Lady Vols vs. Arkansas Postgame Quotes

Tennessee Head Coach Kellie Harper

Opening Statement
"I'm really proud of our performance tonight. I thought our team was really locked in and focused on the game plan the last couple days in practice, and it carried over. Obviously, Arkansas is a really good basketball team, and they pose a lot of challenges and are difficult to guard, but that was one of our best defensive efforts this season, and I'm really proud of our team."
On Jillian Hollingshead's double double...
"Jillian (Hollingshead) has actually had some pretty good practices last week into this week, and I felt like at some point it was going to pay off in the game. Obviously, the first run she got, her minutes were really good. I thought she was solid defensively and looked confident on the offensive end and just played really well. I'm proud of Jillian."
On Jillian Hollingshead's mentality...
"Players have to understand that sometimes it's not easy and they have to work. If you feel like you're in a slump, or maybe you're not in a good stretch, you've got to get yourself out of it by staying the course, staying focused on what you need to do, working hard. She's been working hard in practice. Again, she looked pretty comfortable in practice, so I felt like we were on an upward trajectory. We just wanted to see it in a game, and she was able to do that."
On the 12-0 run to start the game...
"I think the start was good for us. I think it gave us confidence and gave us momentum. As a coach, knowing how Arkansas plays, there was no panic on their side. That was just a few buckets, and then you've got a tied ballgame. They can score a lot in a hurry, and a lot of times when you watch Arkansas play other teams, you see big runs on both sides, so I was proud of our team for continuing and playing pretty consistent throughout the game."
On honoring Tasha Butts tonight...
"It is a special night, and this game means a lot to a lot of people. Cancer has affected a lot of people, and I think everyone has a story and is connected in some way, so you can relate. 'You' as in anybody in the gym can relate. For us, it meant a lot that we were able to celebrate the life of Tasha Butts and then adding on to our good performance, I think it's hopefully a fitting tribute to her."
On tonight's win preparing the team for Thursday's matchup vs. South Carolina...
"We did what we needed to do on the boards. South Carolina poses a very different look on the boards, and Arkansas' game plan is a little different. They're going to get their defense set rather than crash the boards as hard. South Carolina, not so much; they're going to bring the house on the boards. We understand what we're up against, but each and every game is different, so we did what we needed to do on the boards in this game, and I'm proud of our team for that."

On how a performance for Jillian Hollingshead like tonight affects her going forward…
"I think for her, she hit a jumper -- she hit a 15-foot jumper. She looked comfortable out on the floor, but also she was working inside and getting those post touches. I think it's important for her to do both. I think for her confidence, but for our team, we need both. What we were able to do is play her with Rickea (Jackson). I liked her with Karoline (Striplin) in there tonight. I thought that was a really good combination. We have some options, and I think what Jillian was able to do defensively gave me a lot of confidence. I'm excited about that."

On how much they need Jillian Hollingshead playing at a high level with the toughest stretch of their season approaching…
"I think right now, the biggest thing I think she needed for her confidence was she needed to see it in a game, have some positive plays, some physical plays. Obviously, we know she can do those things. Now, hopefully, she's reminded she can do them in a game. There's no doubt going down the stretch we need everybody to play well. Obviously, seeing that from her tonight is just really good for our team."

On how big this game is in terms of the SEC standings and if she let Jackson stay up for the Super Bowl…
"He is a Chiefs fan. Hopefully, (he's) in bed now. That's two late nights for him. We had a great time watching the Super Bowl. We had to calm him down a few times; he was pretty excited. We don't treat any game differently. That may sound cliché, but it really is true. We won't prepare any differently. We'll have the same scouting report template. The game plan will be different, but the presentation will be the same. We do that so that there's a comfort level there, and then we're not picking and choosing which games are the big games. They are all big. Hopefully, our players feel very confident about that. Following scores in the SEC is very interesting each and every night. The consistent teams are going to rise. I think this year, one of the things that we have seen may be a little bit more about matchups. You're trying to figure out how this team beat this team, but this team beat this team. A lot of time it's matchups. Everybody in our league is good; everybody can win, and it's very competitive."

