Lady Vols vs. South Carolina Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement...
"It was a great atmosphere, and obviously, a fun game to be a part of. I thought our team battled but just had a few breakdowns. Obviously, South Carolina is… They're loaded. No one has been able to crack them this year. I think what they were able to do today was be consistent with what they've done well. They do a great job on the boards, they get the ball inside, they were able to make some threes today - especially in the third quarter that I thought really helped their run. But, you know, I think we can learn from this, I really do. I liked our effort, and we want to build on that and just try to find a way to make a few less mistakes the next time out."

On the breakdowns in the second quarter…
"Obviously, you look, it's two fold and it's all related. We gave up too many points, and we didn't score enough. It's related. You give up a bucket, you're not pushing in transition. You don't get the score, so you don't get set defensively. It all works together, and I think because of that, we lost our pace a little bit in the second quarter. Then, we had a few offensive boards, and we looked so excited to get them that we just threw the ball over the basket. So you've got to be able to settle, focus and finish in those moments. When I talk about cleaning up mistakes, that's part of it. (When) you get layups, you get shots around the basket, you've got to make them. In a game like this, you've got to make them."

On if the win-loss record is a reflection of the team and the good things the team did in this game…
"I think if you watch the game, there were so many ebbs and flows. You could've been impressed with some things we did, and then maybe not so much in the middle of it. In terms of the record and who we are, I do think it's important to watch us, to define who we are and see where we can go. We had an unbelievably tough schedule, and we didn't get the top wins we were hoping to get. We just didn't get those. But I don't think that makes us a bad team, by any stretch of the imagination. I think we are still a talented team, you just have to take things one more level to get that win, and that's the growth we're still looking for."

On the rebounding differential…
"We had some schematic issues there in the first half when you're sagging off of folks, which we were doing. You're maybe not guarding them as tight and then unfortunately, we weren't boxing them out, because we weren't there on them. We did a better job as the game went on with that. We had some opportunities to have a few more boxouts, missed them, and then they just went and got some where there wasn't a whole lot we could do about it. I do think we left some out there on the offensive end for us. Rickea (Jackson) mentioned it a little bit, being able to have a little bit more effort. We will look at that with our team and see if we can find a few more on the offensive end for us."

On the different lineup combinations from South Carolina and how much of a challenge that was to prepare for…
"We didn't overthink that one too much. There were maybe a couple of lineups that we ended up substituting to match some size. Overall, we just knew what the game plan was going to be regardless of the lineup, because we knew how we were going to play individuals. I think our team did a good job of knowing the scouting report."

On Jordan Horston's visible frustration despite ending the night with a double-double and how they are going to approach the upcoming game at Kentucky…
"Well, obviously, Jordan (Horston) is very competitive, so many of our players are. You have to take it for what it is worth; you have to hurt. It is okay to hurt. I need them to hurt actually, right now. They need to wake up renewed and ready to go tomorrow. It is just basketball. It is the life we live. You want it to hurt, and then you have to learn from it and move on. They don't punch pause and let you figure things out and then punch play again when you are ready, it's go. I know it will be a challenge on Sunday. Anytime you are playing someone on their senior day - or even at home or at this point - anybody in the SEC, it is going to be a challenge, and we know that. We have to be able to turn this around quickly and make sure that we have the focus that we need. One thing I have been really proud of, our athletic training staff has done a great job getting our players back ready, not for just games but for practices. Our recovery has been great, and we want to make sure that we are ready to go on Sunday in terms of how they feel. We'll probably have a film session and then practice to get ready tomorrow. I will probably go a little bit light with them, but maybe try to address some things we needed to do better here."

On having a lower number of turnovers tonight against South Carolina and the importance of that to build off of…
"I think it is important. I thought it was important going in that we take care of the basketball, because obviously, a transition team like South Carolina could turn turnovers into points really quickly. We did a pretty good job there with our numbers, I think 10-9, so pretty evenly matched there. That is a good stat for us to continue to work through. Now we have to keep that. We do not need to be a high-turnover team. Some teams can survive that. I think for us, when we are aggressive, when we share the basketball and the low turnover, we just flow a lot better."

