Lady Vols basketball played better than it had previously in top-10 matchups, but still fell short to Texas, 65-63, on Sunday. After the game, Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell met with the media to give her thoughts.
She was asked about the upcoming schedule, what went wrong on the final play and more.
Here’s what Caldwell said.
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Opening statement
“Our fans were phenomenal today. I think that was probably one of the best crowds we’ve played in front of, and we’ve played in front of some really cool crowds this year, so I appreciate that. I definitely think they willed us down the stretch, and we hit some tough shots down the stretch, and that definitely was because of our fans. Shout out to Texas, did a great job. I don’t want to take anything away from them. I think that we ran out of time. Could’ve used about a minute and a half left of that basketball game, momentum was going in our (way). So that says a lot about our players. They didn’t quit, we kept playing. Doesn’t feel great, but we don’t have a lot of time to sit and dwell on it. We’ve got to get on the plane tomorrow and go play another game in two days.”
On Talaysia Cooper’s impact
“I think she did a really good job of just playing through mistakes. Again, she turned the ball over a lot, and when you turn the ball over that many times, it’s really easy just to get frustrated and shut down. And she didn’t. She still continued to put us on her back at times and we got to continue to help her with the turnovers.”
On the foul disparity
“Yeah, it was hard. It was hard.”
On what the final play was, what went wrong
“Yeah, Zee should have kept it and wheeled it towards the other side of the floor. That was sort of where space was. So, again, I don’t think the game necessarily came down to that. It’s not a single person’s fault. If anyone, that one’s on us.”
On if the difference in being competitive and not competitive is showing effort
“Yeah.”
On why that’s the difference
“I think we got a wake-up call. I think they’re awake now. I think we’ll see a different team. Again, we’re going to continue to be on them. You saw tonight with some of the games that were being played, you got to show up every single night. It’s the toughest league in the country. You cannot take a night off against anyone. You got to show up, you got to play.”
On the moments that stood out about losing
“We fouled them way too many times. We gave them 23 foul shots, and we turned the ball over 22 times. To me, that’s what the basketball game is.”
On the loaded slate in a short time next week
“Yeah, we need to be mad. We need to be mad about it. We don’t need to be sad, we don’t need to be pouty, we don’t need to listen to anything other than, ‘Hey, we’re mad, and this is what we need to fix. We need to take our anger out in our next game.’ I think Ole Miss lost today, too, so it’s a really tough situation to have this game right now. But that’s what this league is about. So we’re trying to build toughness right now, so we got to go play it and hopefully bounce back on the road.”
On Mia Pauldo’s status
“Yeah, there is not an update on her yet.”
On approaching this upcoming stretch
“We’re not going to be able to do much tomorrow. I mean, they played hard today. We had people play a lot of minutes, especially for how we play. And so they’re going to be sore. We’re going to have to get the basics in, get what we need in, the scout-specific things, and then get on the road, and they’re going to be tired, too.”
On Jersey Wolfenbarger’s impact
“That was excellent. We needed it. I don’t think the game would have been as close without it. I thought she stepped up, and it’s not an easy situation for her. As she was running in transition, she was setting screens. She didn’t go out there and look lost at all. She did well for us. I was proud of her.”
On if she saw any differences in her team
“Yeah, I did. I think we had that one little meltdown there, and we called a time-out, and we had some leadership, and they didn’t hang their heads and moved on from it. And I think that’s a giant step.”
On Talaysia Cooper’s turnovers
“I think we can relieve some pressure from her, and sometimes that looks different. It’s hard right now with Mia not being in, but have her on the floor with Mia some will help relieve some pressure with her. Taking her off the ball some when she plays as many minutes as she did tonight will help all of those things, making her, just making space easier for her downhill.”
