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Feb. 26, 2006

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TENNESSEE HEAD COACH Pat Summitt:

"First of all, I don't want to take anything away from Florida. Their guard play was a lot more efficient than ours was today. (Florida's Brittany) Davis had her way inside. It goes back to two things: first, our lack of commitment to making stops on the defensive end. We've run zones, we've varied our man in order to cover our weaknesses (defensively throughout the season), but we couldn't today. They made big shots, but our lapses contributed to that. Second, we were short on our guard play. We have to learn to handle better. We have to do it by committee when we don't have a point guard on the floor. We made some poor decisions in our zone offense. On a positive note, we still had a chance. We didn't execute, and they did."

(on Florida's full court pressure) "We see a lot of full court pressure. I'm surprised that we hadn't seen more. Florida typically presses. My one regret is that we didn't press earlier. The saying is that you press a pressing team. We waited too late to go to it. Obviously, they were doubling the ball. That bothered us."

(on what this does to Tennessee's chances for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament) "We'll have to wait and see what happens. It depends on what happens around the country."

(on Tennessee' turnovers) "Another valuable lesson was handed to us. Our defense and handling ball killed us. Looking at the turnovers, take your pick. We had 6, 3, 2, 5, 7, 3. . .you can't win like that against a quality opponent. They had 12 turnovers. Probably what bothered me most is that we went into overtime and mishandled the ball and didn't execute."

(on seniors Shanna Zolman and Tye'sha Fluker) "Both seniors have made tremendous contributions to our program, both on and off the court. They're great students, and academics are a priority for them. They have worked hard. Shanna is one of the most improved players that we have had in this program. She's quicker and stronger, and she gets her shot off quicker (than she did when she came in four years ago). Tye came in maybe in shape to play two minutes at a time as a freshman. She has become an anchor inside for us. She's rebounding better. I'm proud of the progress that she has made. She did some good things last year. She has done some great things this season."

(on coming back from loss) "We're Tennessee. It's not like anyone is going to feel sorry for us. I'm proud of the way we came back. We have yet to buy into defense. We have to bring that every possession. We have to take care of the ball. We're not going to hang our heads. This team doesn't want to lose in Little Rock and have to come back here and spend time with me. That's too much practice time."

"These players were there offensive go-tos in high school. If there was one player who was a defensive player in high school, it was Alexis Hornbuckle. She set the tone for us. Was Shanna Zolman a defensive player (coming in from high school)? No. Tye Fluker? No. Candace Parker was probably the next player that was relied on by her team as defensive player. Dominique Redding? Absolutely not. She was a shooter. Spencer? Shooter. You can put a check by all of their names. That's what they wanted to do. That's great. But now, they've got to defend. Their mindset has to change in postseason."

(on Florida freshman Sha Brooks) "She played great on the defensive end, and she got open offensively. You have to guard her. She can make threes. She made a lot of good things happen."

(on Nicky Anosike) "I'm concerned that Nicky didn't play better than she did. It was a big game, and she's usually a big game player. She may not be a big scorer, but she's a big player on rebounding and defense. She couldn't get off to a good start today. Not getting to the free throw line speaks to her aggressiveness or lack of aggressiveness."

(on Nicky Anosike's season) "We expected her to have a better one. She has to establish her basketball skills and be more efficient getting +1 plays. She's been a good defender. She'll learn. She's smart and dedicated."

"We shortened our bench. We played Candacre (Parker) more at the four because that's her best position. We were going with (Tye'sha) Fluker and Parker and (Nicky) Anosike, and that cut into Sybil Dosty's time. We went three deep instead of four."

Shanna Zolman:

"We knew that we'd be facing a lot of pressure. They went with full court pressure after every make. It was a matter of us breaking it. We'd speed up against the press and still kept going 100 miles per hour, then we'd turn it over. We didn't slow down. Tye (Fluker) and Candace (Parker) were amazing inside and getting to the free throw line. They did what they had to do. We didn't adjust consistently like we needed to."

(on defense) "What bothers me most is that we knew our defense would carry us. We have improved in rebounding, but our defense has been inconsistent. One game, we'll play 40 minutes of defense, and 20 minutes in another, and in another, it's not a top priority. Until it's a top priority, who knows? We're still optimistic as we prepare for the SEC Tournament then go to the NCAA Tournament. This is not a fun experience, especially on senior night, but we'll take it and learn from it."

"Tye (Fluker) and I have been here four years. We've been part of some teams that were unbelievable defensively. Every person has to bring it. It has to be a consistent mindset, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. We needed it, especially in overtime, but we didn't have it."

