The Tennessee Volunteers bumped their record to 1-1 after a massive 97-47 win against the East Tennessee State Bucs. However, even with a 50-point victory, head coach Kim Caldwell was not happy. In the postgame press conference, she showed her frustration after being asked about the fouls.
Kim Caldwell on Tennessee’s Foul Trouble
The Volunteers might have registered their first win of the season on their home court. But Caldwell’s underlying trouble with the fouls was imminent. The Volunteers gave away 23 fouls in the match, and Caldwell said that the team had talked about it.
“Yeah. We need to stop touching the other team. I mean we we don’t make adjustments. We we grab them. We foul them. We hit them on the arm and we always think that we need to touch them and we are fouling and we it’s another point of emphasis,” Caldwell said.
She continued, “It’s something we’ve talked about. That was something that we specifically said before the game. We don’t want to put them in bonus at all. Not one time today, and I don’t want the game to last for hours. Then they were in bonus for three quarters, and they know it, they talk about it, and then they go out on the floor and they foul.”
Caldwell’s right. Almost one-third of East Tennessee’s points came from the charity stripe. While 47 might not seem like a big score, the Bucs scored 16 points from the foul line. However, Caldwell must be proud of the way her team defended, limiting the opposition to just nine points at the end of the first half.
It was senior forward Zee Spearman, Janiah Baker, and junior guard Talaysia Cooper who took the responsibility of adding points to the total. The trio combined to score 57 points, with the seniors shooting 38.5% and Cooper recording an impressive 63.6% from the field. Freshman Mia Pauldo also added 12 points.
Mia Pauldo on the Importance of Sticking Together
With just two games into the season, freshman Mia Pauldo and her twin sister Mya Pauldo have had a taste of collegiate basketball. She accompanied Caldwell to the postgame press conference and discussed the importance of the team sticking together, given the team’s quick turnaround times between games.
“Just staying together, working on the big things we need to work on because that’s going to determine whether we win or lose, especially cause we’re away,” Pauldo said. “That’s going to be our second away game, so we just have to pick on those big things, and I feel like we’ll be able to do that as long as we stick together, have the energy come in tomorrow, and film with a positive attitude. Um, I think that will help.”
The Volunteers will now be on the road to face the UT Martin Skyhawks on Sunday, as they hope to build on their last win.
