University of Tennessee Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Lady Vols 121, Carson-Newman 76
November 07, 2017 | Women's Basketball
Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick Â
Â
Opening statement:Â
"I thought we had a great experience for our freshmen and team together. We were pretty aggressive offensively with limited turnovers. The defense was a little sporadic, but after some halftime adjustments, we straightened that out a little bit. We've got a great opportunity to get better. We've got good footage with the film, and we'll see it, we'll show it and work on things we need to get better at."Â
Â
On freshmen class:Â
"They are very talented young women, and I think that they came here highly touted freshmen. Some may think they have a lot of pressure, but they don't see it as pressure. They are great competitors, and once they settled in, I thought they did some good things. Mercedes (Russell) and Jaime (Nared) have brought them along really well. I thought once they got the jitters out of them they were outstanding."Â
Â
On freshman Rennia Davis:Â
"If I scored 27 points I would think I was awesome. Rennia (Davis), she's tough on herself, and that's okay. She's a little bit of a perfectionist. She's constantly asking questions, wanting to learn. I'm really proud of her. I thought she attacked the basket well and took smart shots. She rebounded well. For her first game at the collegiate level, I thought she was outstanding. Thirteen rebounds, three steals. All of the - Annie (Hayes) did some great things attacking the basket. Evina (Westbrook), I thought when she got out of getting into foul trouble and settling down a little bit, I thought she attacked (and was a) great passer. Kasi (Kushkituah) just controlled, slowed down and made plays. All four of them were instrumental in our game tonight, but they have had great leadership from both Mercedes (Russell) and Jaime (Nared)." Â
Â
On Cheridene Green and Kamera Harris being available Sunday:Â
"I think it's day to day. I hope they are back. I would anticipate they are back, but we will take it day by day and see how it goes."Â
On whether physical play of Freshman Kasiyahna Kushkituah was surprising:
"No. That's Kasiyahna's game. She's a physical player. She's a physical kid. She is a kid that wants to be the five player on the block. Not too many kids want to play around the basket. Kasiyahna does. She understands it, and she understands her role. She is not going to stray away from that too much. She is as sweet as can be off the court, but when she crosses the line, she is pretty physical."
 On early defensive struggle and foul trouble:
 "I thought we would come out a little stronger on the defensive end. I thought once we settled down and—we had a couple players get two quick fouls early—we are very capable of turning people over and we did that in the third and fourth quarter. Did I want us to start off a little bit better? Yes. Was I pleased with how we ended? Yes. But no question we can get better, and we are going to continue to work at it. We can really be a very good defensive team, and we had spurts of that tonight, so we are going to continue to work on it and practice. We are going to get better. We are going to be a very good defensive team."
 On 3-point shooting tonight and moving forward:
"I don't know how I would be comfortable with us going 1-for-13. Yeah, I thought tonight, probably 12 of those shots we shouldn't have shot. We should have penetrated, and we didn't need to shoot a lot of those. I'm not too concerned. I know we have some very good 3-point shooters, they just didn't perform tonight, but we should not rely on our 3-point shooting. We have great inside play. We have kids that can get to the basket, so I think as you will see, that the more we penetrate and the more we go inside, the more we will get open threes. We shot too quickly from the three today. They are going to be shooting a lot of threes on their own, not during practice."
 On her message at halftime to the team:
"Get in a stance. Move your hands. Call dead when they pick up the ball. Get in the passing lane. Play harder on defense. Move your feet. I just didn't say it in that tone, but I said that message. They got the message. They can be an outstanding defensive team. It shouldn't take me raising my voice. They are really solid. Once we settle in, we will understand. When we were shooting layups, a lot of those were us forcing turnovers. I believe they can see the importance of us getting after it, because it creates easy baskets. These kids love to score, so why not get a steal and shoot a lay-up, instead of going 1-13 from the three-point line."
On the 3rd quarter showcasing this team's potential:
"Absolutely. You saw just a little bit of what we can do. We are not in great shape right now, and I'm okay with that. We worked a lot on individual work. I hate to say it because it didn't show up in the first half, but we worked a lot on our defensive philosophies. We worked a lot on our offense and spreading the floor, not letting the ball get stuck in our hands. We are going to be in good shape. We are going to be in great shape. I was really proud, having a limited bench, because no one pulled themselves. No one looked to come out. I think they worked through the fatigue. I think the third quarter was a great example of what we can do all the time."Â
On the freshmen's great play and the bright future of the Lady Vols:
"When your talent plays hard and you have great chemistry, great things are going to happen. This group came in highly talented and I don't think they disappointed. They have a love for the game and a love for this program. We have great leadership that stepped up. I think this is the future of Tennessee basketball. I think our upperclassmen did a great job of preparing us by bringing the freshmen along. That's what it's all about. Our freshmen didn't know what to expect, they have never played in front of that kind of crowd. I thought they kept their composure. It has taken our upperclassmen to prepare them. They have been tough on them. They have been hard on them. Our freshmen have responded and they haven't been defensive. I love the chemistry of this team. I love the fact that they can get better and they will."
