KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Head Women’s Basketball Coach Kellie Harper met with the media on Saturday morning at Pratt Pavilion, as her team continued preparations for its final contest of the 2019 portion of the schedule.

The No. 22/24 Lady Vols (9-2) will play host to Howard (8-4) on Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena in a contest slated to tip off at 2:02 p.m. ET. Tickets are available at AllVols.com, and the game can be viewed on the SECN+ live stream or heard via Lady Vol Radio Network stations or the audio stream on UTSports.com.

Tennessee is coming off a two-game West Coast swing from Dec. 16 to Dec. 21 that saw the Big Orange come away with a split. The Lady Vols suffered a 78-51 defeat at (then) No. 1/1 Stanford on Dec. 18 and closed the trip in Oregon on Dec. 21 with an 88-61 victory at Portland State.

Howard, meanwhile, comes to town riding a four-game winning streak and with victories in seven of its last nine contests. The Bison closed out the pre-holiday slate with an 86-75 victory over George Mason in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Fairfax, Va., on Dec. 21.

The match-up with the Bison, the first-ever between the programs, will be UT’s final tune-up before Southeastern Conference play begins on Thursday.  Coach Harper reflected on her squad’s play during the pre-holiday schedule as well as what her players learned during the road trip just before the winter break. She also responded to questions about the Lady Vols’ readiness as they get set to head into the grueling SEC schedule.

Head Coach Kellie Harper

On what she learned about her team at the Stanford game:
“I think we knew it was going to be a challenge for our basketball team to score against Stanford. We knew that going in. I think we saw that scoring was at a premium. I think our team bounced back from that alright. We did some good things against Portland State. It was good to see that we didn’t check out early. I know that sounds funny, but as a coach, that’s a big deal. You’re going home to break and everyone is excited about it, and you want to make sure that you’re staying engaged. We had some good practices over there, so that was a good sign.”

On if the Stanford game allowed her to see how her team stacks up:
“I think it was important to play that game. I think we were competitive for a large portion of the game. It got a little bit out of hand late, but I thought we were competitive, we just weren’t efficient offensively. I think sometimes we can talk to our players about where we need to improve, but when you have the facts and the stats from a game like that, it makes your message a little bit clearer.”

On areas the team is working to improve:
“I think we need to be more consistent defensively and more consistent with our rebounding. Offensively, efficiency just has to improve. It’s a work in progress, and it takes time. You don’t just push a magic button or run a certain play. You have to continue to work on it. You have to continue to watch film. You have to continue to practice and realize where you can be a little bit better.”

On the difference in play between the Stanford game and Portland State:
“I thought we had some improvement. I thought we moved the ball around. The defense was very different. We saw a man verses Stanford, we saw a zone verses Portland State. Obviously, against Portland State you don’t have the size that you do going up against when you have Stanford. I think Stanford does such a good job. I think they’re very underrated defensively. They’re very smart; they’re very disciplined. They have a game plan and they stick to it. I thought at Portland State we had really good tempo, especially in the second half. In the third quarter we really played downhill. We were aggressive and that was good for us.”

On if there are areas where she’s pleasantly surprised about where her team is at headed into conference play:
“I don’t know that any coach is pleasantly surprised at Christmas break. I think we’re always knit picking and trying to find ways to get better. Whether that’s how you come to practice every single day or how you approach film. Just every little thing, we’re always pushing them to find ways to get better.”

On if she’s continuing to add plays:
“We’ll put a couple more tweaks in. I’m one who likes to add throughout the season. I think it keeps your team engaged. I think once you see how your team is trending throughout the season, then you can make adjustments.  You might be able to add something in January that you just didn’t know was going to make sense until you were in those games. I think throughout the season, probably weekly, we’ll find some things. I think it’s good for our team to do that.”

On Howard coming in having won four-straight games:
“Well, their guards can score. They are one-on-one scorers, so you’ve got to be able to guard and contest some players that can knock down shots. Defensively, they’re going to get after it. They can change up their defenses, keep you off balance a little. They don’t have the size to guard the interior, but they’ve got the quickness and speed to disrupt your offensive on the perimeter or even full court in the press.”

On Rae Burrell’s career high at Portland State and her growth this season:
“I think she was really aggressive. And that’s how she plays, but I thought she really played downhill and found ways to get to the basket. And I thought she took good shots and was very aggressive doing it. That helps us. We don’t have a lot of that on the team where we just have people making a beeline to the basket. That’s good for us. We need to develop that with some of our other players. As we continue to work with Rae, I think one of her biggest hurdles is decision making with the basketball and obviously, for her, being aggressive and going and getting layups at the basket is a great decision.”

On if it’s good to be back playing at home after the holidays:
“It’s good to be back here and to hopefully get in front of a big crowd against Howard. It’s vacation time and holiday break, so we’re hoping people come out and watch the game. And we want to play with a lot of energy. This is an important game to get back in the groove of how we need to be playing and get ourselves prepared for SEC play.”

On if she plans to continue playing a large number of people:
“I love playing a lot of people if it works. And that’s going to be important to try to find that. Obviously, for me and what I like to do, we’re low in our guard numbers. With only five guards, that’s a low number, so we’re going to have great rotation there. We have high numbers in the post play for those positions. So, I would like to continue to play a lot of kids, but if we get in the game and we’ve got something that’s working, then I’m ok with shortening that bench if we need to.”

On if players being more aggressive getting to the basket is a priority:
“We have been talking about that from day one. I understand that that needs to be an area of growth for us. It’s not natural for many of our guards, and that’s where I see it most is in our guard play. So, we’ve got to continue to help them. We drill it constantly to get them more comfortable getting to the basket, and I think when we do that, we’ll be a better basketball team.”

On if the players need to be tougher mentally to endure contact getting to the basket:
“Our players are big and strong enough to take some contact. I think it’s more of a mindset to get themselves in there and be ok with it. And once they do it a little bit, it will become easier. It’s just not natural for a lot of players. It wasn’t natural for me as a player, but my teammate Semeka Randall had a great knack for getting to the basket. So, some people do and some people don’t, but I think we can continue to work on it and develop it in some of our players.”

On the court at her elementary school in Sparta being named “Kellie’s Court” in her honor:
“They had an open house to showcase the new school. It’s still Findlay Elementary, and they brought me in and had a presentation and dedication of the court which is Kellie’s Court. First of all, it’s a beautiful school and that elementary school has six goals. I think that’s amazing – six baskets at an elementary school! To go and have my name there, I’m humbled and really honored. To have that is really special. I love my hometown. High school, middle school, elementary school – I loved all of that. Like I said, I’m just humbled and honored.”

-UT Athletics