Lady Vols vs. Missouri Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement…
"This is really good win for us for a lot of reasons. That's a good basketball team that has some big wins and even some losses have been close to some really good teams. So, we knew we had a challenge in front of us on our defensive end, in particular. I thought we rose to that challenge, and I'm really proud of our team. I thought we set the tone defensively early on in the game and stayed tougher - in three quarters worth at least on that end - and did a nice job on the boards, as well. That's what we've been trying to emphasize in practice. So, we're really proud of our team."

On if team played 'a certain way'…
"It's not as much about the score, it's how we're playing and what we're doing well. I think our team, they understood what it needed to look like, and they've been in a pretty good space mentally, in my opinion, coming into the game. And I'm glad that that carried over and just proud of their focus. Their communication was really good amongst themselves, and you know that the talk to each other was really good. I thought they got back to playing for each other."

On Alexus Dye…
"Well, we've been talking to her about where we think she can be successful and trying to put her in those positions. Obviously, she was in foul trouble in the first half so she didn't get a lot of minutes there, and in the second (she) gave us a big boost... was able to be a go-to there, ran the floor and got her an easy one. (I'm) proud of her efforts. She got in there and got after some boards as well. So really, really excited to see her get going."

On Jordan Walker…
I thought Jordan Walker played pretty well in terms of management, understanding where we needed to push and where we needed to pull it out. I thought our offense, just a bird's eye view, looked better in terms of our spacing and our shot selection, our ball movement at times. So, I give Jordan Walker a lot of credit for that."

On importance of Tess Darby hitting threes…
"I think it's important that we have some folks knock down some outside shots. It loosens up the defense, it spreads that defense out a little bit, creates more lanes for some of our penetrators and our post play. We were actually trying to get her a few more. Going into this game, every now and then, you feel really confident about something, and she shot the ball so well today, I just knew she's going to get some and be knocking them down tonight. Really proud of her and proud of our team for finding her. I thought we did a really good job of locating Tess (Darby) when she was open."

On limiting turnovers after the first quarter…
"Well, I challenged them at that first quarter. I thought we made some silly mistakes, let them take the ball right from us a few times. After that, we settled down, and I thought we played tough after that, didn't allow those silly turnovers. That was just really good focus and not just focus on what we were doing but just focusing on our toughness. We won a lot more 50-50 balls after that first quarter."

On Tamari Key rebuilding her confidence…
"I think she, defensively, is so important to what we do. How she is able to change an offensive game plan prior to the game. I thought she did a really nice job today of being where she needed to be. She made very few defensive mistakes. When she does that, our defense is so much better. Now don't get me wrong, everybody else stepped up and guarded, so I was proud of that as well. I still would like to get her a few more touches, a few more opportunities. But tonight, obviously, we had a lot of people that were able to attack and get some easy looks. We didn't take a lot of bad shots tonight. You know, TK has to be a big part of our offense, but sometimes when she's a big part of our offense, there's a collapse and it leaves someone open, and I think that's what we saw tonight."

On Jordan Horston's performance…
"She has been so consistent. I think one of the reasons she's been consistent, is that she's stayed aggressive on the offensive end, looking for opportunities. Not just opportunities to shoot the ball, but opportunities to play make. So, then she can find people, and that's where she's getting to the basket. She's also getting some boards. The more aggressive she is, the better we are. If she's standing behind the three-point line and is passive, our offense is not as good, so we like to get the ball in her hands and let her attack."

On Sunday's game vs Vanderbilt…
"Obviously, we got the win in Nashville; I didn't love the way we finished. I think we got a little sloppy throughout that game, and I think our team was a little disappointed in what it looked like. But we have to clean things up from that game, and we've got to find ways to be better. I hope this win gives us confidence to do that. It is our pink game. Those games were started by Kay Yow. I know there have been a lot of dollars raised for research on her behalf with the foundation. But it's also a thing that, for some folks, it hits home every year. People know someone who's been affected by it, whether it be breast cancer or women's cancers. Obviously, one that hit the Lady Vol nation recently is Tasha Butts. I think you don't want those things to happen ever, but when they do, it just puts things into perspective so much. We're trying to win basketball games, but there's a lot bigger things than that out there. Our hearts are with Tasha. She's fighting her battle right now, and so are many others. Not just her, so many others."

