KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT/SUBMITTED) -- The Lady Vols and Austin Peay held their practice day news conferences at Thompson Boling Arena. The team quotes are below.

Head Coach Pat Summitt
(Opening Statement):
“Obviously, we’re very excited about being able to host First and Second Rounds. Our basketball team has worked hard to put us in this position. We’re real serious, and we’ll be focused. I hope our fans will come out and support not only our team but all the teams in this tournament.”

(on how the team is playing since the SEC Tournament):
“I definitely think that we’re playing our best basketball now. Our practices have had great intensity. You can tell that our team is very focused. It will take everyone. We have good depth, and everyone will need to be ready when called upon.”

(on players picking and choosing when to play hard last year):
“They’ve probably only realized that now. The three players that we had here (Angie Bjorklund, Kelley Cain, and Shekinna Stricklen) have provided great leadership. Kelley has taken on the post game and held them accountable. She’s made Lyssi (Brewer) better. She’s made Glory (Johnson) better. Angie and Kinna have made the guards better. They hold them accountable.”

(on facing Austin Peay):
“It’s interesting. My brother, Tommy, and my brother, Kenneth, both graduated from Austin Peay. Tommy played basketball there for two years, and Kenneth played baseball and was a pitcher. So they were excited about us playing Austin Peay. I spent a lot of time watching my brother play there. Coach (Carrie) Daniels has done a great job of getting her team ready. They go about nine players deep, and we play eight players. Their guard play is real impressive, and their inside play is solid.”

(on whether her brothers will be pulling for Tennessee):
“They better be, or they won’t get a ticket when they get here.”

(on whether she has looked ahead to facing either Dayton or TCU):
“I have not. My staff has. It’s Austin Peay, and that’s it. (Assistant coaches) Dean (Lockwood), Holly (Warlick), and Daedra (Charles-Furlow) have been watching tape. We’ll be ready.”

Junior guard Angie Bjorklund:
(on playing Saturday after a two-week layoff):
“It’s been a huge gap. It’s been two weeks and we’ve been excited the entire time. Especially having spring break, which was basically a week to focus on basketball and have a break from school. We’ve had a lot of preparation and we’re ready to go.”

(on the benefit of playing at home):
We have the best fan support anywhere we go, but especially at home. We have a regular routine and we can sleep in our own beds—having that kind of comfort will help us and give us an advantage. It’s a different year with a completely different philosophy and we’re looking forward to it.”

Redshirt sophomore center Kelley Cain:
(on playing Saturday after a two-week layoff):
“We’ve had some really good practices lately and we’re just excited that tournament time is finally here and we get to prove that we’re completely different from last year. We’re a lot better.”

(on last year’s loss potentially creating a bigger target on Tennessee’s backs):
“Any Tennessee team has a target on its back. With what happened last year, even though it has nothing to do with this year, we definitely have a big target on our backs. That makes it more fun. We want to be sought after and we want to be the team that everyone wants to beat.”

(on seeing the upsets in yesterday’s men’s tournament games):
“On any given day, any team can be beaten. It helps us to stay even more focused on our ultimate goal. We just need to come out in every game, no matter who we play, with our ‘A’ game.”

Sophomore guard Shekinna Stricklen:
(on playing Saturday after a two-week layoff):
“These last couple of weeks, we’ve been getting closer and closer as a team on and off the court. We’re ready to play.”

(on the differences between this year’s team and last year’s team):
“I feel like we’re more committed as a team. Last year, we picked and chose when we wanted to play hard. I feel like this year, we’re going hard every possession and not taking possessions off. We’re more committed to defense and rebounding than we were last year. I think we have improved a lot.”

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NO. 16 SEED AUSTIN PEAY LADY GOVS OPEN PRACTICE DAY QUOTES

Head Coach Carrie Daniels
(Opening Statement):
“I think we’re just tremendously excited to be here. Knoxville has done an excellent job with the University of Tennessee being the host here. We knew coming into it that we were going to be matched up with an excellent team. I think our team is excited with the atmosphere that we’re going to be going into tomorrow afternoon. Coming to Knoxville with the time and distance for our fans to be able to travel and be here to support us is one thing that we’re excited about as well.”

