KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Head Coach Holly Warlick met with members of the media prior to No. 6/6 Tennessee’s practice on Wednesday.  The Lady Vols (15-0, 3-0 SEC) are preparing to take on No. 17/16 Texas A&M (13-4, 2-1 SEC) in College Station, Texas on Thursday. Answering questions from the media, Warlick shared her thoughts on Mercedes Russell‘s career-high performance and what to expect from the Aggies.

Tennessee will face Texas A&M at 7 p.m. (6 CT) on Thursday in Reed Arena. The game will be televised by the SEC Network.

Head Coach Holly Warlick

On Mercedes Russell‘s career high against Vanderbilt:

“We got her the ball. We got her the ball, and she worked hard for it, and she finished and made plays. We made it an emphasis and our players got it and got her the ball. She shoots a great percentage, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t get her the ball when she was five or six inches over the player guarding her from Vanderbilt.”

On if the team should have gotten Russell the ball more in previous games:

“I think we haven’t been consistent (in getting Russell the ball). We’ve shot the ball well from outside, so she probably hasn’t touched the ball as much when we were shooting a high percentage. But when she’s going against smaller people, we’ve got to get her the ball, and she’s doing a great job of working to get it.”

On what to expect from Russell going up against other top big players in the league over the next few games:

“Personally, I think Mercedes does better with somebody bigger guarding her. It’s hard as a big player – I haven’t experienced it – but people get under you, and it’s difficult to play when people are crowding you and getting under you. I think she’ll thrive on playing against somebody her size. She may not say that, but I think she competes and plays hard when she plays someone of her height level.”

On if Tennessee can continue its up-tempo offense against highly-ranked SEC teams:

“That’s how we play. We want to attack; we want to be the aggressor. Obviously, we want to turn you over on the defensive end to give us easy buckets, but we want to get to the free-throw line, and we want to attack. And so when we shoot a contested three, that’s not good. We want to get mid-range jumpers, open threes, and get the ball inside, and our group has done a really good job of, for the most part, sticking to the game plan, and the result is we’re getting to the free-throw line quite a bit.”

On if Tennessee’s defense allowing a 34.3 percent shooting to opponents so far is better than what she initially expected:

“I think we’re better consistently than what I anticipated. When I watch the freshmen, and the more I was around them and the more I watched them play and compete and their defensive commitment, I can see it now, but that’s huge for us. I really was not at the beginning of the year anticipating being a great (defensive team). And we can get better. That’s the great thing; we can get better. We can get better in a stance. We can get better at closing out… just little things that we can get better at.”

On what to expect from Texas A&M:

“They have two great shooters – (Chennedy) Carter and (Danni) Williams. They have a strong post player inside. They’re great rebounders – great rebounders. Gary (Blair) is going to control the tempo and try to limit our touches. They always play hard. He has them ready, and he gives them a great look every time. My concern with them is giving their shooters open looks and keeping them off the boards. They’re unbelievable offensive rebounders.”

-UT Athletics