Nov. 23, 2008

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Head Coach Pat Summitt:

(opening remarks):
"I thought coming off of the UTC game, we had some really great teaching tape about running to the paint and not matching up. Coming back to practice yesterday, we watched every defensive possession on tape (from Friday's game). We didn't watch any offense. It was clear that we weren't denying the middle or defending the threes or communicating. There was so much poor information on the film. It was a great teaching moment for our team and our players. Yesterday was a great learning day. Today, we made a lot of progress, particularly in our transition game and our defensive pickup."

(on Vicki Baugh's play inspiring other players):
"I think Lyssi (Brewer) saw how Vicki (Baugh) was playing, and that gave her a great example about how hard you can play. Vicki came up huge again today. Her presence on the floor is a good example for all of our players. I think her play made Amber (Gray) and Lyssi more inspired."

(on today's game being more like Tennessee basketball but not having arrived yet):
"I said that exact same thing in the lockerroom. That's scary. We've made a lot of progress, but we haven't arrived yet. We took a step forward today, and we'll be better because of it. In my playing career, I never asked to be removed from a game. Today, we had freshmen who played through fatigue."

(on Tennessee's defensive improvement):
"We got out in the passing lanes better. They were forced to work harder. They had to play off the dribble more than they wanted to do. We got good support when we broke down. We tend to at times to be glued to a player. It's like we're a player magnet or a ball magnet. We did a much better job in the second half of disrupting."

(on Vicki Baugh):
"Vicki obviously has great, great quickness. Just being on the floor, she makes the other team second guess. Her quickness allows her to be so disruptive. She is relentless over and over. Our freshmen may deny one time, but she can deny all day. That's her mindset."

(on Angie Bjorklund's prospective return):
"Hopefully, she'll be back in the near future. I'll leave that up to our medical staff. I'm asking every day. She's a lot better and is getting a lot closer. That's not a lot of info for a coach. We don't want to rush her back."

(on freshmen Lyssi Brewer and Amber Gray):
"Both can help us. Lyssi has the size around the basket that can help us. Amber may be the most skilled player on our team. She's not the most athletic, but she has the skill set. Those two are making a lot of progress."

Alyssia Brewer (on watching tape yesterday):
"It helped a lot. You don't think of a lot of these things, but going through the tape changed my mind. It definitely showed me that I needed to play today."

(on Tennessee assistant coach Dean Lockwood):
"There's nobody like Dean. I'm thankful for him as a coach. He pounds on us, and he keeps encouraging us."

Amber Gray

(on Vicki Baugh's example):
"It was huge for us. On this team, we always say that others have your back. When you see Vick's energy, it makes us want to follow up."

(on watching tape):
"Coach (Pat Summitt) has been harping on the little things that we need to do. Watching the tape, we see what we need to do. We're not there yet, but we're starting to play together."

(on today's game):
"It was a huge test for us. Our character showed. We've got a lot more work to do."

Vicki Baugh (on today's game):
"I thought we worked together as a team. We pushed the ball and picked up our defense. Our defense made us come together on offense."

(on her knee):
"It did well. I've been working on the weights with Heather Mason and on rehabbing with Jenny Moshak. The knee is feeling better every day."

(on starting back-to-back games):
"I was very excited. I tried not to be over-anxious but to just take it out on Louisiana Tech."

Louisiana Tech Head Coach Chris Long:

(opening comments):
"Obviously it got away from us in the second half when we got into to serious foul trouble. It made that second half very difficult. Give Tennessee credit for making plays, but once we had three players foul out, it was hard to keep it close. They played hard. We played hard -- maybe too hard since we had three foul out."

(on the play of Tennessee sophomore Vicki Baugh):
"She's a difficult matchup for any team. She's big and she has been in the system longer than the freshmen. She's just going to get better and better as she gets healthier. She's a force."

(on the play of Louisiana Tech sophomore Whitney Jones):
"Whitney had 16 points in the second half last year. At that point she realized how good she could be, and then she broke her leg two games later. She started out at Baylor and then transferred here and had to sit out a year. She's been in college for three years, but she's only played in 14 collegiate basketball games. She's just going to get better and better. I thought Whitney did a great job of keeping us in the game early.

(on Tennessee's press)
"I was very disappointed because we haven't been hurt by a press in years. Our turnovers against the press were often unforced. And that was disappointing. They're bigger. You watch them on film, they are very strong. Amber Gray's tough. She's very physical and strong. Glory Johnson -- you don't find many freshmen that compete at the level she competes at.

Sophomore guard Whitney Jones:

(on scoring 23 points against the Lady Vols):
"I just came out and played hard. Coach told us to play tough. He told us Tenneseee would be aggressive, and I just came out to give it all I got."

(on having former Lady Techster and WNBA star Teresa Weatherspoon on the sideline):
"She gets us hyped and motivated. She has great intensity, and she gets us to play hard. She gets us pumped up. She's a great coach."