Tennessee Senior Forward Rickea Jackson

On building off this game…
"We just want to build off this game. I feel like we have another level to us, and I really believe that. We showed that tonight, but we just have to cut down on the little things, capitalize off the little things. We did get great defensive stops, but we weren't coming down and capitalizing off of that, and they did. I thought that was the difference in tonight's loss. I feel like we definitely know what steps we need to take for it. I feel like we're not going to revert back, if anything we are going to build off of it. I think we will definitely have that next game."

On putting tonight's game aside and ending regular season the way they want to against Kentucky…
"Having that fire after a loss is always something that we look forward to. I'm just really proud of this team. There were so many times that we could've just given up, we could've came in scared, but we really didn't. We came out like they were any other team on that court. I'm just proud of our fight, at the end of the day. I feel like we're going to do really big and great things."

Tennessee Sophomore Forward Karoline Striplin

On what USC's defense did to keep Tennessee from breaking through late in the second quarter and third quarter…
"I think that it's no surprise that they're lengthy. I think that they really capitalized on just guarding well. They saw what we were doing, and they kind of took that away. All credit to them for adjusting and putting their best players in position to guard."

On where this team is mentally in terms of not backing down in the fourth quarter…
"I thank you for saying that. Coach Kellie (Harper) actually said during the timeout before we went to the fourth, she said, 'This is the time to define who we are as a team.' Even though it's late in the season, and we're going against the number one team, I feel like we just gave it our all for our teammates. Also knowing that it's our last game on this floor with our seniors, I feel like it was a statement we were making that we can play in there, we can hold them to 14, we can hold them to 10 (points). We've just got to lock in for all four quarters and make sure we do that every play."

On putting tonight's game aside and ending regular season the way they want to against Kentucky…
"I think that coming off a loss, it's always really evident when a team is playing, practicing, there's always that extra fire to win. We've just got to build off this. We've got to come out focused like you said in warmups, right off the bat. We've got to just build each quarter and just really play our game and make sure we're locked in.

South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley

On Rickea Jackson...
"I mean, I wanted to play a lot of people, get them in early to see how we can exploit some mismatches and just try to give Rickea (Jackson) different looks, because I knew she would be a matchup nightmare for our players, because she can just score so well and she's real crafty with the basketball. Obviously, we didn't do a great job on her because she had her way, but we just try to control what the others' contributions were and hope that we keep them under control and do what we normally do - rebound that basketball, try to score in transition and just try to figure their zone out. Because we knew they were going to play some zone, we just didn't know when or how long."

On the Lady Vols fourth quarter run…
"Yeah, I mean Tennessee is a team that's playing well at the right time. And I know they didn't win a lot of the games that they played against Top-25 teams, but they will pay off come post-season. Those games will pay off; you'll see them. They're getting better and better and better, and the chemistry is looking great. I think the addition of Rickea (Jackson) adds, you know, a great piece to what they're doing. I do know that they miss (Tamari) Key in there. Like, she would be someone that would probably push this team over the hump. But they're making due with what they have, and they've done extremely well in our league."

South Carolina Senior Guard Brea Beal

On Tennessee's early lead and USC's 17-0 run…
"I think, for them, it was just physicality and being aggressive when they were going to the basket - being deliberate and attacking us. I think we were able to make that adjustment and kind of avoid more fouls. We almost all fouled out. I think it's just really the adjustment for me."

On having twice as many assists as turnovers tonight…
"I think that you don't really know what you are going to get in a game, so we go out there, and if we turn the ball over, we turn the ball over. With us, it is continuing to be calm and turn the page and just continue our basketball. So, if we have more turnovers than assists, then we have more turnovers than assists. We just have to finish the game."

On her second career double-double, Kierra Fletcher's career-high in scoring, and what was working well for them tonight…
"I think, especially us two, it's just having our team believe in us, because we may not always score all the time, but we do a lot of the other things. When we are called upon and we are told to make those shots and take those drives to the basket, we are able to do it. I thank my team for believing in us."