Lady Vols are playing against themselves along with Alabama State

After Tennessee's game against Central Arkansas on Thursday, Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick evaluated the 77-34 victory in terms of self-improvement.

"We worked a lot (Wednesday) on us," she said, "and that's really the first time that we've really zeroed in on us. ... Well, I don't think it helped. I know it helped.''

More:Lady Vols: Along with her scoring, Meme Jackson plays part in record defensive effort

No. 13/12 Tennessee (7-0) likely recycled that approach for Sunday's game against Alabama State (1-6) at 2 p.m at Thompson-Boling Arena (Live streaming: SECN+). Such opportunities are fleeting during the course of a women's basketball season.

"This is vital time and pretty soon we're not going to have as much of this time," assistant coach Dean Lockwood said. "So we have to maximize the time."

The time management involves three steps:

Making most of practice

Lockwood equated practice to a master craftsman toiling in a workshop.

"They're chipping away, honing their craft," he said. "That's what practice needs to be is just really working on all the intricacies of what you're doing and doing them better."

More:Lady Vols basketball back from Cancun, focusing on defense

Lockwood believes that understanding the concept, particularly for a younger team, is dependent upon the team's leadership. Senior Jaime Nared, for one, has been outspoken about placing more value on practice.

"I think the biggest thing is every day coming into practice and doing what we're supposed to do," she said in October. "Not coming in some days and practicing hard and coming in some days and kind of not wanting to be there."

Lockwood said there have been lapses that have impacted parts of a practice or occasionally diminished an entire session. Still, he thinks most days have been good days.

"Overall, they've been good, they really have been," he said. "They've responded well and they've been very receptive."

Carryover effect

A thought for the day is shared with the team like a daily devotion during their team gathering before practice. One earlier this season was, "Carryover is evidence of learning."

"When you can carry something from the practice floor over onto the game floor and into a game environment, that's evidence that you're getting it," Lockwood said.

Before the Central Arkansas game, Tennessee stressed defense, particularly one-on-one defending. The best example of carryover was shutting out the Sugar Bears during the fourth quarter and limiting them to two points during the final 15-plus minutes.

"We're seeing some gradual improvement in some key areas," Lockwood said. "We're better than we were even a week and a half ago."

Tell the truth

Lockwood favors another thought for reinforcing this process: "A lot of people would rather be ruined by praise than saved by constructive criticism."

He doesn't count seniors Nared and Mercedes Russell among such people.

"They want to hear the truth," Lockwood said.

More:Lady Vols' Jaime Nared, Mercedes Russell intend for their leadership to go long way

For that matter, he said fellow senior Kortney Dunbar has been more active in verbally promoting the party line. A truth, as told by Lockwood on Friday, is that despite a plus-10.7 margin, UT's rebounding needs to be better.

"You need to go after a ball like you've been under water for 40 seconds and you need air now," he said. "You need to get to the surface and breathe air. That's how we need to pursue a rebound and we don't yet."