Tennessee 77, Ole Miss 72
THE MODERATOR: We are ready to begin the Tennessee press conference. We'll have Rennia Davis. We'll take questions.
Q. What was going on with your ankle there in the first half? I assume you're kind of okay because you got back on the court pretty quickly.
RENNIA DAVIS: Well, I mean, I fell down and rolled it. I wasn't going to let anything stop me from getting back out there. Obviously my team needs me. I wanted to be out there. So whatever it took.
I'm just going to go home tonight, get some treatment, just be ready for tomorrow.
Q. Congratulations. 33 points. How do you see the resilience of this team that was down in the second and third quarter? Do you see this team being resilient?
RENNIA DAVIS: Thank you, first. Secondly, yes, I mean, we could have given up plenty of times out there I feel like. We could have laid down. Ole Miss had the momentum throughout a large portion of the game.
But in the fourth quarter, I felt like we just came together like we always do. At the end of the day winning is so important for this team right now. We have something to prove. We weren't going to go out like that tonight.
I'm just super proud of how we came together. I knew we would do it anyways.
Q. This is the first time Tennessee will play on Saturday since 2016. How big is it for you guys to get to the semifinals of this tournament?
RENNIA DAVIS: That's huge for us. It's something we've been talking about all here, but especially here recently. This coming along, this is huge for us, especially me and Kassie, our seniors. Like you said, haven't been to this point since we've been here at this school. It's something we want to do for ourselves. It's something the team wants to do for us as seniors. I feel like we're going to get it done.
Q. Whenever you get hurt, we saw potentially Rae being hurt for a minute, do you feel you can rely on your team? Do you feel like they have a good mindset to kick in, especially when their team needs it?
RENNIA DAVIS: Well, thanks first. Second off, I do. I feel like we have other players that are able to step up. Obviously I went down, and Jordan hit a crazy halfcourt shot. I don't even know about that.
Those are the type of players we have. They're ready for the moment. They're willing to step us when one of us goes down.
When Rae went down, I feel like we had players ready to come in and do the same.
Q. Being able to come back like that, win the way you guys did, how does that help you moving forward, especially against South Carolina tomorrow?
RENNIA DAVIS: We're just going to carry that momentum that we had. I feel like the fourth quarter is when we started really getting momentum. Like I said, I thought Ole Miss had momentum for a majority of the game. Obviously we weren't far out of it.
I just thought in the fourth quarter we dig a little bit deeper, a little bit deeper. We're going to carry that momentum over to tomorrow.
Q. Kelly talked earlier in the week about how important a good week of practice was going to be for this weekend. How would you assess how practice was this week in the preparation leading into the tournament?
RENNIA DAVIS: I thought our practices have been pretty good. I thought that we were focused. I thought that, you know, we knew that we were coming to this tournament. We knew we would have three hard games. We knew we had to replicate that in practice. We knew we couldn't go light in practice because we would step out in the games and be completely shook. I thought everybody was in practice. I thought we were all focused on whatever the coaches threw at us, whatever was going on. I'm super proud of us because I feel like it translated over to today.
Q. As you look ahead, a rematch with South Carolina. The first game in Knoxville was one for the books. As you recall that game, what stood out to you about the way they played? What are you expecting going into tomorrow's game?
RENNIA DAVIS: Well, I expect South Carolina to come out and play hard. South Carolina is good team, but so are we. We're just going to play our game. We're not really focused on whatever they throw at us. We just are going to have to handle it. It just kind of is what it is. We're just going to continue to play our game.
Q. What was Kellie Harper's message to you guys at the half?
RENNIA DAVIS: That we were fine. I thought that we did a good job of encouraging each other, too. We knew what we weren't doing right. We wanted to go out in the second half and execute the things that we were not doing right. The biggest thing for us in the first half was just that we didn't feel like we were playing at together as we could have been.
Obviously we had some mental lapses. We still had some mental lapses in the second half. Despite the mental lapses, I feel like in the second half we were more together. I feel like we were more encouraging and communicative with each other. That definitely helped us get over the hump in the second half.
Q. Back to the South Carolina matchup, obviously you guys had a big win over them last time. Whenever it comes to tournament time, how different is that approach this time around having played them before and just knowing that it is win or go home?
RENNIA DAVIS: I mean, it's the same approach. The first time we played them, we were the first team in the conference to beat them. That meant a lot for us. I think they hadn't lost a conference game in a couple years, prior to us beating them. That meant a lot for us. It showed us we can play with the best teams in the country.
We want to show that again tomorrow. The game we beat them in Knoxville wasn't a fluke. I mean, we are a good team. We can play with the best teams. We just want to come out tomorrow and prove that.
Q. Take me back to the two clutch shots you had in the end of the second quarter, and Jordan had a really clutch shot in the first quarter. How did that make a difference for the team? Without those two shots you would not win the game.
RENNIA DAVIS: That's a good point. We definitely would not have won the game without those two shots.
It goes to show, like I said, I went down first quarter and Jordan stepped up and hit that shot. I felt like the momentum was shifting towards Ole Miss' way. I was able to step up and hit that shot. I just thought we got some momentum from that shot going into the second half.
It just shows a lot. Anybody at any point I feel like on this team can hit a big shot. I thought Jordan Walker, Rae hit some big shots, Kassie had some big shots, put-ins, layups. Everybody stepped up tonight. I'm just super proud of us.
Q. You mentioned people making big plays. Both of your posts, Tamari Key and Kassie, got in foul trouble at the end. How proud are you that they handled that well through the fourth quarter, especially Kassie who scored five points down the stretch?
RENNIA DAVIS: Yeah, super, super proud. I remember when Kassie picked up her fourth. They didn't want to come out the game. She was ready, she was locked in. Like I said, this is our last go-round at the conference tournament. She wants to be in that game. She stepped up and was able to play with her four fouls, finish the game with her four fouls. Super proud of her.
T.K. ended the game on the bench. Her encouragement on the bench, her continuing to talk to her teammates, that was super huge for us, as well.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.
RENNIA DAVIS: Thanks, man.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports