't get down on ourselves at all. This team never gets down on ourselves. We always push through. We always fight whenever we need to."

On how confident she is getting in the offense…
"This was really fun. The first SEC game was super fun. It's going to be a fight every night. I'm getting way more confident because of my teammates. My teammates always cheer me on. Even if I mess up, they say, 'You got the next one.' It's good to have teammates. I'm thankful for that."

On mindset she gets from coming off the bench…
"I just try to give it all I've got. Every time I come off the bench, I try to do what my team needs me to do. Whatever my team needs me to do, I'm going to do it. Whether that's hustling or whatever it is, I'm going to do it."

Alabama Head Coach Kristy Curry

On issues defending Tennessee in the paint...
"You know, I think they give a lot of people problems in the paint because of Key's size, and then also the offensive put-backs. We gave some easy baskets in the paint and on the offensive boards. You know, the most glaring statistic is they only have 12 (offensive boards) and we have 18, but they were able to finish more of those than we were. So, it was paint touches. I thought we gave up some drive-bys in transition, and then some offensive put-backs. So, I don't think it was just truly the post, it was a combination of transition, offensive put-backs and post touches. They made theirs, we missed ours."

On the loss…
"We weren't able to make any shots, you know, up until that point. Considering the adversity of some things that have happened to us, I thought we put ourselves in a position (to win). They were able to make some plays that we weren't, and credit Tennessee for being able to make some shots."

On difficulties on offense…
"Well, again, it was 46-41, and we battled Tennessee to have 18 offensive rebounds. That's what they're averaging a game; we only gave up 12. We need to make shots. When Hannah (Barber) and Brittany (Davis) are eight for 20-plus, and then our entire other team makes 9 shots... we get 15 more looks, I think we got 71 shots to their 56. We had some great effort categories with offensive boards and the number of shots we put up. If you don't make shots in this league, and you don't finish plays, you have a hard time winning. So, you know, on a night where we just didn't shoot the ball well, 17 for 71 but you get 71 shots, you've got to be pretty pleased with that. We've just got to make them, so that's my biggest concern moving forward is we've got to be makers."