(With Tennessee losing in the first round last year, does that allow you to explain to your team that you can beat them, too):
“I think they went back to the drawing board after having lost that game. That’s not something that we really talked about. Our focus is on ourselves. We know it’s a tough challenge. One thing we’ve talked about a lot with our team is we can’t get so concerned with the name on the front of the jersey and who we’re playing. We have to focus on the 40 minutes at hand and what we have to do on the court. We know there’s going to be a lot of pressure and it’s going to be a tough task, but we played the non-conference schedule that we did for a reason. We also hope that the experience of last season, going up against Duke in that first-round game of the NCAA Tournament, that we can draw from that experience and that coming into this game we won’t be in awe or awestruck stepping onto that court. I think that was our worst field-goal percentage of any from last season. Hopefully, we’ll have a lot better showing and be able to compete more in this game tomorrow.”

(Is there anyone that you have played that shows you some of the things that you see in Tennessee when you have been scouting them):
“I think the first thing when you look at Tennessee – and they’re a tremendous team all the way around – is that compared to our team from every position we’re outsized, from every spot. Two teams that we played this season, Pittsburgh and Xavier, in every spot we were outmatched and outsized. So from that aspect, those are two teams that we went up against and were outmatched. Also, at one point or the other during the season, we played five teams that had been in the top 25. So we have gone up against some top caliber teams. But I think the size is something our players are going to have to be aware of, and they can’t back down to that. You look at the scores and it was kind of lopsided in a lot of our games but we had to look at positives and find the little things to get us through that season and help prepare us. I feel like they have kept a positive mind-set throughout it and never dropped their heads. They continued to push forward. I think that’s a big reason, even though our record may not show it, because they are competitors and they are fighters. I think that’s one reason why we are here today.”

Sophomore Forward Jasmine Rayner
(Any level of intimidation coming in to play here with all the orange and home fans):
“For me it’s not, I mean I’m excited, but not intimidated. It’s just another team, they are an excellent team, but in our season we played a lot of teams that were like Tennessee, the same size and everything”

(Excitement or awe of playing against a Pat Summitt coached team):
“I am not in awe but I am so excited to be playing against this team, I mean we are in Big Orange Country. Also excited that we are having our fans come in, I mean we’re only down the street so that’s what the games going to be like”

Junior Guard Ashley Herring:
(How much is it in the back of your head that this is a team that lost last year in the first round, any motivation or does it help to know that this is a team that stumbled):
“We really don’t look at histories, in the tournament anybody can beat anybody it’s just a matter of who shows up and who is playing hard. There is all kind of teams that are underdogs quote unquote that are showing up and beating teams, it’s just about going out there and playing hard and competing and whoever is the best team at that time winning”

(How much of the confidence from the run through the OVC tournament lingers around the team and how helpful have the last 2 weeks been in making sure there is no rust buildup):
“It’s great motivation after winning the conference and doing it for the second time, that’s great motivation for our team. We went into practice excited and motivated, and then finding out who we are playing now we’re just really able to focus on details and sharpening our game for the tournament. But it was a tremendous help having that motivation coming off of our conference championship”

(Excitement or awe in playing against a Pat Summitt coached team):
“I am very excited, this is just a great experience. I have not had the opportunity to play in Knoxville or this gym. Like they said it’s not about being in awe it’s just the opportunity we are going to take advantage of to just go out there and compete with one of the best teams in the tournament so it’s just going to be a great experience.

Senior Forward Nicole Jamen:
(Excitement or awe playing against a Pat Summitt coached team):
“Coach Pat Summitt is a great coach so it’s a good opportunity for us to play against them, but at the same time it’s not going to be a reason why we are going to be in awe and just stare at them, I mean it’s a competition and we are competitors so it’s going to be different on the court”