NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: SECOND ROUND - BELMONT VS TENNESSEE

March 21, 2022

Sara Puckett

Tamari Key

Kellie Harper

Tennessee Lady Volunteers

Media Conference

Tennessee - 70, Belmont - 67

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined on the podium by Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper and student-athletes Sara Puckett and Tamari Key. We'll begin first, Coach, with an opening statement.

KELLIE HARPER: I am super excited to be playing more basketball with this team. Hats off to Belmont. That is one heck of a team. We knew it. We all knew it coming in. We knew they were going to fight for 40 minutes. I'll tell you what, what a great game to watch, I'm sure.

I'm just so happy. I'm just so happy for this group. Really proud of them.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Sara, if you could just walk me through that last play. One, you falling down, having to leave the court, and then coming back to hit the game winner. Tamari, you set the all-time (career) Tennessee blocks record at Tennessee, passing Candace Parker. After Sara, if you can talk about that.

SARA PUCKETT: Well, I knew it was going to be crazy, crazy atmosphere, but those always great for us because it helps us to want to be able to do it for the fans as well.

Going through this, I was open and the ball was coming to me. I knew I was going to knock down the shot. I knew everybody on the bench and everybody on that court had every ounce of confidence in me. They always tell me that. So as soon as I got it, I knew what I was going to do with it.

TAMARI KEY: I think that play, it was just exciting. We had option, option, option, and everybody make sure we crashed the board. I think we all knew as soon as it left her fingertips that it was good. Yeah, that was a good job.

For the blocks, it's surreal, I think, because Candace Parker is just so amazing, as a human being and basketball player as well, obviously. So, to be able to do that and get it this season in this game, it makes it a lot more special.

Q. Sara, you have been doing that all season, hitting big 3-pointers. You did it in the first game against Southern Illinois. I don't know if you can be ready for that moment, but how ready did you feel for this moment?

SARA PUCKETT: I was very ready just because I knew my teammates had all that confidence in me. So, that just made me feel so free out there just to be able to do the gift that God gave me to do. That's to shoot the basketball.

Q. This is for both Tamari and Sara. What does it mean for you guys to be part of the team to help get the program back to the (first) Sweet 16 since 2016?

TAMARI KEY: I think it's special. We've been saying it all year that this group is just, it's different. You feel the vibes with us. I feel like even the fans interacting with us, even though you're not there every day, it's a different atmosphere with this group. It's just been really fun to play with each other. I feel like we go to bat for each other every game and every practice.

It's really exciting, but we're not done yet.

SARA PUCKETT: It's just really surreal because, as a freshman, like you come in and you're just giving it your all. You're just going out there, doing whatever the team needs you to do. So, to be able to see all the work that we've all put in and it just come to fruition is absolutely amazing and I'm extremely grateful to be a part of it.

Q. Sara, you look like you have a nice little knot on your forehead. Is that from when you went down?

SARA PUCKETT: Yes.

Q. Do you think an elbow or something caught you there?

SARA PUCKETT: Well, that actually happened two days ago, yeah. It didn't happen whenever I fell tonight.

Q. Following up on that, what did happen on the fall? Then I wanted to ask you about post-game, you guys were all waving, but then you saw your parents. What was that moment like before you came back and had a moment with them?

SARA PUCKETT: So the fall, I was just going up for a rebound, and we got tangled up and I went too far back and kind of fell down really hard.

Then just to see my dad, like he was in tears. I had to go over there because he's the one that got me into basketball, and to be able to share that moment with him was just -- it was just amazing.

Q. Your regular season home finale wasn't what you wanted it to be, and at that point you weren't sure you were hosting these rounds really. What's it mean to have these last couple of home games and end your season at Thompson-Boling like this?

TAMARI KEY: I think for us we were looking forward to playing again in TBA, so just being able to in these last two games, these big games, both against really good teams, it's been a lot of fun. Especially for our seniors as well, their last game in TBA, to be able to tell people that they made it to Sweet 16 in a crazy atmosphere is just really exciting for us.

Q. Tamari, at one point, I think it was in the second quarter, I think the first half, Tess Darby, a sophomore, is on the floor with four freshmen. Just how much faith do you have in these youngsters to handle that big moment at that time?

TAMARI KEY: It was end of the first quarter, and JoJo came up to me and she's like all four freshmen are on the court and one sophomore. I was like are you serious? Just watching from the bench, it was just like they gave us that boost going into the second quarter and put us up by a few more points.

It just shows how hard working our freshmen and sophomores are for this team and what they bring to us. So it was fun.

