Lady Vols vs. Vanderbilt Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement...

"Yeah, I'm proud of our team today. I thought that we hung tough against a very gritty Vanderbilt team. They play so hard. And, you know, they don't they don't make things easy, that's for sure. But, overall, I'm really proud of our team. (We had) 19 assists. We held them to 52 points. I think we did some good things."

On holding Vanderbilt under 14 points in quarter…

"Yeah, you know, we walked in and after the game, picked up the stat sheet and that's one of the first things we looked at. (I'm) really proud of that. That's putting together 40 minutes of solid defense. And I think any time they made some shots, we made a few adjustments with our personnel and with how we were guarding, and I thought it really was effective. And I was proud of our team for doing that. I thought the first (quarter)... I think they started the game pretty hot and our first timeout, we were able to talk about some things and we made the adjustments and never looked back."

On starting quarters out strong on defense…

"Obviously, I thought that end of the second was important. The way we finished the second quarter was important - Jordan hit the jumper. And then to start the third, getting those stops. And at the same time, we were scoring, and that just gave us a lot of confidence. And, you know, we stayed pretty focused on our defense and that's true to who we are. I was proud of our team for that."

On second half success this season…

"Well, I think we've been pretty resilient and pretty tough. I think we've been pretty consistent throughout, and I think that resiliency and that toughness has shown up on the defensive end sometimes late in the game, you know, we just stay at it and stay tough, hang tough. I think our physical play, our size, our ability to continue to rebound. I think it wears on people at times, and I think that's, for some games, I think that's why you've seen us be successful in the second half."

On Tennessee having 19 assists on 23 made field goals…

"That is the stat I was the proudest of, especially in this game when they want to speed you up and take away any opportunities to find your teammates. I thought we settled in, found our teammates, finished, and that's a big number for us. I'm excited. (I'm) proud of our team for sharing the ball."

On hustling for loose balls…

"In the Missouri game, I thought in the first half they had more (hustle plays) than we did. We talked about getting those 50-50 balls and being the tougher team to be able to get those. We didn't get them all today, but we were fighting for them, and I think that's important. And I think when you see your teammate willing to dive on the floor, it's motivating. It's inspiring because we're playing for each other. So, if she's going to do that, then I'm going to do that, and I think it's contagious."

On Tennessee winning the rebound battle…

"I was looking at those offensive boards trying to figure out how we could get a few more. We did a good job winning the battle, 48-29. We practice and talk about it. We don't just go out and hope it happens; it's something that we emphasize, and when you emphasize something, you talk about it, you practice it daily, so we need to be good at it."

On if being from Tennessee, if this win means more…

"Well, I think for someone who grew up in this state and watched the rivalry between Vanderbilt and Tennessee, I still have memories of that game and how meaningful it is. Tennessee and Vanderbilt will always be going to be a rivalry game."

On Jackson Harper doing a Twitter takeover…

"I was asked if he would do it and I said yes, he would do it. He would do whatever they needed him to do. I didn't have a lot of control over this, this was marketing. Jackson has informed me that he would like to do this every game. I told him that he probably couldn't do it every game, and he said why not twice a year then. He told me this was the best day ever. I don't even know if he knows anything else that went on today, but he had the time of his life. I just need to say thank you to all the folks in marketing. When you're a mom and you get to see your child have one of the most wonderful days of his life, it's special. He ate a hot dog apparently in one of the quarters, and that's what he tweeted. He'll probably get to stay up late tonight."

On having Sara Puckett and Rae Burrell off the bench…

"When you look at Rae (Burrell) or even Sara (Puckett), either one of those players, they're going to make plays if they start, and they're going to make plays if they come off the bench. They're fine either way. For what we're doing and for our rotations, it really helps us to be able to bring them off the bench, and it doesn't really change their role at all. They're still really talented, go-to players who can make a lot of plays for our team. I think it just is more comfortable when we're trying to substitute people in and out to have those two coming off the bench."