On how Tamari Key handled Arkansas defensively even though they were looking for perimeter shots…
"I thought she had some good possessions. I thought she did a better job probably in the second half. I think we just have to continue to remind her, although she is a paint presence, and we need that a majority of a time. When she has to get out of the paint, she can and she can move out there. I thought she got a little stuck in the paint in the first half and didn't move as much as we need her to. She had some blocked shots; she affected some shots and caused them to look for some jumpers. The effect was there no doubt. I think given everything, I think she did a good job tonight."

On her mindset defensively leading up to tonight's game…
"We did what we needed to do with the rebounding. We had some good box outs. That's not their (Arkansas) game; they're not going to get a lot of points there, because they will go get their defense set. So, I do understand that. I do think that our players were locked in today. I heard them talking about feeling good. They understood the game plan. You can understand it and get it, but you have to go out and execute it. That's where I was really proud of them.

On what she liked about what her team's defense…
"I thought we did a nice job of having five people guarding the ball. I don't think we got overly gapped out. I think we did a nice job of making the ball handlers a little uncomfortable. It wasn't easy for them. I thought our work off the ball was really good. I think sometimes you can get too gapped out against them, and it takes away your opportunities for help defensively, so I thought we did a good job there. That's what I liked about it. They (Arkansas) missed some shots that they make some games, but I like to think we had something to do with some of those."

On Tennessee's scheduling…
"Obviously, we've played a lot of tough teams this year, there's no doubt. We were able to play a lot of teams that have hopefully, prepared us. Going into this game, our players were calling out plays that we guarded against Indiana earlier in the season. There was a little bit of carry-over from experiences that we've had earlier this year. I think, at the end of the day, you have to do what's best for your team, but we also understand our place in the league. Hopefully, at the end of the year it's a positive not a negative."

On what about the play on the boards she would like to see carry over to the game against South Carolina…
"Discipline. I think we had some good box outs. We'll have to be a little bit more physical no doubt. I think just getting the job done at the end of the day, whatever that job is. Getting the job done, that's what we did."

On how important it was to have a good shooting night…
"I think our team was pretty confident coming in. We were able to get a couple practices here in the arena. We had some groups in here shooting. We got quite a few shots up in the past couple of days, so they felt pretty good going in. But it is good. There's no doubt that when you see shots go in that it effects you. Hopefully, we can get to the point where we can do some positive things if those shots don't go in and adapt to the game. Yes, fortunately tonight, we were shooting it well enough from the perimeter and sharing the ball. I think it starts from where we got the ball inside and had some really good looks in there. It helped spread some things out for us."

On what Tennessee needs to do against South Carolina…
"I have 100% been focused on Arkansas. I have not watched South Carolina to scout them yet, but I do know that they are still really good on defense, and they statistically are even better on offense than they have been in years passed. There are a few opinions out there in the women's basketball world that this could be her most talented teams or one of her best teams. So, for us, we have to be able to execute on a high level on an offensive end against a really tough defense. For us defensively, we are going to have to guard a lot of things. They share the ball, they can shoot the ball, they can get the ball inside. They have a lot of different weapons, so for us to be able to guard a lot of actions and a lot of different strengths is going to be important. I think we are going to have to be physical on the boards, maybe much more physical than we have been in other games."

Tennessee Junior Forward Jillian Hollingshead

On using more post moves tonight…
"These last couple of practices, I've been working on being more aggressive and using my strength. I knew with playing Arkansas that we were going to have an advantage on the inside, so I took it."

On how she takes pride in her play-making ability…
"Everyone can score on the team, and our best offense comes from moving the ball, looking for open reads and easy shots for us."

On being more comfortable playing with her back to the basket…
"I think for me, it's being more versatile. Just using everything I have in my bag, whether that's back to the basket or opening up. With playing Arkansas, they don't have that much depth in the post, so we took advantage of that."

Tennessee Senior Guard Jewel Spear

On seeing Jillian Hollingshead playing well tonight…
"I think it's very special. Jillian (Hollingshead) always puts in hard work. No matter if she's scoring or not, she's going to impact the game. Seeing the ball go in the hoop for her was special. It speaks to the depth that we have on this team."