Q. Sara, it's obviously not over yet, but this freshman season has been pretty crazy for you. You already carved out a goal, and the shot tonight has to sort it make it the icing on the cake a little bit. How would you describe the freshman season you've had at Tennessee?

SARA PUCKETT: It's been extremely fun. It's been everything I dreamed it would be. And I'm just thankful for all the people that are around me because they push me every single day to be better.

Q. I think it's quite proven now that Alexus Dye has something different in her in March. It's her fourth straight double double. What's it been like for you to really see her absolutely explode these last four games?

TAMARI KEY: Snoop is really good at basketball, so it's just to no surprise to us that she's been playing her butt off. She's won rings every year that she's played basketball, and this is the year for us. She's come on this team, and she has the winner's mentality, and she works really hard. We're glad that she's on our team.

Q. For both players, Tamari and Sara, you've done this all season where you've had to battle back. You waited until, what, 17.8 seconds to go to take the lead, but how much did you draw on all those other experiences to stay calm in this moment when you were basically trailing for most of the fourth quarter?

SARA PUCKETT: Okay. Well, I think we literally just thought that we had that one-play mentality. So we're on offense, we don't worry about the next possession. We're in that moment. We're taking that moment. We're doing whatever we can to get an offensive rebound. If we don't get it, we're transitioning to defense, and then we're doing everything we can to stop them from scoring.

So I think being able to have that mentality is really good for us because we're just focused on that one thing right then and there and we move on to the next thing immediately, and whatever happened doesn't affect us.

TAMARI KEY: That, and I just feel like our fight, we dug really, really deep. I feel like the games we've had this season has just prepared us for it. We talk about the adversity and things we faced during the season, so I feel like all of that, it shows that we can really dig deep and fight. We want to win.

Q. Both Tamari and Sara, I'm just curious what the post-game locker room celebration looked like today.

TAMARI KEY: Run to the refrigerator, grab bottles of water and --

SARA PUCKETT: Soak Sara.

TAMARI KEY: Sara actually peeked in and saw we were about to soak her and closed the door.

SARA PUCKETT: I did. I had to get ready. I had to mentally prepare for that moment.

TAMARI KEY: Coaches came in. There was confetti. It was a lot of fun. It was just moments like that that you'll just remember years and years from now.

SARA PUCKETT: Yeah.

Q. Coach, I know you know that we keep up the numbers all the time, but this is the first one in six years. That was a lot riding on Sara Puckett's shot. Do you know if she had any idea how long it had been since Tennessee had been back?

KELLIE HARPER: Nah. Let me say something about Sara real quick. I was thinking about this earlier today when we have an optional shootaround, Sara's there. We have extra shots getting up, Sara's shooting them. Don't get me wrong, she's not the only one, but I was thinking this morning how much time our freshmen have put in extra.

She may not be the top of the list, but no one's higher than her, I'll say that. It just pays off. Eventually it pays off, and it paid off in a big way today.

Q. Kellie, in talking about that, she only took the one three, and it was that one with 17.5 seconds. That confidence in knowing that you get the ball to her she's going to knock it down in that situation?

KELLIE HARPER: Well, going down the stretch, we had her in the game. We needed to have a scorer, and we had two or three options that we were going to look for, and that was one of them. Rae (Burrell) made a really nice drive. I was a little blocked from it, so I can't wait to go back and watch it. Rae made a nice drive. I think they collapsed in, and she found the open man, and Sara knocked it down.

So happy for our team, so happy for Sara that that shot went in.

Q. I saw you get a little emotional right there when Sara and Tamari were talking. What was that about?

KELLIE HARPER: Oh, man, they're just -- I just love this team, and they've been so much fun to coach, and I'm so proud of them. This is a big deal. This is a really big deal. For Sara to step up here as a freshman and have that confidence, and for Tamari to step up and make some big free throws at the end of the game and have that confidence.

We got her the ball at the end of the game to shoot the free throws, and just how far she's come and grown, how much they want it for each other.

Then I think somebody asked about the end of the game and the poise, they didn't blink. I mean, they came over to the bench, what do you want me to do? I drew it up, and they went out and executed. That's where they were at.

It was pretty frantic, I felt like, the last 20, 30 seconds, and they stayed poised the entire time.

Q. On the freshmen, Kellie, it seem like certainly even with the SEC Tournament, you started getting more and more out of them. How have you seen since then the group of them grow together?

KELLIE HARPER: I'll tell you what, they've hung in there. Some of them had minutes throughout the year. Some of them had minutes late. And they're really taking advantage of their opportunities when they get them. I'm telling you, they put so much time in outside of our practice.

