Both their players and their coach were pretty dang classy about congratulating Tennessee. It was almost too classy. Nothing but praise. I just want to transcribe, with some degree of paraphrasing, what they said about Tennessee -
Cullop: "They're a very talented team, and their size, length, athleticism, it was very hard to prepare for in one day. And we wish them the very best. They've got a great team that's playing very well right now. I wouldn't be surprised if they fared very well at the next round."
Lockett: "We tried our best to pack it in there in the paint tonight, and once we did that, they started hitting threes - there was really nothing we could do about that. I would say that's a really good team we played out there. They played well tonight, and I hope they keep playing that well going forward."
Mikonowicz expressed similar thoughts, but I'mma be honest, I was tired of transcribing.
Lockett also got a little emotional talking about how she hoped this wasn't their only chance to play in the tournament, which Cullop echoed when she spoke about how hard it was for their conference to get teams in the big dance even when she felt they were good enough to compete with big name schools. Nothing to add on those comments, just some food for thought there. Seemed like it was appropriate to hear them speak about their perspective before we close the book on these two rounds and look forward to the Sweet 16.
Cullop: "They're a very talented team, and their size, length, athleticism, it was very hard to prepare for in one day. And we wish them the very best. They've got a great team that's playing very well right now. I wouldn't be surprised if they fared very well at the next round."
Lockett: "We tried our best to pack it in there in the paint tonight, and once we did that, they started hitting threes - there was really nothing we could do about that. I would say that's a really good team we played out there. They played well tonight, and I hope they keep playing that well going forward."
Mikonowicz expressed similar thoughts, but I'mma be honest, I was tired of transcribing.
Lockett also got a little emotional talking about how she hoped this wasn't their only chance to play in the tournament, which Cullop echoed when she spoke about how hard it was for their conference to get teams in the big dance even when she felt they were good enough to compete with big name schools. Nothing to add on those comments, just some food for thought there. Seemed like it was appropriate to hear them speak about their perspective before we close the book on these two rounds and look forward to the Sweet 16.