Lady Vols basketball is a day away from playing in their first NCAA Tournament under Kim Caldwell.

5-seed Tennessee will get 12-seed USF in the opening round at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN in Columbus, Ohio.

Before the game, Caldwell and players Jewel Spear and Tess Darby met with the medi. Here's everything they said.

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Q. Opening statement

KIM CALDWELL: We're excited to be here. We have a tough opponent, so we're very focused. I think we had a very good week, week and a half of practice that we needed as a team. Hopefully we can carry that over in the game tomorrow.

Q. The question was brought up in the Tess and Jewel's press conference about the wonderful tradition at the University of Tennessee regarding women's basketball. 43 consecutive NCAA tournaments. Just looking for your thoughts on that and the program that you are leading.

KIM CALDWELL: I'm thankful to be the leader of this program. It's remarkable. It's a long history that has a lot to do with the people that came before us, and we want to continue to make them proud and keep the streak alive.

Q. I mentioned the names Tess and Jewel, who were up here. They both seemed very loose, very comfortable. I'll say almost prepared and ready for this tournament, and I know they've got NCAA experience. Can you talk about the preparedness of your team?

KIM CALDWELL: Yeah, I think we went back to work, and we had a really tough week and a half of practice that we needed. We needed some rest, and we needed to get to work, and we needed to get some excitement and juice back. I think we're all excited to be in the tournament.

I think we really want to make a run, and we really want to kind of get back to the team we were in the middle of December and January.

Q. Kim, I know you've been to the postseason tournament every year of your coaching career. Is there a common denominator among your teams, or what can you say to attest to the fact that you're so consistent from a winning perspective?

KIM CALDWELL: I think I'm really bless and lucky to coach great players and players that want to win. I think that's the most important piece of getting to this time of year and to still be playing is your team values winning, and we practice hard, we play hard, we do a whole lot, and just making sure that you want to win and getting to March is important.

Q. Just with this game against South Florida, how much do you expect the half court offense and defense to come into play, and how much of a chance did you get to improve that over the course of the week and a half of practice?

KIM CALDWELL: Yeah, we're getting ready to go into practice again, and that's what the majority of our practice is going to be guarding in the half court. We've worked on that, again, since we knew who we were going to play. We've really worked on guarding their sets, and I'm sure they've put new stuff in. Everyone is putting new stuff in.

We just have to be disciplined enough to guard the actions and keep our pressure on.

Q. You talked about Tess being a completely different player. Are there any other players who have stepped up over this week and a half, and just what's the urgency like from this senior class, especially from Tess and Sara who have been here their entire career?

KIM CALDWELL: I think Tess, Sara. Sara is playing different. She's having a little more fun, playing a little more free. Jewel definitely has a different level to her. I think Sam is playing better. She was battling some injuries towards the back half of our season. She was a little banged up and tired, so she looks renewed in practice. Hopefully that translates.

Q. You announced Tuesday that Destinee would be out for this tournament. How big of a blow is it for her for her career to end this way?

KIM CALDWELL: It's tough, and it was just so -- I mean, we didn't think that her career ended. It was just kind of a freak thing in practice. She walked off, and we just thought, all right, she's just a little banged up, she's hurt. She went and got on the bike. Your heart breaks for player to have to go through injury after injury.

Q. USF is a very well-coached team. Their coach Jose Fernandez has been around the business for a while. Have you been familiar with his teams in the past? Is there anything that kind of sticks out to you about the success he's been able to build at his program?

KIM CALDWELL: He's a tremendous coach. They've been nationally recognized for years and years, and I think their offense is their staple, so our defense is going to be really important tomorrow.

Q. I remember we talked in preseason about how you were taking it one day at a time. If you tried to get your arms around all these streaks and achievements at Tennessee, it would be overwhelming. That 43 streak, it was never in doubt that you would make the tournament, but is it also a sense of relief to not be the one that ends that? I mean, it goes back to Pat Summitt. It's a list of one. Just how big in the scope of basketball is that streak?

KIM CALDWELL: It's a huge streak. I think it makes Tennessee the best job in the country. It makes us one of the best programs in the country because of the dominance that we've had, and absolutely it feels really good to not be the coach that blew it.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Kaiya Wynn has had to sit out this whole season, but just in the locker room she was interviewing people. It was very loud and hilarious. Just kind of what has she given you guys this season? How has she carried herself through having to sit out what was supposed to be her senior season?