It's the culture here right now, but it is so strong with those freshmen. They're so excited. I mean, they are -- they have so much energy. They're thrilled to continue to play. I'm thrilled to continue to coach them.

Q. First, with how much players like Sara and Brooklynn played this season, do you feel like they've done more than just one season of development? And two, Sara's kind of struggled offensively the last eight, nine games. What's it been like for you as a coach to keep that confidence up because you know she can do that?

KELLIE HARPER: We just keep talking to Sara about keep shooting. I mean, I tell her all the time. You've got to keep shooting. She is a really talented player, and she's gone -- had a little bit of a shooting slump, but she can do so much for us. She's open, she's got to shoot for us. I'm glad she did tonight.

I think we told them when they got to probably early in the conference play, we told them they weren't freshmen anymore. If you played that many minutes early on, you played in big games, you played in close games, you made big plays in those games, then you're pretty experienced at that point. They've been good.

Q. You guys had a little bit of a breakdown there in the third quarter that kind of let them make that comeback. How were you able to rein that back in to have them pull it out at the finish like that?

KELLIE HARPER: It's funny, you hear our players talk about one-play mentality, I'll be honest with you, I'm that way too, so I'm going to have to go back in the memory banks a little bit.

I do know obviously in that third quarter they ran down a lot of O-boards, a lot of loose balls and I felt like they capitalized on every one of them. They got back in it by getting some easy shots, getting some layups, making some threes off of those O-boards. And we were coming down empty a few times. I thought we took a few rust shots. We were a little bit better there in the second half when we were giving our post some touches, but we also had to have some ball movement as well.

So for us, we had to find a little bit more movement offensively and then tighten up our defense.

Q. Tamari, I know that's a heck of a record to set at Tennessee, to pass Candace Parker. Second, you're going to Wichita, so we're going back to our old question. What's the status of Jordan Horston? Could she possibly play next weekend?

KELLIE HARPER: I don't know, I'll find out. It will be fun to find out. We'll see what happens this week and see how she's progressing.

I know we're all very hopeful, but at the same time, we're also very realistic about her injury and what it's going to look like. So we'll kind of play it by ear and see how it goes day to day this week. What was the first part?

Q. Tamari.

KELLIE HARPER: Tamari, thank you. Listen, any time that you are even mentioned in the same sentence as Candace Parker, you've probably done something right. To have a record that's close to and then pass, that's an impressive, impressive number.

Listen, Tamari has done it all year. Her career has -- she started, that was her strength when she started. She's now blossomed into more than just a shot blocker, but her shot blocking abilities really anchor our defense.

Q. Getting to the Sweet 16 was going to be the next step for the program obviously, but to have the sort of roller coaster ride of the great start and expectations and then all the injuries you went through and to ride it out to this and this team to be the one who did it, does it make it any more special?

KELLIE HARPER: Absolutely. When you really have to fight for something, when it doesn't come easy, it makes it more special. It does, and they have fought. They have gone through adversity. They've hung together. They've done everything we've asked them to do. I wanted so bad for them to get rewarded with more basketball.

They're excited, and they should be, because this has been an amazing, amazing journey. And they have said it all year. They have said this is a special team, and this team can do some special things in March. Here we are.

Q. Following up on the Sweet 16, Kellie, what about just the importance for the program? Even to have this week to be able to recruit and all that stuff. What's the value of having this week leading into it?

KELLIE HARPER: I think it's really important that the presence Tennessee has is in the Sweet 16. I think that's important for our program. Yeah, if they talk about us for another week, that's a good thing.

I also think it's great for what we're doing here. It's great as we continue to take steps forward. It's where we need to be. We don't take it for granted. You don't just get there. A lot of teams that -- a lot of really talented teams are not going to be there this year. There's been a lot of parity. Just glad we're one of them.

Q. Kellie, the end that have game was a battle. There was a stalemate at 66-64 for two straight minutes of game play, and there was an inbounds play with less than a minute left when Brooklynn Miles got a hand on it and knocked it out of bounds. How much confidence does that give you in your team's just ability to stay locked in those final minutes and really grind out a win?

KELLIE HARPER: We've had so many of those this season. A lot of them were early on. We had to fight. We had to find some comeback wins. We had to make big plays on offense. We had to make big plays on defense to secure wins throughout the season.

So, I think we stepped out there. We weren't -- the moment wasn't too big for us. I think we were very confident stepping out there that we were going to find a way to make a play.

Like I said, we had options. We knew what we were doing if we were missing. We knew what we were doing if we were scoring. We were ready to go. Every player was out there trying to do their job.