University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL HOOPS REPORT (12/5/17)
December 05, 2017 | Women's Basketball
Tennessee will host the Trojans Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Thompson-Boling Arena. The game will be carried online by SECN+ (WatchESPN).
UT is undefeated after eight games and is looking to move to 9-0 against Troy. The Lady Vols are 2-0 all-time against the Trojans. They last met on Dec. 21, 2016, when Tennessee took a 110-84 victory.Â
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Assistant Coach Sharrona Reaves
On Meme Jackson's performance recently:
"Honestly, Meme has been spending a lot of time in the gym. I think that's what's really motivating Meme right now, it's the time that she's putting in. Not to say that she hasn't put time in before, but there's just a different dedication from her this year. After practice she's staying late, getting shots up. She's coming in early before practice to get shots up. She's just been more focused, and I think having these young girls around her to push her has gotten her to see that this is her time to be in a leadership role. I think she's been very focused about that, and I think it's reflecting in her game on the court."
On upcoming game against Troy:
"We've got to take care of the ball tomorrow night. They press, press, press. They're forcing 30 turnovers a game. They've had a couple games where they've forced up to 48 turnovers in one game, so they do a lot of full-court defense, a lot of Vegas-press, which we call as like a man run-and-jump type press, just to try to surprise you. That's how they create their points. So we better take care of the basketball, and we better block out tomorrow, because they crash the boards really hard."
On focus of team leading into Troy game and potential for game to be sloppy:
"I think that Troy definitely likes to play that type of game, that wild-pace game. I think that the focus of this team is a lot different than last year. I think that once we get ahead and we establish ourselves, I think that we can just try to get better and push ourselves and give ourselves goals from quarter to quarter to try and meet. I think they'll play hard, they know they have to play hard. Troy is a good team; they're a well-coached team, so we've got to come ready to play. They're something we've not seen. They're the number one possessions team in the country right now, because they're averaging 89 possessions per game. They're the fastest playing team in the country right now. Not that we don't have teams in the SEC that play fast, but I don't think we've seen anyone this fast."
