Feb. 4, 2010

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HEAD COACH Pat Summitt: (opening remarks): "We get everybody's best shot. We need to understand that we get everybody's best shot, and we have to be ready. A few people haven't quite figured that out yet. I was pleased with our post game. Lyssi (Brewer) and Kelley (Cain) did a great job. We got some good reps from Angie (Bjorklund) and Shekinna (Stricklen). We had to dig ourselves out of a hole. We've got to get a group that starts off at a strong pace. Arkansas is very good off the bounce, and we struggled against that."

(on Kelley Cain): "Kelley is doing a lot better. I communicated with her throughout the game. She moved and was very mobile. She did a good job of using the glass. She knows her strengths. She wants paint points."

(on Kamiko Williams' first start at point guard): "I thought she'd be better. It was her first start. We've got time. We need for her to get the ball out of her hands. There were a few possessions that she was out there by herself. Once we started playing inside out, we were better. We played point guard by committee. Kamiko started. Bree (Bass) played there, and so did Strick (Shekinna Stricklen). (Alicia) Manning got caught a few times at the top, but she wasn't put there to be the point guard."

(on Angie Bjorklund): "In the first half, she was trying to do too much individually. We just needed to get the ball moving. Sometimes we're not scoring well. Angie was trying to make every shot. She just needs to let the offense open for her."

(on Kelley Cain's mobility): "She's so invested in helping this team. She's feeling better, and her mobility shows. She's sprinting the floor."

(on Lyssi Brewer): "Lyssi is playing very smart. She has a good skill set. She has a good touch off the glass. She's one of our most improved players, if not our most improved player, from last year. What a difference a year makes. Last year, she thought her name was the only name I knew."

(on the difference between Tennessee's play in the first and second half): "We got the ball inside. The difference in the first half was that the guards were trying to do too much."

(on upcoming game with Vanderbilt): "Any time you play Vanderbilt, you better guard the three-ball. If you don't, you'll get beat. If you do (guard it), you've got a chance to come home with a win."

SOPHOMORE FORWARD Alyssia Brewer (On the team's high-low post game): "It's definitely effective. Sometimes, coach just wants me to play inside and we will do cross screens and stuff. If I see Kelley has a seal, I go to the high post and feel confident giving her the ball down low."

(On her performance this season): "I'm never going to be satisfied with what I do on the court because I know I can always look back and know I could've done better. I think that I definitely have improved from last year and even since the beginning of this year. My greatest achievement so far has been my consistency."

JUNIOR GUARD Angie Bjorklund (On her performance in the second half): "Instead of creating my own shots, I was getting shots within the offense and playing inside-out. Coming off of screens was big, too. Kelley (Cain) had a lot of screen assists tonight. I thought my teammates did a great job of helping me get open in the second half."

(On the play of Tennessee's post players): "We always emphasize getting the ball inside because we have two of the best posts in the country. They work really well together, especially with the high-low game. I thought they both really battled inside and I was proud of them. I hope they continue to play like that."

(On how to improve the team's three-point defense): "I think just communicate more, especially when we go to our switching defense--or any defense, really. Even in the zone, they were hitting threes tonight. Communicating more just makes it a priority. Arkansas did a great job of knocking down shots. I think it's all about adjusting on defense and we need to do that quicker than we did tonight."

REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE CENTER Kelley Cain (On Alyssia Brewer's ability as a passer): "She sees the court very well. She reads me very well, as you could see on the last two plays of the game. She's a very good passer."

(On her school-record tying eight blocks): "If I don't block the shot, I hope to alter it in some way. I don't always go for the block but as long as I can throw my hands up and scare them, I'm happy."

(On playing 35 minutes tonight): "It makes me feel good because I know I couldn't have done it last year."

(On the physical nature of the game in the post): "It's nothing I'm not used to. That's a part of the game--getting in position and battling in the post."

(On the play of Alyssia Brewer this season): "Alyssia is a completely different player for us. Obviously coach sees that, too. She's starting and she played 35 minutes and is able to hang in there for 35 minutes. Her consistency is a big thing, because in the post we aim to shoot over 50 percent and kick the ball out when good shots aren't there, and she's done that. Her game has elevated to a completely different level."

ARKANSAS HEAD COACH TOM COLLEN: (On tonight's game): "I think you're always disappointed when you lose, but I think we came in here knowing this is a pretty hard venue to play in. We came up here two years ago and got roughed up pretty good. I think the most impressive thing for me tonight as a coach was that this team has struggled to win some games and they had every reason to come in here and lay down. They didn't do that - they battled. We talk about winning the battle of effort. There is not many teams in this league that play much harder night in and night out than Tennessee. I honestly thought we won the battle of effort tonight and I think that's what allowed us to at least stay in the game. So I was pretty happy with that. We got beat up on the boards a little bit. We're just not as big and strong and physical as Tennessee is and I give them credit for that. But we kept it close - you know, close enough that maybe we had a chance if we'd have shot the ball a little bit better."

(On Tennessee's post players' size): "We just can't put two big kids out there like that, and when they put Alyssia Brewer and Kellie Cain out there side by side, they take up a lot of space and if one of them shoots it on one block, the other one rebounds it on the other block. They're a little bit of a nightmare to defend in the post. You can choose your poison. You can sit behind them and hope they miss shots, but they're going to get it deep in the paint - both of them are. Or, you can get out and try to deny them the ball, and when you get out and deny them the ball, you're vulnerable to the lob, and you're vulnerable to offensive boards. So I think they probably beat us on the offensive boards. I think that's where they got most of their high percentage shots - after they shot it and missed it, and then got easy layups. So, they're just big and strong and physical when they have those two in there."

(On matchup with freshman Point Guard Kamiko Williams, who got her first start in the game): "I don't know whether we did anything different. I can tell you we watched a lot of tape on her and I know she's been coming on. She played quite a few minutes against South Carolina and had a great game, and she's going to be a good player in this conference for a long time. I just think sometimes making that transition from - all of a sudden - saying `OK, you're going to be my starter now, and it's time' - the bottom line is she's still a freshman, and I know, because I've got some freshmen that I roll out there and even some sophomores that are still learning to deal with the intensity of this league. I don't think we did anything special but I think we got out there and we guarded them pretty hard, and she's going be a great player."

SOPHOMORE GUARD C'EIRA RICKETTS (On her steals and the production the team had from them): "Well we just practiced going over the plays and how Angie comes off screens and who they look to get the ball to. And when you just keep going over and over it, you start to read their passes. And that's just what I was doing - just reading where they were going with the ball."

SENIOR GUARD CHARITY FORD (On the three pointers): "I don't think we did as well as we'd have like, but I thought we tried to settle so much for the three-point shot that we need to try to get it inside. I don't think we can beat teams that way. I think we have to try to get it inside. With only nine three-pointers, that's not a good shooting night for us. We just have to take the time to try to get it inside."