Lady Vols basketball has its bracket set for the NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee will begin as a 6-seed with a matchup against 11-seed Green Bay in Raleigh, North Carolina. A second-round matchup would likely come against 3-seed NC State.
Here's what Lady Vols coach Kellie Harper had to say about the selection.
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On if the committee rewarded her on having a tough schedule
Harper: "I think the committee looks at a lot of different things. They do look and value your schedule. Strength of schedule and level of competition, I think they use the eye test and evaluate how teams are playing. Obviously, they look at records. They look at injuries. They're looking at a lot of different things and obviously, we have several positives in those categories."
On her reaction to being a 6-seed and playing Green Bay
Harper: "Usually pretty familiar with Green Bay. I've watched them quite a bit throughout the years. This year, however, had not seen them. I'm pretty familiar with their program. Always been kind of an admirer of their program. I think they play tough and they're efficient. When I was able to really dig in and dive into this particular year, there was no exception. They're very efficient. They're very intelligent. Gritty, tough, team you enjoy watching play."
On her going back to an area she is familiar with
Harper: "Honestly, hadn't been back to Raleigh a whole lot. Lived there for a few years. It'll be interesting to go back and just see everything. One of the things I'm kind of excited about is Tamari (Key) getting to be near home. She just lives a few minutes from that campus."
On watching her team be excited about the seeding
Harper: "I think they're just excited to play. At this point, obviously, there's a lot of lead-up into the tournament and what your seed is going to be, but at this point it's all about your matchups. It really is. They're excited. They get to see themselves on television and hear their names called. It's an exciting time of year. Really, you shouldn't ever take it for granted. I understand the expectations here but you really shouldn't take it for granted."
On playing NC State in a scrimmage before the season
Harper: "We did have a closed scrimmage with them. It was so long ago, teams are both completely different. Tamari was barely playing at that time. Jewel (Spear) did not participate due to an ankle injury during that time. So, we looked very different. Destinee Wells was playing a lot of minutes. We're a very different team than when we played them."
On having size on Green Bay
Harper: "I think when you look at a team like Green Bay, you look at advantages but you look at disadvantages, as well. I think for us, we have to try to maximize maybe where we have opportunities but then try to take care of areas that are maybe in their favor. Because they can spread you out. They do a great job. Their offensive efficiencies is one of the best in the country. I don't want to undersell that because they're not playing South Carolina every night but they're still doing it. And they're doing it as good as anyone in the country."
On having a closer regional site
Harper: "I don't know where the advantage, disadvantage is in terms of travel. We'll be on a bus so it'll be a long bus ride for us. Some teams are very accustomed to that, used to that. But you're not changing your timezones so that's probably a little bit more of an advantage."
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