KIM CALDWELL: I think any time you have a player that has an early injury, a season-ending injury, I think there's pros and cons to that. I think it's devastating at first, especially when it's your senior season, but I do think she's gained some perspective.

She's standing with the coaches in practice. She sees things through a different lens. She's probably one of the funniest players I've ever gotten the ability to coach.

She's great for our locker room. Our players love her. Great for morale. She sees both sides of it, and she has a very good basketball IQ. I think she can take what she hears the coaches talk about, and she can communicate that to the players. I think that's important.

Q. We've talked a lot about Jewel and how important she's been for your success. I just wanted to ask you in terms of when you met her last year and when you see her now, what sticks out to you about how she's developed her habits, especially as someone who wants to be a pro and just the way she carries herself and her mentality?

KIM CALDWELL: She's always carried herself that way. She's always been in the gym. She's always worked hard. She sets goals for herself, and she achieves them. It says a lot about her that early on with me getting here, she said she wanted to fix her defense, and she wanted to become a better defender, and I think she's done that.

That's not a selfish thing. That's a team thing. She wants to make our team better by improving her defense. She's not saying she wants to shoot step-back threes or she wants to score more. She's saying she wants to be a better defender, and she's done it.

Q. Coach, you've got several players that are first-timers. Your freshmen, of course, Kaniya for the NCAA Tournament. Then, of course, Ruby Whitehorn, and a couple of players who they got there once, but haven't gotten back until now. I'm not saying there's no pressure at this point because there is, but it seems like it's also a time to have fun. This is what you play for. Do you sense that your team is kind of built for postseason in terms of they do manage to stay loose so much?

KIM CALDWELL: I think we're going to find out. I think I've had a rough time kind of putting a pulse on the team of if we wanted to be the underdog, if we want to have pressure, and really the best way to motivate. I do think having fun, that is something we've tried to do this little break is have fun competing.

I think when you're in a setting like this and it's exciting and it's fun and you're kind of the underdog, I do think our team will thrive off that.

Q. I think we're two months in exactly of you juggling motherhood and coaching. You talked Monday about the team meeting Conor at the SEC tournament. What has that process been like to navigate for you? What have you enjoyed about getting to introduce him to the team and really kind of feel that full circle moment?

KIM CALDWELL: It's great. I think that's just what motherhood is that you get to have your family here and your family at home, and you get to blend them together. It's a blessing. It's a blessing that I coach a team that I'm excited to go to work and see them, and I'm excited to go home to see my son.

For those worlds to collide at the SEC Tournament and he's here on this trip, I think it's great. You just try. There is no balance. You just do the best you can where you can.

Q. Tess, I believe this is your fifth NCAA Tournament. Maybe your thoughts on what your prior experiences have been like and how they'll prepare you for this one?

TESS DARBY: Yeah, very blessed and fortunate enough that this is my fifth NCAA Tournament. You know, we never take anything for granted. It's a rough path to get here, but it makes it all worth it once you're here, the environment.

Everything is on the line be, but I think that brings out the competitiveness in everyone.

Q. Jewel, I believe this is your second NCAA Tournament. Your thoughts on what you hope to see in year two?

JEWEL SPEAR: I hope to see growth, just having experience here at the NCAA Tournament and having some teammates that haven't been to the NCAA Tournament, so just giving them confidence and telling them that you have to focus on the first game before you can get to the next game.

Q. This is for both of you. Your thoughts on South Florida, your opponent tomorrow night?

JEWEL SPEAR: Yeah, South Florida is a really good team. We're not taking them lightly. We know that they like to shoot a lot of threes, O-boards, crash the rebounds. They play at a little bit slower pace, so we know we have to be aggressive on defense and find ways to play our game going into the tournament.

So they're a really good team, and we're just excited to get out there and play.

Q. Tess, your thoughts on USF?

TESS DARBY: I think Jewel hit all the points. We can't overlook any team once we get here, so we're really focused on them and just coming in and knowing that we have to prepare in order to win.

Q. How has your schedule this year playing in the talented SEC prepared you for tomorrow night?

TESS DARBY: I think it's prepared us really well. The SEC is really tough conference in order to compete in. Every team has a different style of play. Some teams like to slow things down. Some teams like to speed things up. I think coming into the NCAA Tournament when every team is different and you don't really have a lot of days to prepare, we've already kind of seen it.