On what was said about Kay Yow before the game…

"Well, the other day, one of the players walked up and asked me if I wore pink shoes too. I thought wow, they don't know. So, I wanted to give them an accurate snippet of why we put on pink jerseys, and it's not like been that way forever. It started with Coach Yow. We talked about why she wanted to unite women's basketball. She wanted to have something that was bigger than us, and what a great cause that affects so many people in our lives, obviously. It's something that we're proud to continue. We're proud to continue to bring awareness to hopefully motivate and inspire those people who are in the middle of that fight. We've had a few of these now, but sometimes the games bigger than the game, and that was today."

On what she wants to see from Tamari Key on offense…
"We were able to get the ball to her a few times tonight. The production wasn't there in terms of the scoring. I want to go back and look at it. I thought our team did a better job of getting her the ball. One thing that I told her in the middle of the game is even if she wasn't getting the ball, she's attracting so much attention that it's opening up so many more options for her teammates. She's got to keep working hard, regardless of the touch. If she gets a touch, I want her to be aggressive and go score, because she has the ability to do that."

On if Jordan Horston has exceeded her expectations…
"I don't know that anyone will ever exceed my expectation. It's not that I'm overly critical or that I'm too demanding; I believe in them, and I believe they can do great things. When they do it I'm just like, 'Yes, that's what I saw in you.' The thing about Jordan (Horston), she gives our team confidence. She makes plays on both ends of the court; she can go rebound. She makes so many good passes for our team while she's on the court. Sometimes the little things are more meaningful than the big things. Tonight, she was extremely efficient. She had 16 points and 13 boards on nine attempts. She was very efficient. I think she had seven assists. She had a terrific game. That's our Jordan Horston right now."

On what she wants to see out of her team in the next week…
"For our team, we're just trying to stay consistent with our routine and what we're doing. We're just trying to stay focused on each day. We're still working on us and working on finding ways for us to get better as a basketball team. We'll do a lot of that this week. That's what we normally do. We find time each week to work on us, and then find time to work on our opponent as well. Hopefully our team will be locked in on us Tuesday and locked into Alabama on Wednesday."

Tennessee Junior Guard/Forward, Rae Burrell

On closing in on her 1000th point for the Lady Vols…

"It's like this milestone for me in this program, just being able to see how far I have come since freshman year."

On coming off the bench…

"I'm just doing what the team needs me to do. It's not about what I want. It is more about what the team needs."

On Coach Harper's reaction to the rebounding numbers against Vanderbilt…

"She was very proud of us, because I think they might have out-rebounded us last game (offensive rebounds). So, she made that a point that we need to get on this game, and we try to always rebound our opponents."

Tennessee Freshman Guard/Forward Sara Puckett

On her role within the team…

"We just continue to play what's being played out there. We just bring momentum ourselves and bring it to the team. Hopefully, we'll just continue to play hard."

On improved team performance against Vanderbilt…

"I feel like it's really good for us to see how you play a team twice in the same season. You compare the two games, and you see how well you did coming back even though your first game wasn't the greatest. I just feel like it's really good for us to show that if we really focused on those intangibles, then we're going to come out with a victory every time. It's an in-state rival, so it's a pretty big game. We had a lot of people here. It was just really good for us to get that one under our belt."

On what wearing the color pink today means to her…

"To me, it's just being able to honor, not just those that were affected by it, but have been affected and are going through it now. Bringing awareness to damages and how much we support them, that's pretty special to me. I'm for people; I love people. I want everybody to be good. I know they might be going through hardships. I want to be able to show my support. I feel like we were able to do that today."

Tennessee Junior Guard Jordan Horston

On getting a second win over Vanderbilt this season…

"It is always a good feeling when you get a win. We take every game one game at a time. Whoever is our next opponent, that is who we focus in on. We had a great bounce back on the last game and continue to. Momentum is still moving in the right direction."

On getting those hustle plays of diving on the floor, loose balls and rebounds …

"We always want to win all 50-50 balls. It is hard. It is toughness. Obviously, we do not want to be out-toughed. I feel like we are going to dive for it and go for every ball, because that is Tennessee basketball, and we take pride in it."

On her 12th double-double of the season and how she keeps herself going…

"I just let the game come to me. Everything they need me to do, that is what I am going to do. When I go out in the game, I see how the defense is shifting and take a minute so that when I come back in the game I can apply it. The game has slowed completely down for me. My teammates are finding me, and I am finding them."