KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Head Coach Holly Warlick met with members of the media before practice on Saturday in Thompson-Boling Arena.  The No. 11 Lady Vols (19-4, 7-3 SEC) are preparing to host No. 18 Georgia (21-3, 9-2 SEC) on Sunday for the annual Live Pink, Bleed Orange game.

Answering questions from the media, Warlick talked about Rennia Davis‘ breakout performance at Arkansas and how hard Mercedes Russell has worked over the years to be closing in on 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.

The Live Pink, Bleed Orange game will tip off at 3 p.m. ET and be televised on the SEC Network.

Head Coach Holly Warlick

On Think Pink, Bleed Orange…

“Obviously the pink game is something close to me. Nikki Caldwell and I started our Champions For A Cause Foundation to show support for breast cancer, and we just continue to try to raise money and send it to UT Cancer Center. We obviously want it to go to research and to give men and women a chance to be able to use their mobile unit to get tested if they can’t come in (to the clinic). And more importantly, we had a chance to go over to the center where they get their chemo, and it’s a powerful thing. It’s just a powerful thing. To see these people… there’s not one person in there who didn’t have hope.Their attitudes are just incredible. They all, in their minds, are going to beat cancer, and rightfully so. That was something we did last week that was powerful for me, and every time we go over there it just amazes me at people’s attitudes. I’m worried about a basketball game, and they’re worried about life. They put my life all in perspective.”

On Georgia’s freshmen…

“They play hard. They’re great defenders. They play within her system. They’re getting great minutes, and they’ve moved Georgia to where… Last year Georgia was good; (their freshman) have accelerated them and given them confidence to be a great basketball team.”

On if Tennessee’s freshmen have exceeded her expectations… 

“They’ve probably exceeded (my expectations). They’ve been put in roles and put in game situations where we need them to produce. I knew that they were talented, but what do you do when you’re playing in a hostile environment? What do you do when the game is on the line? How do they produce (then)? I think overall they’ve just done an outstanding job. We’ve needed them and have relied on them to win basketball games.”

On Tennessee having 42 consecutive 20-win seasons…

“We almost created a monster here, but we strive to win every game. I didn’t even think about the 20 wins (after Arkansas). We were still kind of thinking about the losses we had. But it comes down… Look, you have to have great players, and I have a staff that gets us prepared. And these kids have to focus; they’ve got to stick with the game plan, and we as coaches have to put them in an opportunity to win. Twenty wins this early on… Last year we struggled a little bit, but this year every win has been a solid win for us, and we’ve taken it one game at a time, and that’s been huge for us.”

On if she encouraged Rennia Davis to look for her shot more against Arkansas…

“I did. We had a good discussion. I didn’t want her to just sit back and let everyone else do their thing. Rennia is an incredible athlete, and I think when she has the confidence… And she’s been in the gym, she’s watched a ton of film, her defense has gotten better. So I told her look, it’s not your offense that’s holding you back, it’s your defense, and she really took that to heart. She had a breakout game, and we need her to continue to do that. I don’t want her to hold back. I don’t want her to just watch Jaime and Mercedes perform. I want her to be at that level as well.”

On Tennessee’s defense…

“It’s got to get more consistent. It’s got to get more consistent, and we’re capable of doing it. We’ve done it, but we can be on a little bit of a roller coaster. We’ve got to make a commitment to it. Yesterday, again, all we did was defense and rebounding. We just have to continue to understand that defense and rebounding will win you games; they’ll win you games. And you see the games we played well in, we played great defense and we controlled the boards.”

On what she’s learned about her players in close games…

“We’re never out of a game. We seem to be able, when we need to, to pick up our defense and pick up what we need to do, and that’s a positive. I would rather us do that the whole game, but we have a knack for when we get down and our backs are against a wall, we really fight. And that’s great, I just want them to do it all the time.”

On Mercedes Russell approaching 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds…

“Mercedes came into this program with a lot of expectations. Her foot injuries were really bad, and I’ll  say this, Mercedes every year she’s gotten better and better.  This summer she got in the gym; she got in the weight room. She’s stronger, she’s more active with her shot, and she’s our anchor inside. I’m really proud of her because it doesn’t just happen because you come in and you’re a highly ranked freshman. You’ve got to work at your game, and she has worked at her game. She’s drawing triple and double teams, and she’s handled them, and I can’t say enough about Mercedes and her success here and what she means to this program.”

On Georgia’s defense…

“They’ve very good. They’ll be aggressive on the ball. They’ll deny us. They’re physical. They’re quick, so taking care of the ball, for us, is going to be key. We can’t have any passes that we just throw out of bounds, because they’re going to bring the pressure on us, and we’re going to have to handle it.”

On currently being in a three-way tie for third in the SEC…

“This is a huge game for us, and these ladies know it. It’s a huge game for us. We’ve talked about it; we’ve put it out there (that it’s a) big game for us. Right now this is a standing game, and we need to get the job done.”

-UT Athletics