Most of Tennessee's women's basketball players opted to kneel during the national anthem before Thursday's home game against Arkansas, a decision senior Rennia Davis said was "made in the moment."
"We thought that with everything going on -- especially here recently in Washington and everything, that's what we saw fit to do," said Davis, who had 26 points in the Lady Volunteers' 88-73 victory over the No. 13 Razorbacks.
"The people on the team who saw fit to support that, they did. And the ones who didn't, they supported us in a different way."
The game was Tennessee's SEC opener, and the first after the Lady Vols came off a weeklong pause due to COVID-19 protocols. There was some negative response from the crowd at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, to the players kneeling.
"We were able to see who some of our real fans were today, and who weren't," Davis said. "So it was great to see who was really on our side and have our backs outside of basketball and as actual people."
Junior Rae Burrell, who also scored 26 points in the victory, said the players were inspired by how WNBA players engaged in social activism during their season last summer.
"I think with our platform, it's a good thing for us to speak up on something that we stand for," Burrell said. "It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment-type of thing; we didn't really plan to do it. But with everything happening yesterday and over the summer, we just felt that it needed to be done."
The Tennessee coaching staff did not kneel, and coach Kellie Harper said the players' decision wasn't discussed with the staff. But she supported her players.
"I think a lot of it is just the emotions of what's going on right now and where they are with things," Harper said.
Harper, a Tennessee native and national champion as a Lady Vols player in the 1990s, said she and the team have talked extensively, going back to this past summer, about social issues.
"We were educating each other, ourselves, staff players, our Black players, our white players, our international players -- everybody was educated this summer, and we shared a lot," Harper said. "And it was good for us, because it gave us a really good understanding of the person sitting next to you -- where she's coming from, and what her background is. Those discussions were really good. They were difficult at times, but that's OK."
Harper said she knows some fans will disagree with players' decision, but she is proud of how the players have handled themselves and their emotions.
"It's been hard to watch things on television, and know where things are in the world," Harper said of events such as Wednesday's storming of the Capitol in Washington. "But hopefully we can help be the change, maybe a positive light.
"I know they'll get some negative reactions. For them, they made a statement. And I think they need to stick to that. I don't know that you have to go back and forth. It does hurt them when they see negative comments, because they feel so strongly about what they're doing. But, you know, that's just life: You've got to deal with negativity. If you're strong enough with what you believe, and you just believe it, you just march right on."
Also on Thursday, two players and three staff members for No. 12 Maryland kneeled during the anthem before a 93-87 win against No. 23 Michigan State. Those individuals have kneeled before every game this season.