On adjustments made at halftime…
"Honestly, we didn't make any adjustments. We did go ahead and tell them we needed to finish around the basket, but we missed too many layups in the first half. We talked about needing to make our free throws. We didn't make them in the first half as well, and then we had to we had to keep guarding. We had to stay focused on our defense and thought we did a really good job there. We didn't give up a lot of easy opportunities and they played downhill, offensively. I thought we were really aggressive and obviously, made shots in the third quarter."

On College GameDay at South Carolina…
"Yeah, I briefly saw it earlier today, and I was pretty excited. I mean, I know that's it's a big deal. And, you know, anytime that we can highlight some super talented women's basketball teams, I think that's important. I think getting eyes on our sport is good. Now, it'll be a big game when we get over there. It'll be just another basketball game for us. You just go out and do what you do. But you know, there'll be a lot a lot of buzz now around the game. Not that there was already going to be buzz about the game, but there is going to be a lot of buzz around that game. So, we've got a lot of basketball before then, but I'm really excited about that opportunity."

On which players got vocal in the third quarter…
"You know, I felt like throughout the game their conversations to each other were really good. I thought they were really picking each other up. They were genuinely excited about each other and making plays. They fed off of that, you know; it was really cool. They feed off their defense, and then it was just a snowball effect. And I thought it was fun to watch. They were super excited. Like Alexus Dye was scoring to start that half, and we were coming down and looking for her every time. It's just fun to see that unselfish play - playing smart, finding ways to attack, and everybody guarding."

On Keyen Green's impact from the sidelines…
"Yeah, I think the team respects her so much. I heard her voice a couple times, and I thought, 'Oh, that's soothing.' You know, they need to hear her and just having her there is really good. But I think also, I think Tamari (Key) said it earlier, I think they also understood okay, we can do this as well. And you know it, was a tough week, but they didn't panic. And we understand there are going to be highs and lows and we've just got to ride it and move on. I was proud of our team, being able to do that, and like I said, having a really good mindset. But I do think that having her over there and having Marta (Suarez) over there… they provide a lot of support for their teammates."

On getting the 20^th win of the season…
"You know why I feel good about it? I feel good about it because of the way we did it, and the players feel so good about those first three quarters, defensively. They really do and you know, I think that it's good for them. It's good for them to be rewarded with a win, a comfortable win, doing it the way we asked them to do it. And they'll sleep well tonight."

Tennessee Junior Center Tamari Key

On how much it helps to have Alexus Dye grab rebounds…
"To put it in simple terms, nobody can guard her when we play other teams. She's quick off the dribble, she crashes the boards, she's got a nice jumper at the free-throw line. She does a lot for us, and she's definitely a spark for us. She had a really big game today. We know that's who she is. When she's playing like that, good things are going to happen for us."

On if team reminds themselves they're still in the running for an SEC Championship…
"I think for us, I'm not sure we thought about that when we were in a slump. We just had to realize that we were okay. There's a lot of outside noise, and a lot of things that people have to say about us, but at the end of the day, it's about how we feel as a family and as a team. We were fine. We knew what we needed to do. We had to play Tennessee basketball and get back to the things that we were doing. It wasn't rocket science. We didn't have to figure something out. We just had to play Tennessee basketball. At the end of the day, I think if we keep continuing to do that and play defense, we're going to be just fine."

On if tonight helped her gain back some confidence…
"It's not all about scoring for me. Everyone had a really good game today. Alexus Dye, Jordan (Horston), Tess (Darby), they were all hitting some clutch shots for us. As long as I can do what I need to do on defense, defense gets stops. As long as I play my role an protect the paint, I'm satisfied."

