GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Lady Vols got back on track with a dominant 77-37 win over Texas A&M on Wednesday in the SEC Tournament.
After the game, Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell met with the media.
Here's what she said.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
Opening statement
After a slow start, I was happy that we got it together, we continued to play hard, we saw some shots go in. It was a good day to get one under our belt in this arena. We got something from everyone.
On why she felt Talaysia Cooper was good to go, her impact
It was good to have her out there. She practiced the day before. She was still a little limpy. So we watched her, did treatment last night, watched her in warm-ups. She did a really good job today. That was what we needed from her. We needed her to go downhill, get up in the front of the press. When she does that, our team is better. We really feed off of her.
On the strength of the SEC
I think it's such a balanced conference. It's a physical conference. It's a very athletic conference. It's a situation where anyone can beat anyone. You have to show up every single night and you have to be mentally tough. There's a swagger and mental toughness that I learned this year. You really have to show up every single night and make sure your players are focused. It's a long SEC season. It's only 16 games, but it feels long. I think next year we can do a better job of managing that. I was a little taken aback on the physical toll this league has on players.
On defensive improvements
I think we got up, pressured, played with a sense of urgency, all flying around. I think it was just effort.
On the rematch with Vanderbilt
I mean, thankful that we have the opportunity to play them again. It's a really hard team to play with zero prep. They run a lot of sets, are very disciplined. They definitely had our number. We didn't play very well against them when we had two days' prep. Having to do it on none, it's going to be a tall task for our players.
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