On being second SEC and the challenges South Carolina will give them…
"I think (this win) definitely gives us confidence. Every time you can get a win in the SEC, it gives you confidence, because every team is good top to bottom. This was a great effort defensively, but also offensively. We had a lot of players step up. We know going into Thursday that it's going to be a big task for us. South Carolina is a great team, and we're just going to go in there, focus on the gameplan that the coaches give us and lock in on that. We'll go into the game, compete and try to win. That's all you can do."

On being able to finish the game the way they wanted to…
"I thought we played really well quarter to quarter. Holding them under 15 points each quarter except the last one was special defensively. Obviously, when you have a lead like that, being able to dribble out the ball is special."

Tennessee Fifth-Year Forward Rickea Jackson

On how hard it is to wait until Monday to play after a tough loss…
"I feel like we had a lot of time to reflect on the loss. I felt like the way that we lost was a lot on our hearts. We did play Monday, so not playing that Sunday made us just want to play. We talked about it, and I feel like today was a statement win. We focused on our defense, and this is what happens when we focus on our defense."

On getting out to a 12-0 start…
"It's just fun when the ball goes in the hoop for us and we get to play downhill and play our game. It was very fun doing that, and having that one-two punch is very special. Our other teammates came along, and you have to guard and respect every single one of us. It's pretty cool to see."

On Jillian Hollingshead…
"I feel like we as teammates stay on Jillian (Hollingshead) and tell her that she has so much potential. She's such a great teammate, and she takes it every day. She comes to work, works hard and does her job. A night like this was coming for her sooner rather than later, because she puts in the work every day in practice."

Arkansas Head Coach Mike Neighbors

On Jillian Hollingshead's production tonight…
"I thought she took advantage. We went small. When Saylor (Poffenbarger) got hurt, I thought they did a really good job of isolating her, getting the ball to her against our guards. She did a really good job. We've played against Jillian (Hollingshead) long enough. I saw her play; we know how good of a player she is. The opportunity came, and I thought she made the most of it. I thought they really looked for her once they got it going. She's a hard matchup for us - any matchup - but particularly when we had to go small."

On what adjustment they made at halftime to slow down Rickea Jackson…
"I think she started sharing the ball and making others better. I think if she had needed to, she probably could've gone out. I've seen that kid long enough to know that she can dominate a lot of matchups. Maybe we did a little better job on her, maybe not. I think she just started moving it a little bit, getting other people involved. This is a Tennessee team that we always seem to catch at their full strength. We always seem to catch them with everybody available, there are no injury reports. It's a team that I think will peak at the right time. I know they have a tough schedule down the stretch with South Carolina twice and LSU. Looking ahead, I think they're a team out of our league that anybody that's not paying attention to how hard Kellie (Harper) schedules is not paying attention. They're doing a lot of good for our league in doing so. Not every team in our league does that. We need Tennessee to schedule how she does. I know it's hard on her to be without Rickea (Jackson) and without Tamari (Key) early in the year and play some of the best teams in the country. I think that's going to show up for them when it comes tournament time. I have a great deal of respect for how they do it and how they go about it."

On what led to the rebounding difference…
"It's Tennessee basketball - you know they're going to rebound. They don't recruit kids that don't try to rebound. They coach it; Kellie (Harper) has built around it. You know it's going to come. On nights like that, we have to shoot the three well, and we did not. We didn't shoot it good enough. We probably figured half our shots were going to be threes. We know they're not going to foul us at the rim. We usually get to the foul line 18-20 times. We knew those were going to be hard to come by. The rebounding does the job. We could take the air out of the ball, and we could get these numbers down, and it wouldn't be that, but we keep trying to play. My kids would look at me like I'm crazy if I subbed, if we stopped trying to shoot threes and we stopped trying to do what we need to do to win games down the stretch. That number, it gets away from you a little bit. We only turned it over 11 times. On 69 shots, there's going to be some misses. I did think that to beat these guys, we know rebounding is going to be hard. You have to make enough threes, and we didn't."