Lady Vols vs. Arkansas Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement…
"It's a big win for our team, for a lot of reasons. One, it's big because that's a really good basketball team play. And I'll tell you, Arkansas is playing some terrific basketball right now. They're difficult to guard and defensively, they just really do a great job of taking away our team's strengths. It's also a good win because of the timing. Obviously, coming off a loss, you want to be able to get back in the win column. It's also a good win because its the first one without Keyen (Green), and I think all those things were much-needed tonight. Arkansas is hard to play, but I'm proud of our team, the second-half performance, stepping up, and responding to the challenge."

On Jordan Horston's contributions to the game…
"She makes big plays. She guards, rebounds, gets buckets and understands what we're trying to do. I thought her aggressiveness to start the third quarter was important to our team and our confidence. She had some good passes there in the second half. As a team, we ended up with 19 assists which is a good number for us."

On how Rae Burrell played tonight…
"We were able to get her some good looks, and she knocked them down. She was aggressive. I thought she played within herself well. Our spacing was better and gave her some opportunities. I thought her decision-making was good, as in when she's going to attack and when she's going to pull up and shoot. It was really good for us, and we needed that punch that she gave us."

On how tough her team is…
"I think we had some toughness in us, and it came out early this season. When we had to compete, scrap, and claw to get wins early, it gave us confidence that we could continue to do that. And one thing about this team, we've been down, but we just don't give up; we keep fighting."

On how well Jordan Horston and Rae Burrell play together…
"I think this is their normal progression, and this is what we expected from them. They're very talented, but they've gotten better every single year and even throughout the years, and that's part of what we need to do here as a program. Players don't want to just come and be where they're at; they want to continue to get better, and those two, as good as they were when they got here, have improved over their time. The biggest thing is they want to get better. They're in the gym. They've learned how to be a veteran on a college basketball team, and I think our coaching staff did a great job pushing them and putting them in a position to be successful."

On how their confidence was tonight compared to when they played against Auburn…
"Tonight, I felt like we saw our basketball team. And this is how we played the majority of the season. We didn't play great in the first half. I thought we were a little stale, offensively. We didn't make shots. We gave up too many points I thought in the first half, as well. I got after them at halftime and called some names, and challenged our team, and they responded and that's what you love to see."

On how they had a 60-40 rebound advantage on the board without Keyen Green…
"I think our guards stepped up. Obviously, Horston with 11, Puckett comes in with 10, Walker with eight, and Burrell with eight. To me, our guards made up the majority of the difference. We're proud of them and we've worked on it, and we've been talking about it a lot."

On how difficult guarding Amber Ramirez tonight was…
"You can't shut her down; that's not happening. The only thing you can hope to do is make it as difficult as possible and maybe she'll miss one at some point. I mean, she's that good. She does such a good job. She's so crafty with the ball, and she plays at her own pace. You're not going to force her into playing too fast. I thought tonight she did a nice job of finding her teammates too, and it was more difficult to double-team her."

On resiliency in comeback victories…
"I would prefer we don't put ourselves in the position to demonstrate our feisty resilience. I think that's the thing about this team. You know, they're proud of that. They're proud of their toughness. They're proud of their resilience. They're not going to give up. I think sometimes we do wear on people. I think sometimes our size and sometimes our physicality, I do think by the end of the game, it's a little tiring for our opponents. I think that has a little bit correlation with how we're able to play strong at the end of the game, but you know, our players down the stretch they found something more. They were able to dig deep and find a little bit extra to give and that's a big deal."

On Sara Puckett impacting both ends of the floor…
"I heard Sara talk about what she's been working on, talking about her rebounding. We've challenged her to get more boards for us, because she has the ability. We also need to find her some more shots. I mean, we definitely need to continue to look for her offensively. She plays with really good poise, which is why she doesn't look like freshman; she doesn't act like a freshman out there. I think her teammates play with great confidence in her. I move her around all over the place. She's playing so many different positions for us right now, and she's able to give us something positive. I thought she did a nice job defensively today, as well. I think she had a few breakdowns and a couple fouls that actually did look like a freshman. It's really cool to see to see her and where she's at and how proud her teammates are."

On having Sara Puckett in at crunch time…
"Well, I think she'd made a big bucket. I thought she was doing a really nice job defensively. She was pulling in some boards. She was spreading the defense out. People were having to go out behind the three-point line to guard her, and I think it was helping our offensive attack. (It was) helping our spacing to have her on the court."

On having a player like Jordan Horston in crunch time…
"You know what you have with Jordan. She is a go-to player. The great thing about Jordan is she can be a go-to player. She's strong enough, physical enough to get in into the paint and score. She obviously, can hit a jumper, but also you can't double her because she can find the open man. She's got great court vision, but she's also big enough to throw over a lot of people. So, you know, having her skill set at in those moments is great for us."