Tennessee Sophomore Guard/Forward Tess Darby

On how important three-point shooting has been the past couple of games…
"My role on the team is to knock down big shots, so whenever I am knocking down those big shots, it opens up the paint. Even if I'm not the one getting the shot, the spacing on the floor creates chances for others."

On how different this third quarter was from previous third quarters…
"We knew we had to defend in the third quarter. The game wasn't over. We still had 20 minutes left to play. Our mindset was to go out and compete, do what we do and defend. It's as simple as that."

On how it is to play with a post player like Tamari Key…
"I'm never going to be the fastest one on the court. Everyone notices that. Having someone in there that has a presence makes me very thankful that Tamari is on my team. I know that I wouldn't be driving in there (on her). I think having her as a presence down there makes other guards and posts think about what they're going to do whenever they get in there."

Tennessee Junior Guard Jordan Horston

On what the mindset was coming out of halftime and going into the third quarter…
"To keep our foot on their necks and play our game. We played fast, and we were able to crash the boards, and I feel we did a great job of that today. Tess (Darby) got some good shots and everything was just flowing for us. We were very positive, and we went into the game with the right mindset to get better and to bounce back."

On if being back home practicing in Knoxville helped the team this week…
"Definitely, a home court advantage is always great for us. We have only lost one game at home. It is always great playing in front of our fans and playing where we practice at. Like I said, we just went into the game with the right mindset, we all wanted to win, and we all knew we needed to bounce back and get our mojo back. And I feel like we did that today."

On Alexus Dye and how big she was during the game…
"That was very big for us. When Snoop (Alexus Dye) is playing well, that's a good day for us. She is our spark, and she can do so many things for us. I am proud of her, and when she is playing well, that is a great sign for us. We have to keep her in the right mindset because she is a dog, and she has to have confidence in herself, because we all have confidence in her, and I feel like today really helped her.

Missouri Head Coach Robin Pingeton

Opening Statement…
"I appreciate you guys jumping on for sure. Obviously, (we're) really disappointed in our third quarter. I thought for the first half, we played pretty solid. We had some breakdowns, but I thought overall we played pretty well. We talked about some adjustments we needed to make in the second half and were hoping to get a little bit more pressure in the third quarter. We didn't pressure like we did in the first quarter, but you know, you also have to knock down shots. We were 3-for-18 in the third quarter, and that really hurt us. Against teams like Tennessee, we knew they came off a loss in three of their last four, so we knew we were going to get their best spot. I thought we came out of the gates and played a lot better than we had been. That was one of our concerns. We gave up too many offensive rebounds but did a better job taking care of the ball. Obviously, that third quarter really hurt."

On if the third quarter struggles were their offense's past struggles or Tennessee's defense…
"Tennessee is a long team, right? They have great length, and are one of the taller teams that we'll play - great shot blocking ability. They can clean up a lot of stuff at the rim and ended up with seven blocked shots. So, their length, I think, hurt us. I felt like the timing of our ball movements at times was just like one or two seconds delayed. With a team like this, you have to be on target. Then the shots we got, we're a better shooting team than that. We shot 16 percent in the third quarter. It's hard to stay with teams when you shoot 3-for-18."

On what she thought of her defense tonight…
"I would just say inconsistent. There are some possessions that we were playing really hard and stirring it up a little bit, which I like. I think we have gotten a lot more aggressive in the paint. In the passing lanes, we forced some turnovers which we knew Tennessee was a team that struggled in that area. So, we wanted to get out a little more in those passing lanes and just be disruptive, but at the same time, we had some breakdowns with our rotations. You have (Tamari) Key inside and get caught on the high side at the free-throw line, an easy lob. We allowed their best three-point shooter, Tess Darby, who we talked a lot about in our scouting report, to get off seven threes. To me, that's attention to detail. We just have to be better in those areas. There are flashes of grittiness, but I would say we're inconsistent right now. Certainly, a lot of room for improvement."