Â
 Jaime Nared, Senior Guard/Forward
On Holly Warlick's halftime message:
"Holly (Warlick) told us at halftime to pick up our intensity. She said, "The first half was unacceptable from us as a team." I think it was us getting nerves out, especially for the new players. I think second half things changed. We picked it up. We knew they were getting to the basket too easy and getting easy shots. We knew we just had to pick up our intensity."Â
On the impact the freshmen made:
"I think just how they played. They competed. It's different from high school to college, but I think just having the exhibition game was good for them to show what they can do. I think they all played well. I think Kasi (Kushkituah) and Rennia (Davis) both had double-doubles. Annie (Hayes) had, I think, four steals and Evina (Westbrook) had three steals. They just played hard, and it will come. Obviously, it's an exhibition game and the games get tougher. Just how they played and they kind of showed a little bit of what they can do. When games get tougher, they know what college basketball is now. I think they just showed what they can do now and will just build off it."
On playing at a fast pace:
"I think we can. I think we need to get in a little better shape. I think we got a little fatigued at times. I think sometimes we did great offensively and then jogged back on defense and they got an easy layup. We have to play both ends of the floor. They got a lot of easy baskets that they shouldn't have if we were just sprinting back and talking and doing the little things. We stress that in practice, so it's just going back to practice and seeing what we need to work on from this exhibition game. I think it showed us a lot. It was great for the freshmen, and great to see what we need to work on from now on. It's different when you're just practicing and can actually play a game. We haven't played a game in so long, it was nice to come out and play finally."
On the freshmen setting up the point guard:
"I think they did great. They just showed what they can bring to our team. Â Annie (Hayes) is super quick. She can penetrate. She's a great passer. E (Westbrook) has a high basketball IQ and is just a great passer, as well. They showed what they can bring to our team that we see every day. I think their potential is limitless. It's just a matter of what they do with it."
Â
Rennia Davis, Freshman Guard/Forward
On their impressions of first time playing in Thompson-Boling Arena:
"I think that my teammates helped me along by pushing me and getting me used to the new environment and everything."
Anastasia Hayes, Freshman Guard
On what drives you:
"I would say just getting every fifty-fifty ball, playing defense, helping my teammates in any way I can."
Â
Mike Mincey, Carson-Newman Head Coach
Opening Statement:
"Once again, I think this is the fourteenth straight year we've been able to come down and compete against the Lady Vols. They're a world-class program. Every year, we've been coming down here. For the last four years, in particular, we really want to try to be more competitive than it has been in years past, when we were getting beat by 80 or 90 points. We're an offensive-minded team. I thought we did a pretty good job of that in the first half. Obviously, the second half, Tennessee came out with a completely different mindset. We turned it over way too much and gave up a lot of uncontested points off of turnovers. I think it was 37-14 in that third quarter margin. At that point, it kind of stretched things out. I think we just got worn out. Our kids fought really hard in the first half, but I think once we got into that second half, once you push on bigger bodies, your attention to detail has to be so high on the offensive end to where you're stepping on sharp passes. We basically just got worn down. Tennessee kind of took it to us there in the second half."
On the difference in the second half:
"I don't want to say they picked up their intensity, but I think we have to take some of the credit that our passes weren't as sharp. We made some ill-advised turnovers. We weren't getting back very well, defensively, in transition. With a team like them, they scored 52 points in the first half, and once they got going and more comfortable (they found their rhythm). You've got four freshmen out there too, that maybe had those first-game jitters in the first half. They turned it on in the second half. A lot of credit goes to them. I just think we shot ourselves in the foot, as well."
On what difference he saw in Tennessee this season:
"All of their freshmen really looked good to me. To pick one out, in particular, I thought (Anastasia) Hayes played phenomenal. We've got Haris (Price) who's a really, really quick point guard. We didn't go to zone, because that wasn't really what we wanted to do. She really took it to the rim. I knew she was a great player. She's going to be a phenomenal player, as fast and quick as she is, and as well as she can finish around the rim. I think they just did a great job."
On being down by 10 points at halftime:
"We were probably more happy that we scored 42 points than anything. Obviously, you can be disappointed by giving up 52 points in the first half. Being down 10, we've kind of been in that scenario before. We tried to remind them, 'Let's try to keep the game competitive, as long as we can.' As soon as we came up, we missed a couple of things there early. They got points off turnovers and got that 14-point lead. Then, it's downhill from there. They got happy. When good teams get happy and things start going their way, it can be bad for the other team. I think that's what happened there in the third quarter."
Â
Haris Price, Junior Guard
On attacking the rim more against Tennessee:
"I think this whole preseason I've been working more on my game. Last year, I was struggling getting into the system and learning everybody and their roles. This preseason I've really been focusing on my game and how I can contribute to the team more. I think that's always a part of the game plan, is to do the best you can."
Â
Jecca Simerly, Senior Forward
On what she took from her team's performance
"I think it's a good start to our season, because we know after this game, we're set. We're not going to have to face anyone like that. So, I think it's a really good opportunity for us to come together as a team and have to face that adversity as we move into our season of conference games."