On Tess Darby's contributions…
"Now, I'm glad you said Tess. She made some big plays for us. I thought she did a did a really good job defensively. Just grabbing a loose ball, tipping a loose ball made a huge, huge difference because obviously, in this game, every play matters. Very similar to Sara (Puckett), when you have Tess on the court, it's going to spread the defense out, and it gives your other players some room to work, and I thought her minutes were really big for us."

On quick turnaround for Florida…
"You're right, it's Monday. Now I will start worrying about recovery... Our training staff does a really good job of getting our players back up and ready. We will have a pretty light practice tomorrow. Then we'll have a prep practice on Wednesday getting ready, and then (we) travel down to Florida. Again, I think we understand if we didn't (before). We learned our lesson. You can't take a night off, and it's not just physical. You have to be emotionally invested in everything that we're doing, and it's draining, but you've got to get up every single night."

On the challenge Florida presents…
"Honestly, this is one of the teams that I have not seen a lot this year, but I've caught their scores and their highlights, and I know they're playing well. They're playing inspired; they lose their leading scorer - one of their best players - and their team has stepped up. It's almost like they're willing to say, 'Hey, I can play too, you know.' They're playing with a chip on their shoulder. I know they've got a great guard, and they've got people that are stepping up and making plays. I do know that right now. So, we expect a really, really tough game. You go down there, you've got to be ready play."

On the fans…
"The fans, oh, they were great. They were great. Somebody mentioned out there that they, you know, may have looked like us in the first half a little bit, but when we needed them in the second half, our fans made a difference. They got loud. They got a freshman out there shooting some free throws, and that crowd was loud. That made that a little bit intimidating. I thought the student section was awesome. So, getting to say thanks to our students was really cool. It's great to see them out and having fun at our games as well."

Tennessee Junior Guard Jordan Horston

On how big this game was in terms of confidence...
"It was big for us. We went into the game already knowing that we had to bounce back. We couldn't sit and dwell on the past, because if we did that, then we would not have learned our lesson. I feel like everyone was locked in and brought great energy. We locked in towards the end, and got stops, made big shots, and Sara (Puckett) made some big plays, and I feel like we all just wanted this win. We got it, and I feel like this is good for us. We got some momentum, and now we've got to keep it going."

On being named to the Wooden Midseason Top 25...
"I appreciate it, but it really does not mean anything to me. The only award that I want is a national championship."

On her relationship with Tamari Key and their use of the pick and roll...
"It was thrown off a little bit in the beginning of the game. Our chemistry was not there at first, but I remember freshman year I came in, and I love playing with post players. I love the pick and roll, and I came in and said okay, we are going to have to make this work, so we would go into the gym, and I would throw her all of these crazy passes and see if she could catch it. I feel like that helped our chemistry a lot. And two, we are best friends off the court, and I trust her with everything. She's a great person, and I know she knows how to make plays, and I trust her, so I'm going to throw it to her every time. Even if there are three defenders on her, and with five turnovers, I am still going to throw it to her."

Tennessee Senior Guard/Forward Rae Burrell

On being able to win this game in overtime after a third-quarter deficit…
"It was all about toughness and grit. Arkansas was playing tough, but we had to play tougher. It was the little things that brought us back. Every play mattered. We made smart decisions."

On her performance…
"I feel like I had to step up to the plate and knock down hard shots. I feel like my teammates were putting me in great positions to help me knock them down."

On Sara Puckett's performance and growth as a player…
"I think she did great. She just listens very well. We believe in her. She always gives her all. We're really proud of her. It's nothing surprising; she's been doing this. For a freshman, she can make big plays."

Tennessee Freshman Guard/ Forward Sara Puckett

On how this team is able to come back from deficits…
"I think it's just us being able to trust in each other and knowing that we're going to have each other's backs for the whole game, but most importantly, definitely down the stretch. We can count on each other to make big plays, and we know how to put our teammates in the position to do that and knock down shots."

On if previous games created a toughness within the team…
"I feel like it has. We just continue to do it. We don't shy away from it, and we take it full on. We just believe in each other, and we know that (everyone) is going to take it on fully. It's just the personal role that you have to take on too, and not be afraid of anything."

On what the team needed from her this game…
"Rebounds were the main thing. That's what we kind of drilled this week in practice since the Auburn game. I just really focused on boxing out the best I could and going after every rebound I could. That's what they were telling me, and what I was truly focused on during the game."

Arkansas Head Coach Mike Neighbors

On Tennessee's 10-2 run...
"They're so lethal. We were doing a really good job in the half-court defense, but they really made us pay in transition every time. Every time that we made a mistake."

On the missed free throws at the end of the game…
"It's Thompson-Boling Arena. I don't know if it was seven thousand people... that was the loudest seven thousand people I've ever heard in my life."