So just knowing what we've done earlier in the season can help move us forward.

JEWEL SPEAR: Yeah, just like Tess said, I think our nonconference and our SEC schedule has prepared us for this moment with the different playing styles, but also, you know, with the losses that we had, the close losses that we had, so learning from those losses and being in those different environments, whether we're on the road or at home. I think that gives us great preparation going into this first game.

Q. Comment on the Tennessee Volunteer crowds because about two and a half months ago this whole town was painted Tennessee orange, when your crowds came up for the football game against Ohio State. I can honestly say there has never been that many visiting fans in this 100,000 seat stadium. It was crazy. It was wild to watch. I want to give both of you guys an opportunity to throw some roses at your crowds.

JEWEL SPEAR: Yeah, honestly I think they're the greatest fans in the world. They travel. When we have home games, they're there. They support us. They're loud. They get there early.

Like I said, they travel, so we expect to see a lot of fans coming here too. That was a great sight to see. We're an everything school, so seeing football get to this stage and play Ohio State and seeing all the fans come out here, tailgate, and support them was very special.

TESS DARBY: Yeah, I think our fan base is very passionate, and they care a lot about Tennessee, but in particular all sports of Tennessee. I think that says a lot. Especially you recognizing that and seeing how far they travel and that our fan base is honestly the best.

Q. We'll start with Tess. Similarly to his question about the fan fervor, how about the proud tradition of Tennessee women's basketball and making another tournament appearance, what would you say to that and continuing that strong tradition?

TESS DARBY: Yeah, I think for all of us we put on the Tennessee jersey with a sense of pride. We know the ones that came before us, but we want to get Tennessee back to where it is, knowing that we're playing for something bigger than itself.

Tennessee I think is the frontrunner in women's basketball, and it's got women's basketball to where it is because of Tennessee and because of the ones that come before us. Just recognizing that we play for something bigger than ourselves and ultimately have a goal is to get Tennessee back.

JEWEL SPEAR: This being my second year here, I remember last year being my first year, and hearing the "Rocky Top" song, it's just so catchy. It's so little to talk about, but it's such a huge tradition.

Hearing that at football games after almost every play or hear it at time-outs of home games or at the end of our wins, that's just something small, but it carries so much hope, belief, and tradition in our program.

Like Tess said, when we put on a Tennessee uniform, there are so many great players that have put on the uniform before us, so we wear it with pride. We just go out there and compete as hard as we can.

Q. Jewel and Tess, you're both fifth-year seniors. What is your sense of urgency right now, and how do you balance that with the emotions of knowing this is your last NCAA Tournament, but also focusing on the task at hand?

JEWEL SPEAR: Yeah, I think we've talked about that a lot with our sense of urgency knowing, me and Tess, this is our last year of college basketball, but personally not putting too much pressure on myself knowing that. Just staying present in the moment and enjoying the moment with my teammates and coaches, but just making sure everybody stays focused on the opponent at hand and knowing, like, it's a quick turnaround in between games. But focusing on the first game, making sure we're paying attention in film, on the scout, and the little details, that can help us succeed.

TESS DARBY: I think Jewel has hit all the points again, but just having no regrets, knowing that everything we've done up to this point has been worth it. All the hard work, long days this summer.

It's just been a joy to be around this team and coaches who push you to be greater people, greater players. Just going out there, leaving it all out there, but ultimately playing for something bigger than yourself.

Q. We mentioned Tennessee traditions. Tennessee is the only school to play in all 43 NCAA tournaments. It's almost like it's a birthright at Tennessee to play in this event. I know you have some teammates who are first-timers or maybe just one previously. How big of a deal is that streak? It's almost unprecedented if you look at all the powerhouses in the sport, and it's a list of one. If you can both answer that.

TESS DARBY: I think it says a lot about Tennessee Lady Vol basketball. Just the amount of success that's come through here, the players that have come through this program. It's a successful program. It's hard to make one NCAA Tournament, but let alone make 43 in a row. I think that speaks for itself.

JEWEL SPEAR: I think it also speaks to the culture of Tennessee. When you have a good culture, it makes everything else around it much easier.

It's a weird analogy, but it's kind of like a track race, like when you pass a baton. I feel like that's what we do here at Tennessee. When we graduate, we're going to pass the baton to the next group of leaders and group of people, and we know they're going to follow just as strong as us.

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