‘We just had a lot of quit in us tonight,’ Caldwell said after a 93-50 loss to South Carolina on Sunday; the 43-point margin a record for the largest defeat in Tennessee women’s basketball history.
‘And that’s been something that’s been consistent with our team is ― we’re not comfortable, and things don’t go our way, and I have a team that’ll just quit on you. And you can’t do that in big games, can’t do that anytime in the SEC, but you certainly can’t do that at a program like this.’
Caldwell had no answers for why, when things are going badly, the Lady Vols struggle to stay composed. They seemingly unravel to the point of no return. (This season, the team has five ranked losses of 15 points or more, including a 30-point loss to UConn and 43-point loss to the Gamecocks. Three of those losses to top teams also included 20 turnovers.) Caldwell appeared to shift the blame to her team.
‘That’s a question for them, about why they can’t stick together,’ the Tennessee coach said.
When asked if she had advice for Caldwell as a young head coach, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley offered up some reassuring words after Caldwell’s head-turning admissions.
‘For two, you gotta get your team to buy in, and sometimes, it’s tricking them because it’s a game. It’s a game that you really have to balance playing with the players because they know they played like ish, right? They know they did. Sometimes you need to bring what good happened. If you can find some good in it … some of that might just kind of relax them a little bit.’
Staley also shared what she thinks Caldwell and Tennessee can do to get back on track after losing three of their last four games.
‘Competitors know when they don’t play well. Competitors know when they need to change their mindsets,’ the Gamecocks coach said.
‘You need the majority of your team thinking the same way, and it has to be positive. If it’s negative, you’re going to get negative results. So, I would start from there.’