Lady Vols vs. UMass Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement…
"Obviously, I'm excited walking out of here with a win. We knew that was going to be a really tough game. That is a veteran team. That is a championship team, so they know how to win. They've got good solid players, they're very well coached and they're disciplined and they're tough. I'm proud of our team for finding a way to win. We obviously have a lot of things we have to work on, and we've got to continue to make headway each and every day to be the best team we can possibly be."

On the status of Jordan Horston and if the short turnaround was good for the team…
"Jordan (Horston), she had a lower leg injury. We're evaluating her, I'll know a little bit more tomorrow. I actually haven't even been able to see her yet. Yes, I agree as a player, the best thing that can happen after a loss is another game. Fortunately, they had one quick after the game on Tuesday. Our players were able to handle the quick turnaround and get prepared for this game."

On if there has been progress in rebounding…
"Tonight, it was an issue on both ends of the court. I felt like our offensive board play was where we were lacking. Obviously, tonight I felt like it was on both ends of the court. Defensively, they were shooting long shots, we weren't being disciplined with our box-outs. They were going over our head and they were out-hustling us for those boards. That's a concern. We've got to have better habits and be technically correct defensively with our box-outs. Offensively, we're still looking at things. We're still trying to find ways to get us in position for boards. I think our spacing offensively has been really good. I think some of that has negatively affected our rebounding."

On how the team stepped up, particularly Rickea Jackson and Tamari Key when Jordan Horston went out…
"You really got to see Rickea (Jackson) get going and she had a couple of big boards there late that got her to the free throw line, thought it was good. Tamari (Key), I thought had some really good plays where she went after the ball, she attacked the ball, went and got it, she saved a turnover and got a bucket out of it. I thought her effort was probably even better in the second half, so that was some good, positive things to see."

On how they limited Sam Breen…
"There were a couple of different things. I think scheme wise, what we were trying to do, I thought we did a pretty good job. We were trying to limit her touches on the block and I thought we did that. Where we did not do as well, she was able to find a couple of pick-and-pops that we just did our rotation, we were too slow, we didn't see it. She got one three off an offensive board, a kick-out and she just made some good plays elsewhere. You're not going to hold her scoreless. She can find a bucket. I thought in terms of our scheme, I thought we did a good job, we just had breakdowns in some other areas."

On how scheduling of game came about and what it means to coach a team other teams want to prove something against…
"The scheduling, it's one of those things, I remember being presented with this opportunity. We knew this was a really good game. They easily could be a NCAA Tournament team. We knew it was going to be a tough game. That's what we were trying to do with our schedule and we felt like we'd go ahead and do it. The timing of it, we had to play tonight, may have been a little quicker than we would've liked after the Ohio State game. I think when you're the team that everybody is looking at, they circle your game on their schedule; you have to embrace that as a team. You have to understand what that means. It means that everyone is going to play their best against you because they want that opportunity to be that team to knock you off. I think it's important that our team understands you cannot take a night off. Not when you have that target. I think even broader, that means we have to have good practices every single day, you can't take a practice off because that carries over to games."

On Rickea Jackson's performance…
"We've obviously seen her in practice all summer and fall. We've been able to see how talented she is. She's really good. Even really good players have off nights and have tough nights. That's what we saw Tuesday. I think she's a gamer. She loves to play. We got to see her really get going tonight. She can play multiple positions. She's just so smooth and fun to watch."

On how Tess Darby compliments the offense…
"If you look at the stats and the plus-minus, the big winner on the night is Tess Darby. We play well when she's on the court. She shoots the ball well. Her teammates have confidence in her. She communicates well. She's easy to play with. I think when she's out there, she does a good job. I thought she did a good job today. She's been shooting the ball really well in practice, so her stepping out and making them is not a surprise, it's the expected result."

On how to maximize the talent that this team has…
"That is the toughest thing right now as a coach, trying to figure out the combinations and the rotations. I think it's going to be sometimes game by game. A great example of that is Brooklynn Miles doesn't play in the first half, Jordan Horston does not play, and we need another guard. We put her in the second half, and I thought she was very effective. I think each game we're going to be able to evaluate how our bench is playing. Not just how our bench is playing, but our team and how our players are playing and go with the folks that work that night. It may be different due to matchups every night. It may be different due to what we need. Maybe we need more defensive heavy, maybe we need more shooters one game. I think it's going to change every game."

On why the defense does not seem to talk…
"I think we're quiet by nature. I think a lot of our players are not vocal. We're working on that. We're trying to become a more vocal basketball team, because I think if you can get energy there it eliminates a lot of confusion, especially on the defensive end. Offensively, we had eighteen turnovers, we only had 11 offensive boards and we scored 74 points. We're finding a way to put the ball in the hole. I don't feel like we've seen these types of turnovers in our practices. We've got to put them in situations where maybe there's a little bit more duress in practices so when we come out, we can make better plays offensively."

On Jasmine Powell's decision making…
"I think she's playing well. She played with confidence. I thought she did a really good job tonight communicating with me in trying to get the team where it needed to be in terms of what we we're doing offensively and defensively. They played a lot of zone, so I thought we got a little stagnant there. Our pace helped in those moments, and I thought Jasmine Powell is the reason our pace was good. She was tough defensively as well. She did a nice job.

Senior Forward Rickea Jackson

On if Jordan Horston's injury motivated her for the rest of the game...
"Yeah, I feel like that motivated all of us. Jordy (Jordan Horston) is the heart of this team. She always gives us that energy that we need, so we know we needed to create that within ourselves while we don't have her on the court. So I feel like we truly came together after Jordy went down. So, I feel like we had her back."

