University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols vs. Wofford Postgame Quotes
December 19, 2023 | Women's Basketball
Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper
Opening statement...
"(I'm) proud of our team tonight. Obviously, Wofford is a tough team. Rachael Rose is a tough player, and they take on her personality. She's been really a terrific player for them. I think you could see that tonight. We knew they were coming off of a big win at Virginia. They were going to be a tough opponent. I'm proud of our team for keeping them under their average and finding ways to score in multiple ways so we could get the win."
On Rickea Jackson, Samantha Williams and Destinee Wells…
"Rickea was able to work back into practice. She's not 100 percent, but 21 minutes is pretty impressive that she was able to go that long. It's the way it looked in practice. She steps on the court, and she changes things. I know the team was happy to get her back out there. Samantha (Williams) is actually out recruiting. We don't like to miss games for recruiting, but occasionally the way that these tournaments fall, we have to miss occasionally. That's where she is at. Unfortunately, Destinee Wells was injured this week with a lower leg injury, and she's out for the year."
On what was working well tonight with the ball movement and assists…
"We had an opportunity to move the ball around. Some of those came off of our threes, some of them came off of our post feeds and scores. I thought we did a good job of adapting throughout the game to how the defense was playing us. I thought the first quarter in particular, we took too many quick threes and didn't give paint touches enough looks. In the second half, we did a much better job of playing in rhythm and taking threes in rhythm, and I think that's why you see the three-point shooting percentage was better in the second half."
On Jillian Hollingshead's play on the inside…
"I thought she did a good job of getting to the boards. She missed a couple of easy ones there in the first half, but she stuck right with it and got herself some opportunities there in the second half. She's had some good practices this week. I think our team has had some good practices, but I thought Jillian was one that was pretty consistent with her effort and energy in practice. She has to be a force for us. We have to be able to get her the ball and know that we're going to get a bucket."
On the 34 three-point attempts…
"This one was tough -- 17 in the first half; I was not happy with that. The way that they were playing us, they were giving us the three multiple times every possession. At some point, you have to take some. In the second half, I was okay with those. I thought those were a little bit better. It's not necessarily the number if you're playing a team like that, but how you're taking them as well. Our patience was better, for the most part, in the second half."
On introducing the full-court press tonight…
"We did put that in over this week. I think our team really adapted to it well in practice. It was good to be able to do it in this game. I thought it would be valuable in this game, so much so that they ran it multiple times when I didn't call it. They were pretty excited about getting into it and running it, and they did a nice job. I think that's something that we're excited about continuing to use."
On Jasmine Powell stepping up and handling the ball more…
"She played a lot of minutes, did a really nice job of rebounding and getting to the basket. She had a lot of assists and a big load defensively, as well. She had a lot on her tonight. She's our ball handler and our best perimeter defender. She's going to get that about every night. We're going to have to have some people to step up and take some pressure off of her, whether that's on the boards, handling the ball, or defensively."
On the plan for the point guard position with Destinee Wells' injury…
"For us, it's Kaiya Wynn and Edie Darby. That's where we've practiced them a lot; they both got a lot of good minutes there tonight. We'll keep working on what that looks like, and I think we'll have to be creative on some things, but those two really practice hard. I thought, honestly, Kaiya's week of practice was the best week since she's been on this campus. I thought that was a great week for her. She plays so hard; she makes a lot of plays when she's in there. We'll just continue to work with them. I think they both can bring something different than each other, but they're both going to have to play."
On what made Jewel Spear so effective tonight…
"I thought she took really good shots there, in the second half in particular. Then, she got in, got her and offensive board and a put-back. To me, every now and then, you have to find an easy bucket. For her, whether that's getting to the free-throw line, an offensive board and a put-back, or a layup, you have to have some easy ones sprinkled in there with these jumpers that she typically takes. That gets your confidence up, so it was good to see."
On how Destinee Wells is doing and how the team took the news of her injury…
"It was a gut punch, I think, for the team and for her. I know it was tough initially to get the news, but since, she's bounced back. I did share that I've been through that. I've been through it twice. Honestly, I think it gave her a little bit of comfort knowing that there are other people that have done it. We've got a great medical staff here that will take great care of her. I hate it. I hate it for her, I hate it for the team, but it's part of it, and we're going to have to move on."
On discussions with Kaiya Wynn trying to find her role at point guard…
"She had a lot of reps this week, and she handled the ball really well. I think she understands the assignment; she understands what she needs to do. She's a really bright kid. I think sometimes she gets going so fast that she's got to slow down a little bit. I'll tell you, she just plays so hard. She's going to get to the basket, get to the free-throw line. She's going to get a board. She can guard. The energy that she plays with right now is really what we need as much as anything. We're going to really take advantage of film sessions with her to be able to take her education now and really, she's got to look through a little bit different lens now playing the point."
