Momentum: Lady Vols Week in Review 2/13-2/19
Credit: University of Tennessee Athletics
By Dawson Wise
The games continue to get more important for the Lady Vols.
As postseason play nears, it is crucial that Tennessee begins to stack wins in order to better its tournament position, both in conference and in the national picture.
They did just that this past week, grabbing key wins at home against Auburn and a talented, well-coached Ole Miss team.
Now, with just 4 games to go, Kim Caldwell’s team is on the precipice of earning hosting privileges in the NCAA Tournament and playing as a top 8 seed in Greenville in the SEC Tournament.
Yes, you read that right. In women’s basketball, the top 16 overall seeds get home court advantage for the opening 2 rounds of March Madness. It has proved to be the difference many years between making the second weekend and going home early, as Tennessee did a year ago in Raleigh against NC State.
This team is looking to avoid that fate, and continues to overachieve along the way. They’re winning games they weren’t expected to, and now they could be in line for the best tournament seeding for a Lady Vols team in several years.
It’s mostly because this group is playing its best basketball right now. The offense has been reinvented during the season, going from primarily a run and gun, three-pointer based system to a paint-first, efficient half-court offense that has some pop in transition. Defensively, they continue to bring a ruthless press that has UT ranked in the top 5 in turnovers forced and turnover margin.
They will need to continue to play at the highest level, and that comes from players like Jewel Spear, who was named Co-SEC Player of the Week and a member of the NCAA’s Weekly Starting 5. On any given night, several players can have this type of impact for Tennessee, but Spear has been integral in this late season surge in SEC play with her efficient shooting and composure in late game situations.
Players like Spear are the X-factors this Lady Vols team needs to make a surprising run in March. They have the unique system and the depth to do it. The stars need to step up and make the big plays and we’re starting to see that come together.
This week was the beginning of that culmination point, so let’s go through this week’s two wins.
Auburn, 2/13
Auburn actually began the game as the better team, with sharpshooter Yuting Deng hitting a trio of triples to jump out to a 7-2 lead. Tennessee responded with Jillian Hollingshead’s layup and Jewel Spear’s 3 to cut the deficit to 3 at the first media break. The Lady Vols went on to grab a 15-14 lead before a 7-2 burst gave them a 22-20 lead at the end of 1, thanks to 5 points from Ruby Whitehorn and a layup from Kaniya Boyd.
The momentum continued into the second, with a Spearman free throw, Cooper three, and Whitehorn layup capping a 13-2 run. Alyssa Latham and Sara Puckett both joined the party as the lead grew to 11 at 37-26. A Tess Darby three made it 41-28. Jewel Spear hit from deep to push it to 44-30, and then Puckett cashed in to make it 48-32, the biggest lead of the night for UT. Spearman’s putback kept the lead at 16 at the halftime break, 50-34.
To open the third, Auburn started to claw its way back into the game. The gap got as low as 11, 61-50 with 2:48 left, but Tennessee again responded. A Jillian Hollingshead triple as the shot clock expired and a three-point play from Talaysia Cooper got the lead back to 17 and deflated an already worn down Tigers team. Another Cooper bucket and a Kaniya Boyd lay-in again gave Tennessee its biggest lead of the night at 71-52.
The Lady Vols were not done pushing. A three by Tess Darby, then back to back threes by Samara Spencer and Darby once again made the lead 80-59. A Boyd layup with 3:15 to go capped another extended run for Tennessee and made the lead 90-59. Avery Strickland closed the scoring with a layup that brought UT within 1 of the 100 point mark, their most points in an SEC game since 2011, when they scored 110 against Alabama.
Jewel Spear led the scoring with 5 three-pointers and 17 total points. 4 other Lady Vols scored in double figures. Ruby Whitehorn had 15, Zee Spearman tacked on 14, Kaniya Boyd had her best performance with 11, and Talaysia Cooper added on 10.
The Tigers were led by a double-double from DeYona Gaston, who tallied 24 points and 12 rebounds on the night. Yuting Deng had 13 points, with 10 of them coming in the opening quarter before Tennessee limited her to just 1 more basket the rest of the way. Auburn falls to 12-13 and 3-9 in conference play.
The Lady Vols forced 21 turnovers, with Auburn being the 15th opponent this season that Tennessee has turned over 20 or more times. It was also the 15th time that Tennessee has made 10 or more threes, tallying 14. Even further, it was the highest field goal percentage of the year for UT with 55.7 percent shooting on the night. This included a 73.3 percent mark in the second and 64.7 percent shooting in the final quarter.