On how much fire she had coming into the home opener...
"I feel like my team and I, we all had a fire under our belt tonight. I felt like we just wanted to redeem ourselves with that being our first game. Tough loss. Of course we wanted to get that game back, but we couldn't, so we just have to move forward and do what's best for one another and stay within ourselves."

On what it means to secure the first win of the regular season..
"It honestly means a lot. UMass was a great team to play going into that Indiana game. They are very solid, fundamentally sound; they're a tough team. They won their conference, so I feel like we really needed to play a team like this because they definitely challenged us."

Senior Center Tamari Key

On the effect Jordan Horston's injury had on her and the team...
"I think Rickea hit on it well. We just knew we had to pull together for her. You know, we said a little prayer over there for her and knew we had to stay locked in for the rest of the game. For her and just for the team because we deserve that. I feel like we did a good job of that today."

On being out-rebounded by UMass...
"They shot a lot of threes, which obviously called for long rebounds, so I think we just needed to pursue the ball more. We missed a couple of key box outs. That's a stat that obviously stings for us. Nobody out-rebounds Tennessee usually, but it's something that we'll look forward to getting better at."

On how the short turnaround from playing Ohio State affected tonight's game...
"Well we got back at 3 a.m. after the Ohio State game, turned around and got up for classes, then got a good practice. I think we were just motivated just to stay together after that tough loss. We got in the gym, we did what we needed to do to get better. Honestly, I'm glad we had a game because we could put it behind us after we watched the film, knew what we needed to correct and knew we were going to come out today with some motivation."

Graduate Forward Jasmine Franklin

On what the team can do to make up for being out-rebounded by UMass...
"It's something we've got to work on at practice. Long shots and long rebounds. Make sure we hit our man and box out as much as we can."

On the team's defensive efforts...
"We knew that UMass was a good offensive team, so today in practice, even though it was a quick turnaround, we always are working on this defense, having each other's back, communicating as heavily as we can."

On building team chemistry with so many new faces on the team...
"It's just making sure that we all stay open-minded to the chemistry of one another. We have to learn how to play off of each other and play together. Just being supportive of whatever happens as we go along the way. I will say, our chemistry has gotten a lot better on the court and off the court especially.

UMass Head Coach Tory Verdi

Opening Statement…
"I just told my team, a lot of times reporters and people ask about UMass basketball, you know, what is UMass basketball? I just told them if I could just take what we did tonight and put it in a picture and give it to them, that's who we are. We are a team that comes in and we are going to work extremely hard for 40 minutes. I am extremely proud of our effort here tonight. We just played a really good basketball team. For 40 minutes we competed. I know we got down by 19 there in the third or fourth, whatever it was. It could have just packed it in, but we found a way to keep crawling back and get within a manageable, reachable number. Had we not missed three layups in a row, anything was possible at that point in time. For us to out-rebound a team that is second in the country in rebounding is pretty significant and rebounding is effort. Rebounding is a want to; it's a mindset. For what our players just did, I am extremely proud of them. I am really happy for them. I think that this type of game, there is a reason why I scheduled this game. We talk about if we want to be the best, you have to go and play the best. I felt that coming down here into this environment and playing against a team with all these All-Americans will pay off dividends down the road and I hope that I am right here in a couple months. Extremely happy with our effort here today."

On Destiney Philoxy's performance…
"I mean, our effort, her effort and everyone's effort I thought was outstanding. Just being able to get downhill. She'll tell you; she is a little bit frustrated especially going 3-of-15, but there's other ways you can impact the game. I know that she would rather have a couple of those field goal attempts drop in and feel a little bit better about that, but I thought that her effort was outstanding here today."

On UMass' program having success and what it means to play at a place like Tennessee…
"I just think it tells you about where we are. Nobody ever talked about us before. Nobody respected us before. Our goal was to improve this program and get national attention. How do you do that? You do that by preparing, you do that by going to work each and every single day. You do it by recruiting good character student athletes who want to win. The person beside me (Ber'Nyah Mayo) is a winner. There is no question about that. One of the most competitive players that I have ever coached. It doesn't matter what we are playing. We could play kickball. We do play dodgeball and you should see her play dodgeball. It's unreal. You need players like the Ber'Nyahs of the world to help you change the program. We wanted to get respect. First, we wanted to get respect in the A10. Secondly, once we did that, we wanted to hit the national scene and we wanted people to respect us nationally. I thought that we came here today in a tough environment playing against an unbelievable team. I thought we played extremely well."

On Kristin Williams making her UMass debut…
"She is a scorer, and she could light it up. She is still in the process of getting acclimated. It was good to get her out on the floor today, to get that nervous energy out, and why not against the No. 5 team in the country, why not? We threw her to the wolves, and she did quite alright, but we expect her to keep working hard at practice every single day and put herself in a position to be successful on the court."

Junior Guard Ber'Nyah Mayo

On her performance today and proving people wrong about her ability…
"It honestly feels good just to know no matter if I was on the A10 preseason team or not, the work that I am putting in is constantly showing, whether they believe in me or not. I know the work I put in and I trust the work I put in each day. Regardless of who believes in me, I believe in myself, and I trust the work that I put in."

On splitting the Tennessee press…
"I think that goes back to my AAU days. Any time I see somebody pressing, I feel like my eyes light up because I know I can handle the ball pretty well. The minute I see that, I just know I can work the press easily and then come to the floor and find my teammates."

On out-rebounding Tennessee…
"Most definitely, in the last two games we got out-rebounded, so it was a main point in practice, and I feel like that is where it starts, in practice. We really focused in on boxing out. We had to tell ourselves if we want to win, we have to out rebound. I feel like we came together as a group and told each other, if we don't do anything, we are going to rebound, just so coach would calm down so he could get off our back, and just give us an opportunity to win the game."

University of Tennessee | Official Athletics Site