(on Senior Night) "It was exciting and emotional. It was weird, knowing that it was my night. It was an experience that I won't forget. I appreciated the fans for the support that they have showed today and throughout my four years."

(on Florida's seniors) "We knew coming in. It stood out from their scouting report that they had four seniors. We expected they would play big. (Brittany) Davis did very well."

Candace Parker:

(on the overtime period) "(Shanna) Zolman hit that big shot, and momentum was in our favor. We turned the ball over. Our defense hurt us. . .and free throws."

Tye'sha Fluker:

"We fought with a lot of heart when we came back form being down by 11. We shouldn't have put ourselves in that position."

(on Senior Night) "It was exciting. After the first shot, I calmed down. I was overanxious. I wanted to do everything I could for my team. I was emotional. It took a while to calm down. I enjoyed it. It was just unfortunate that the outcome was what it was."

FLORIDA HEAD COACH CAROLYN PECK:

"I thought it was a great game. It was about as close as it can be, going down to overtime. Shanna Zolman is a phenomenal player; with Candace Parker, Tye'sha Fluker...we knew we were going to have our hands full. We wanted go to back to something we've worked on since day one, and that was our defense. We wanted to extend our defense 94 feet. We were passive when we played at Auburn, so having last week to work, we wanted to stay aggressive. (Today) We wanted to see how much time we could take off the shot clock. We knew that if Tennessee could execute their offense, they were going to get the shots they wanted. With a team like Tennessee, you don't want that to happen."

"In the first half, we couldn't get our shots to fall. I'm very proud of our team for staying so focused. I know from being on the other side of being here, when Tennessee makes a run at you, most teams fold and go away. I thought our team did a good job of trying to maintain their composure. Tennessee made a great surge in the second half, and the momentum definitely swung their way."

"I've got to compliment our point guard (Sarah Lowe). She played 45 minutes and had zero turnovers. That is huge. I've got to compliment our two senior post players, Brittany Davis and Dalila Eshe, who played with a lot of might and muscle inside. It's an overtime job to defend Candace Parker, Fluker, Nicky Anosike, it doesn't matter. I don't know that we necessarily stopped them but we battled. And that's all I ask for these young women. I've got a freshman (Sha Brooks), and I call her 'Little Girl.' She doesn't like it and doesn't play like it. This is not an easy place to play. When you look at the atmosphere and the great fan base that Tennessee has here, and for a freshman to show the composure and the confidence that she did, I thought that was big for us."

(On creating 28 Tennessee turnovers) "The thing that we really focused on was to stay on what we do. We've worked from day one on our press and what our rotations are and building that trust, getting a trap here, and really keeping the pressure on. I think that keeps our focus and our concentration going the other direction. We were fortunate we forced Tennessee into 28 turnovers, and that's no easy feat. I compliment how hard our team played."

(On only playing seven people in the game) "I think that we have the best strength and conditioning coach in the country. Late in the season, it hasn't lightened up. I think that it's really become a mental thing for our players. We work on our press every day in practice, and that's a conditioning drill in itself."

BRITTANY DAVIS:

"We did a great job working together as a team. Sarah did a great job of finding me in transition. It was a great team effort today. My shots were falling."

SARAH LOWE

(on playing the entire game and not committing a turnover): "I think it's a testament as much to myself and my decision making as it is to my teammates. I think I take the role that I have on this team very seriously. If that means I have to go the distance, it means I have to go the distance. It's in my mind now that I'm never tired. At this point in the season, anything you feel, you have to push through it. Tonight was a display of a team that came out from start to finish and laid everything out on the floor. Coach tells us time after time that it's not the best players, it's the best team that wins. And that's what happened tonight. We don't have All-Americans, we don't have all the hype. But every time we step out on that floor, you're going to get 100 percent from every single one of us. When you have 20,000 people cheering against you, you'll find the energy somehow, somewhere. Tonight you saw that from all of us. The tougher team won tonight, and I feel 100 percent confident saying that."

"This year has been so much fun. We feed off each other, we feed off crowd going against you, we feed off our little section going crazy. This was our senior night just as much as it was Tennessee's. It was our last regular season game. We put ourselves where we need to be going into the SEC Tournament."

(on beating LSU and UT but losing to UGA and Auburn) "If you come out flat, you will lose to Arkansas, South Carolina, Georgia by 30. But if you come out inspired...We had our bye week this week, and we've been preparing for Tennessee since Wednesday. We have to get up for Auburn as much as we do for LSU. Some days you might lose by 30. That's a growing experience that we've been through as a team. We've been there."

"Teams come in and see Tennessee on the jersey and fold. It's over before it even starts. It's a matter of coming out and giving it everything you've got, and that's what we did tonight."