On her gameplan when she gets the team back from Christmas break…
"They'll come back on the 26th, and we'll practice on the 27th. That's light years away, right? We'll bring them back, and once we get back into practices, we'll have some pretty tough practices. I think we'll mimic what we did this week, which I think was really good for our team. (We'll) try to get them ready to go in that first game on the road. I thought tonight, even though practices and games still feel a little different, you can have a really, really hard practice and that game still feels a little different. I thought it took us a minute tonight to get some rust off, and then we settled in. We'll do everything we can to avoid having that situation. We want to make sure we're ready to go. A few of them will have the winter mini-semester classes, but we're going to try and get them in a routine that won't be too far off from what will happen when they start class. I think that big adjustment hurt us a couple years ago. We'll get them up for breakfast, practice and then let them have their afternoons off, typically, during the week in January."
On if she saw in the team what she wanted to see tonight in terms of fundamentals…
"I think we saw some of those things. Obviously, we saw some things that we still want to work on. I think we had some moments that carried over, and that was good to see. I think they played with a good confidence about them tonight, that was good to see. I think you get that from your preparation and from your practices, so I'm excited about that. Hopefully, we can build on it."
On how Rickea Jackson's presence affected the overall balance of the offense…
"I think her presence affects them when they step on the court. She gives them great confidence. People key in on her. I mean, she hasn't played in however many weeks, and she was the focus as soon as she checked into the game. She is that talented. But I do think it takes a little bit of pressure off some of our other players, and it does seem as though they are playing a little freer tonight. I love the balance; I think we are going to be at our best when we have good balance offensively."
On how the longer Christmas break helps the need for more players to step up at the point guard position…
"Yeah, we will have several practices to get them there. I think that's not necessarily trial by fire. You know, you're not throwing them into the games. They get an opportunity to practice, now they have practiced a lot. Edie (Darby)Â has had more reps at the point than Kaiya (Wynn)Â has, but I think it helps them knowing they're going to have to step up and play for us at that position. Just trying to put them in adverse situations at practice is going to be important."
On how having gone through an injury has helped her relate to Destinee Wells…
"When you get taken away, you get removed from the game; it's hard. This is what you know. It's hard to be on the side and be a cheerleader when all you've done your whole life is play basketball. I do think she had a great attitude towards it. I wanted to reiterate to her that we have a great staff that's going to take care of her. I think that's important also, that our players - any of our players that are injured - have confidence that we are there for them. I think sometimes you just need to hear that. She, as a person, is important to us and not just as a basketball player. But It will be hard throughout the year. It's not easy sitting over there, it's just not. I also told her that I learned a lot when I had to sit out and watch. I learned a lot, and I think she can grow as a basketball player while on the sideline."
On how Coach Harper felt about the team's effort…
"You know, it's so funny, because in my head, there are a few defensive breakdowns where we mixed the box outs. Those are the ones I'm thinking of. But obviously, we controlled it the majority of the time, and I am proud of the discipline we had there. There were a few breakdowns where we just lost our focus and lost our man. Hopefully, we can eliminate just a few more of those, but we did what we were supposed to do on the boards. We haven't always done that, so I'm proud of our team there."
Junior Guard/Forward Sara Puckett
On tonight's full-court press...
"I think we worked on our pace a lot this break, which translated into the press as well. I think it's something we are going to be able to throw at people just randomly, and they might not know how to take it, so I think it's going to be valuable in that aspect. I think it was pretty fun to get out there and get that 10 seconds (penalty). That was our first of the season, so that was good. We're just proud of each other and our fight tonight."
On seeing Rickea Jackson back on the court...
"It was great to see that, because we haven't seen it in a while. I was just really happy for her (Rickea Jackson) to just get back out there and still produce and show what she's still capable of. I mean, she's been doing that this week in practice too, so just really proud of her and how she came back so easily in the flow of things, and now we know she's back on the court so like you said, now we can kind of just sit back and let her do her thing. But also, she can create for us, we can create for each other. She just fits so well with the team, so now it's just easy."
On having a Christmas break before SEC play...
"I think it's going to be really nice, because we get to step away for a minute and just rest. And I think that's a big thing to fuel up and spend time with our families. That's a big thing that I'm excited for, to just be around the people I love outside of basketball, so I'm just really glad we're going to be able to get such a long break, because it hasn't been this long before. I know a bunch of us will still get in the gym and get shots up just to be prepared for SEC play, but (I'm) very grateful for a break."
