Lady Vols basketball was without star Talaysia Cooper, but Tennessee still ran away with a 35-point win over Arkansas at home on Sunday. After the game, Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell met with the media to field questions.
She was asked about the status of two players, turnovers improving, the play of freshmen and more.
Here’s what she said.
More From RTI: Kim Caldwell Updates Status of Lady Vols Leading Scorer Talaysia Cooper
Opening statement
“I thought we had a lot of players step up in absence of a few others and then some sickness going around. So, I was really proud of our young ones, proud of everyone for giving us a little bit more. It’s what we challenged them to do in the locker room. Still having some things to work on. Our turnovers were better. Have to box out, have to win the rebounds.”
On the status of Talaysia Cooper, Kaniya Boyd
“We really don’t know the status of when they’ll return. KB had a high-ankle sprain the day before, I think we played Auburn. And then Coop got hit in the head today with a ball in shootaround.”
On Zee Spearman’s game
“I think the biggest thing is she’s being a little more patient. She’s not trying to force it off the first pass. We’re sharing the ball. People are getting out of their gaps. She’s not trying to dribble one on five. She’s cutting, she’s screening, she’s rebounding and I think that’s who she is and it’s who she needs to continue to be.”
On to have a game on film where they took care of the ball
“I think our offense is looking better and that helps. I think that helps with a little bit of momentum on the offensive end, going into the break that we have since we’re going into a bye week. They’ve seen success, something that they need to believe in and they need to do it.”
On Lauren Hurst earning more minutes
“Well, she was rebounding the ball. She had some fouls that I didn’t love, but she was rebounding, she’s playing hard. I mean, I’ll give her credit. Deniya has been in the gym. Lauren has been in the gym. Jaida has been in the gym. Nya has been in the gym. She was sick today so she had a rough night. But the people that are in the gym, I mean, we’re starting to see improvement and they deserve that. And she’s always in the gym.”
On why the team didn’t turn it over as much tonight
“Yeah, I think our spacing helped and not trying to score off the first pass, sharing the ball, trusting your teammates. I think all of those things went into it.”
On if she’s okay with taking 41 threes
“No. We told them multiple times, ‘Get to the rim. It’s how we’re scoring. Get to the rim. It’s how we’re scoring.’ And we will just keep launching those things. And it’s not the end of the world when we’re going to get 50% of our offensive rebounds. I think at one point in the game we were at 60% and then it dropped. So I think that they could be a little bit more patient and work the ball around and get to the rim. If you can’t get to the rim, play inside out.”
On playing without Talaysia Cooper on short notice
“I think we played hard. We had zero time to prep for it, so they did a really good job. They played hard, they were aggressive. I was really proud of our young ones.”
On Jaida Civil’s confidence
“I think she’s just putting the work in. She’s in the gym every day outside of practice. She’s watching film almost every day outside of practice, she’s starting to understand that she’s, again, it’s hers, the timing looks better for her. To where she’s not trying to do everything all at once. She still has some moments and she’ll try to grab a rebound and run and push it in transition before she gathers the ball. But I think just calming her down a little bit, and then when games are fast, nothing’s ever going to be too fast for her when she can learn to slow herself down.”
On Mia Pauldo’s start to SEC play
“People ask about – that’s the Mia we have seen. That’s the Mia we recruited. That’s what we knew she could do. So I would just – quite a bit since she’s got more time, she’s got more games under her belt, she is playing with a little more confidence. She has the confidence of her teammates.”
On freshmen playing better defense
“I don’t know that I can answer that off of the past couple games that we’ve had. I think they’re not falling down as much. They understand their assignments. They’re trying to get in their gaps, they’re trying to get into help. They’re fouling way too much and that’s pretty much all of us. We need to play a physical opponent and see if we can stay on our feet.”
On Zee Spearman and Janiah Barker playing together
“I really like it when they’re not throwing the ball up, and they did a good job. They did a good job of playing within themselves, sharing the ball and working to get it back. They played off of each other well.”
On her to-do list this bye week
“Rebound.”
On the importance of the freshmen playing well
“It’s huge. We live in a world where people don’t want to wait. You don’t want to wait, you don’t want to develop, you don’t want to do any of that. And we told the freshmen they were going to come play and they’re getting the opportunities. And I think now, past couple weeks, they’re not in school, they’ve been able to put the extra work in. They’ve been able to see some success. Hopefully they can take a step forward and just continue to grow confidence that I believe in them and that’s what they were here to do.”
On who Jaida Civil turns to to calm down on the court
“I don’t know if she looks to a player, but I think that Janiah is the one that will probably give her the most confidence.”
On Mia Pauldo playing so well in the SEC as a freshman
“I think she’s just good. I just think that’s who she is. She has done her… What’s impressed me the most is not her scoring, is at her size and at her age, to not turn the ball over more. That, that to me, on a team that has been poisoned with turnovers, for her not to really be super heavy, and that has been really impressive.”
