Kamiko Williams positive about Holly Warlick's approach to NCAA tournament

Lady Vols react to being named No. 2 seed in NCAA tournament

Holly Warlick didn’t look the part of Tennessee’s coach Friday afternoon.

She was sitting on a couch next to Lady Vols point guard Ariel Massengale in the team locker room, tossing a pear in the air.

The casual game of pitch and catch didn’t diminish Warlick’s role in preparing Tennessee for the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. According to Kamiko Williams, the first-year coach has played that part very well.

“I think her positivity and her belief in us is what’s keeping us going,” the senior guard said. “We’ve worked on what we need to work on, but she’s keeping that positive attitude with us. I think that approach has helped this team.”

No. 2 seed Tennessee (24-7) faces No. 15 Oral Roberts (18-12) at approximately 1:30 today (TV: ESPN2) at Thompson-Boling Arena. No. 7 Syracuse (24-7) and No. 10 Creighton (24-7) open the first-round doubleheader of the Oklahoma City Regional at 11:20 a.m.

The winners play at 7 p.m. Monday.

Warlick is mindful of the expectations associated with UT’s seeding and its 50-0 record in NCAA games at home. She hasn’t forgotten this team’s youthfulness either.

“These kids have a lot of pressure on them; you have to understand that,” said Warlick, who was a UT assistant for 27 years. “I saw it in the past.

“It doesn’t mean you go light on them. But they get to this point, they know what they need to do. We’re trying to put them in situations where they

know they can excel.”

Oral Roberts looked and sounded like a team excited for its opportunity.

Seniors Kevi Luper, Savanna Buck and Jaci Bigham all wore matching head bands to the team press conference. When asked if their attire constituted a fashion statement, Bigham said jokingly: “We are actually trying to one-up Skylar Diggins.”

The reference was to Notre Dame’s star guard, who’s more known for such a look.

Luper has the highest profile among the Golden Eagles. As a sophomore, the 5-foot-10 guard became the first player in Division I history to lead the nation in scoring (23.7 points per game) and steals (3.7). She’s scored 2,847 career points and gathered 462 career steals.

“Kevi has been the face of our program for the past four years and she’s very worthy of that with the numbers that she’s been able to put up and the consistency with which she’s put those numbers up,” Oral Roberts coach Misti Cussen said. “When you’ve got a player that hits the 1,000-point mark in December of their sophomore year in college, you know you have a special player as far as what she’s able to do for you offensively.”

The Lady Vols have spent the past few practices concentrating on the Golden Eagles. Warlick said sophomore center Isabelle Harrison will play today after missing the last three games with a right knee injury.

“I don’t even notice my brace anymore,” Harrison said. “I’m getting comfortable with it.”

She didn’t even remember colliding with teammate Bashaara Graves in Thursday’s practice. Warlick did, retelling the circumstances as if she were recounting a bad dream.

“They both fell out and didn’t move for a minute, so I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” Warlick said.

Turned out to be a false alarm. They both got up and kept going.