Graduate Guard Jasmine Powell
On stepping up in Destinee Wells' absence...
"I knew I was going to have to step up today. Having a man down is always going to be hard for the team, but it's next person up. I think that we all handled the pressure pretty well coming in knowing that we were going to have Destinee (Wells) out, knowing that I was going to have to play extended minutes, trying to bring it on the defensive end as well. (We're) just trying to play our game and not letting something like that bring us down."
On having Rickea Jackson back...
"It's always good to have her. We've been waiting a while to have her back, and I'm glad we got the question now, 'How good is it to have her back?' Instead of, 'How do you feel with her out?'Â She's great for us as we kind of get her back into things, and she's becoming more of a pivotal part of the team, so it's just great to have her."
On holding Wofford to under 15 points in the first two quarters...
"I think we made tremendous strides on defense. We practiced a lot with no threes. We know a lot of teams coming in that average 24 threes a game, so trying to limit that, trying to take them out of whack, trying to pressure them, make them uncomfortable, that's been our game plan for pretty much every team that we want to play. We are just trying to disrupt. I think a word we use a lot is disrupt. The first two quarters, I'm glad we came out and punched them, and our next step is to stay on the gas and not let them score more."
Junior Forward Karoline Striplin
On not falling behind tonight...
"It was nice obviously, not having to stress about losing the lead at any point. I feel like it gave us a lot of confidence, especially on the defensive end, just us being able to push the pace off their misses, that helped us a lot. Obviously, our press looked pretty good, so it's definitely nice to have that win in our bag going into SEC play."
On what's allowed her to be productive and consistent on the court...
"I think that I'm just surrounded by a team of great players and great shooters as well, so just having the court be open. Obviously, today they were collapsing a lot, so just knowing I had shooters out there in the field that would knock it down, just being surrounded by other great players has really helped me flourish."
On having a high assist rate and balanced scoring tonight...
"We knew we had the height advantage on Wofford, so our goal going in was work inside out. And I think that early on, us being able to get some paint touches and kick outs helped us as the game progressed. With those assists, people were having to respect the three more and respect the post more, so it just really kept the other team on their toes, and I felt like there were more openings for everyone to score."
Wofford Head Coach Jimmy Garrity
Opening Statement…
"(I) just want to thank the University of Tennessee for playing us, second year in a row. I appreciate the coaching staff playing us for the second time. Really, really, I cannot tell you how proud I am of our players. I thought they showed a lot of fight and toughness. We had some goals coming in, one of those was double-digit steals. We did that; we got 10. I think early on, we didn't shoot it like we normally do, but their fight and their effort, against a big, physical team that Tennessee has, I thought was just unbelievable. These two, Maddie (Heiss) and Rachael (Rose), I thought just did a fantastic job on both ends, offensively and defensively, running our stuff and making shots when they needed to make shots and plays on the defensive end when they needed to make plays."
On facing a Tennessee press that they haven't ran much so far this season…
"The scout, I think they only pressed a few times in the previous games. I don't know if it really surprised us a little bit. I thought other than the first couple of times, I thought we handled it well."
On if part of the gameplan was to force Tennessee into three-point shots…
"When you go 6-6, 6-5, 6-4, you kind of have to pick your poison a little bit. We decided to pack it in a little bit and help. We really wanted to get deflections and steals from two passes away, which left skips open for uncontested threes. But you give them credit, they knocked them down, too. I would go back to that same gameplan again."
Wofford Freshman Guard Maddie Heiss
On their mindset coming into the game…
"We came to play. We wanted to put up a fight, and we did. Super proud of the girls and all of us for how we played today."
On if this year's non-conference schedule has helped them with confidence as they prepare to enter conference play…
"I'd say absolutely. We're playing tough teams, so this is definitely going to help us and prepare us for conference play."
Wofford Junior Guard Rachael Rose
On their mindset coming into the game…
"I told the players before the game, I said, 'Virginia's over. We're here at Tennessee, and our goal is to win this game.' Every single one of us had the same mindset of coming in and hanging with them and showing we belong and trying to be more physical than them, because we are out-sized in all five positions out there. I'm really proud of the way we played, and I'm proud of the heart that the freshmen showed. We had a fearless mentality coming in, and I think we did well with that."
On if this year's non-conference schedule has helped them with confidence as they prepare to enter conference play…
"I think this is just showing us the speed of the game and how physical teams can be. It's really going to prepare us for the upcoming conference season. I just think we knew we had to get stronger, and we have a lot of young freshmen on the court, so just making sure they know the speed and the physicality. I think we're adapting really well, and we're growing each game from the tough competition we're playing."