I feel like this was Tennessee’s most complete performance of the year. The offensive identity continues to change to an inside-out offense and it makes the offense so much more efficient. It results in nights like this, where UT is able to shoot it at a high clip. Kaniya Boyd continues to be an X-factor in this offense. It flows so much better when she’s out there, and tonight she showed off her scoring as well. The Lady Vols also continued to play good matchup defense against players like Gaston and Deng, and caused chaos with the press once again, wearing Auburn down over 4 quarters. Speaking of, Tennessee put together 4 quarters once again, an encouraging sign for the postseason. There aren’t many negatives, but UT needs to play tighter with the ball. They turned it over almost 20 times once again, and it’s mostly unforced errors like traveling violations or dribbling off the foot. These can be buttoned up. The start wasn’t great on either end, which will bite this team more in tournament play. Foul trouble was also an issue, but in a game like this it’s not as big a deal. It’s another win and a really impressive one at that for a team that needs as many of those as it can get.
Ole Miss, 2/16
Tennessee jumped out to an early 6-3 lead on buckets by Ruby Whitehorn and Samara Spencer. After Ole Miss trimmed the gap to 6-5, UT reeled off 9 straight points, with a layup from Talaysia Cooper, a pair of buckets from Zee Spearman and a three by Jewel Spear. Ole Miss finally responded, but Zee Spearman equaled out that bucket with a beautiful fallaway jumper from Spearman at the horn to lead, 17-7 after 1.
The Lady Vols pushed the lead to 11 early in the second, but a KK Deans three cut the lead to 23-18. Layups by Kaniya Boyd and Cooper pushed the lead back out, and by the 3:11 mark, UT led 30-19 after a Cooper fast break layup. Ole Miss proceeded to respond with a 9-1 run capped by another Deans 3 to cut the lead all the way down to 31-28 in the final seconds of the half. Spear would ultimately have the final points of the first half, though, as a 3 would keep the lead at a reasonable 6, 34-28.
Spencer opened the second half with a bucket to make it 36-28, but then the Rebels charged back again, hitting the next three shots to bring it to a 38-35 lead for Tennessee. An 11-2 run would follow, with the Lady Vols pushing out to a 49-37 lead. They followed this up by pushing the lead to 13 twice, but Ole Miss cut that lead back down to 9 twice, before Tennessee would exit the third quarter leading 59-48.
Tennessee opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run following a Starr Jacobs layup, which featured a three-point play from Spearman, a three from Spear and a layup from Spencer to push the lead all the way to 67-50 and forcing a timeout from Coach Yo. Ole Miss proceeded to make multiple comeback attempts, cutting the UT lead to 70-61 with 3:59 to go, 73-66 with 3:09 left and 77-71 with just 40 seconds remaining in the game. A Boyd fast break layup and Spearman free throw made the gap too much to overcome and the Lady Vols secured a crucial home win, 80-71.
UT was led in scoring by Jewel Spear with 28 points, including a 9 for 11 mark from the field and 5 for 7 from beyond the arc. Zee Spearman added 14 points and 8 boards. Samara Spencer contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Talaysia Cooper added 11 points, 6 steals, and 6 assists.
Ole Miss was led by KK Deans who tallied 22 points, including a 6 of 12 clip from three. Tameiya Sadler had 14 points, while Kennedy Todd-Williams and Madison Scott grabbed 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Rebels fall to 17-8 and 8-5 in SEC play.
Tennessee forced 19 turnovers and turned that into a 24-4 advantage in points off those turnovers. They also forced their 23rd ten-second violation of the year. Jewel Spear now has 4 consecutive games of 12 or more points. Zee Spearman has her 4th consecutive game in double figures and her 3rd straight with 6 or more boards. Samara Spencer had her second double-double of the year, and the Lady Vols again shot over 50 percent from the field, marking the first time this year they have done so in back-to-back games.
This UT team has now shown they can win in different ways. They can win a track meet played in the 90s, and they can also win a primarily defensive battle where points are at a premium. They can play full-court or half-court offense, and they can match up defensively with nearly anyone in the nation. Again, the shooting was so impressive and efficient and it is because of the offensive identity changing. Jewel Spear continues to be a game-changer for this group and the type of player that can inspire a tournament run. The defense caused chaos and wore down an Ole Miss team playing its 3rd game in 6 days. They also got a much better start, which they will need going forward. This team still turns it over too much, but it was a little better this time out. The fourth quarter was rough, not as flawless as games like UConn and Auburn, but I credit Ole Miss for their continued fight. Again, foul trouble was an issue, but I don’t know what the fix is for that in this style of play that is so fast and wide open. The depth Tennessee has can combat that as well.
Up Next
#15 Tennessee improves to 19-6 and 6-6 in SEC play with 4 games remaining. The first is another home test against #18 Alabama on Thursday, 2/20 at 6:30 PM EST. The game will air on SEC Network+.
After that, the Lady Vols travel to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators on Sunday, 2/23, at 1 PM EST. This game will air on SEC Network.
