Stopped the Skid: Lady Vols Week in Review 1/30-2/5
Credit: University of Tennessee Athletics
By Dawson Wise
A lighter week means a lighter recap as the Lady Vols approach the home stretch of an already historic season.
It was the “bye week” for Tennessee this week, meaning they did not have a midweek game on the schedule following the home loss to South Carolina on Monday. After a gauntlet to start SEC play, and with another looming to wrap up the year, the break could not have come at a better time for this team.
There have been highs and lows this season for the Lady Vols. Record-setting performances, both offensively and defensively, highlight the highs. A string of losses to ranked opponents, and some ugly play at certain points, are the majority of the lows. This team is close, though, and there are still plenty of opportunities to tell the nation that this program is back.
Following the break, UT got back in the swing of things with a trip to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Tigers. Though not ranked, Mizzou is another scrappy conference opponent, one that defeated Mississippi State at Mizzou Arena just before the Lady Vols made the trip. This team learned in Nashville that there isn’t a “gimme” game in a conference this loaded. That was put to the test again on Sunday.
With big-time games still looming (including a huge home test against the 5th-ranked UConn Huskies coming up this week), the Lady Vols had to keep their eyes on this game. Despite a 40-minute fight from their opponent, they did just that.
Yeah, the offense is frustrating at times. Sure, they still have yet to put four quarters together. Maybe they turn it over a little too much. This team is resilient, though. No game is truly over until the final buzzer. That was the case in Columbia this past weekend.
Let’s go through the win to get Tennessee back on track.
Missouri
The home team came out firing early in the game, leading 7-0 in the opening 2 and a half minutes to force a timeout from Coach Caldwell. It took a pair of Zee Spearman free throws to get Tennessee on the board almost 3 minutes in, but the Tigers pushed the lead to 15-3 at the media timeout (helped by an 0-9 start from the field for the visitors). Ruby Whitehorn made the first Lady Vol field goal of the afternoon at the 4:10 mark, before Talaysia Cooper arrived, dropping in 13 of her 14 first quarter points in the final four minutes. Jillian Hollingshead added a pair of free throws to bring UT within 2 at the end of 1, 22-20.
The game went back and forth early in the second, with Mizzou eventually gaining a 29-25 lead at the media break. Tennessee fought back with a 5-0 run via Hollingshead and Spearman to take their first lead of the day, 30-29, with just under 3 minutes until the half. After the Tigers regained the lead, Tess Darby put UT back in front by 2 before Mizzou evened the score at 33 headed into the locker room.
Missouri opened the second half on a 4-0 run, going back in front, 37-33. Tennessee then ripped off a 9-2 run, capped off by a 4 point burst which saw Spearman hit a layup, then Cooper stole the inbound and scored. The run forced a Tigers timeout. Alyssa Latham pushed the lead to 5, but Mizzou responded in kind, keeping it within a possession, and eventually tied the game at 50. Tennessee countered with its biggest run of the day, a 9-0 outburst coming in the form of a Samara Spencer layup, Cooper three and putback, and Kaniya Boyd layup to give the Lady Vols a commanding 59-50 lead. Tigers costar Grace Slaughter hit her own layup late in the frame, though, to give the host team some life headed to the final 10.
Back-to-back threes by Jewel Spear, a 3 point play for Cooper, and a Spearman free throw kept the lead intact, landing at 69-59 with 5:57 to play. The home team was not done, though. They trimmed the lead to 5 by the media timeout. Tennessee pushed the lead back to 9 with under 3 minutes left, but again Missouri fought back. The Tigers got within 3, 74-71 in the final moments with a Slaughter layup. Jewel Spear’s free throws with 16 seconds to go proved to be the difference, and the Lady Vols held on to win, 76-71.
Talaysia Cooper led Tennessee in scoring with 27 points (14 in the first, 10 in the third). Cooper also co-led Tennessee in rebounds with 7, and tacked on 6 steals, 4 assists, and 3 blocks to cap off a stellar night. Zee Spearman dropped in 13 points of her own and Sara Puckett had 7 boards to help lead the team.
For Missouri, De’Myla Brown led the way in scoring with 18. Grace Slaughter added 16 and Ashton Judd (who played well against Tennessee a year ago) had 13. Laniah Randle tallied a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards.
In terms of takeaways, if you’ve been listening to our show, Overtime, I’ve started to categorize my takeaways from each game into 3 simple categories: good, bad, and ugly. I did that again for Missouri, and here’s what I came up with.
THE GOOD: Two players stood out to me in this one, and the first is obvious: Talaysia Cooper. When she plays like that, within her capability and making smart decisions, she’s one of the best players in the country, especially in the clutch. This team has a much higher ceiling with Cooper playing the way she did Sunday. The other is Kaniya Boyd. Though only a freshman, Boyd has quickly picked up the new system for Coach Caldwell. Her minutes have been slowly increasing, and she continues to shine as the primary ball handler at the point. The offense flows so much better when she’s the one with the ball. She was second only to Cooper in +/- rating with +15, a measure of the point differential between the two teams when a player is on the floor. I’m interested to see how her development continues. This team also finally closed out a late game scenario. When faced with adversity late, they did not crumble as they have in previous games (LSU, Oklahoma, Texas). They needed a game like this. They needed to know they can win them. Hopefully it’s a confidence booster. Finally, the offensive glass was notably better than previous SEC games. 16 offensive rebounds is right about where this team lives stat wise, and they win more games when they get to that number. It shows improvement in boxing out as well.
THE BAD: As good as the offensive boards were, the defensive glass was not great. Tennessee was outrebounded overall in this one, and gave up several key second chances defensively. They still have a bit of an issue with standing around watching the ball but not boxing out on their assignment. It’s something that needs to show some improvement soon with good rebounding teams still looming. Next is the shooting. We may be at a point that with the players this team has, we may just need to accept that they aren’t going to be a blazing hot shooting team. With the amount of shots they take per game, that’s fine. It just puts more of an emphasis on offensive rebounding. Even if they could hit just a few more easy looks, though, especially from 3 or on layups, they could win more ballgames. A few shots going the other way would have meant wins against LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, and Vanderbilt. Finally, this team just cannot seem to put 4 quarters together. Now, it’s been the second quarter that has become the achilles heel for this team. In this specific game, it was the opening frame, but the overall trend has become the second that is the worst. This team needs to be able to put 4 complete quarters together. If they can, they’re capable of beating any team in the nation on any night. If they can’t, they’ll drop games they shouldn’t.
THE UGLY: First and foremost, this was another disaster start. For as many great starts as this team has had, there have been some bad ones too, against teams that it shouldn’t happen against (Vandy and Missouri). Later in the year and especially in tournament play, this team has to consitently start out well and carry that momentum into the rest of the game. Another issue has been turnovers. This team has been prone to turning it over a lot in conference play, mostly because of bad passing or playing too loose. An errant pass or a telegraphed one here. A dribble off the foot there. These are preventable mistakes, and ones that Kim Caldwell will surely be addressing in practice. Finally, going back to shooting, it feels like in conference play this team has started to settle for bad shots offensively. There’s no waiting to see if a better look opens up. Whether it’s a quick, contested three or midrange or a desperation layup, it just feels like there needs to be more patience to let the offense flow when in the half court. If this teams plays inside out and lets things open up, the offense can have really nice stretches. They just have to wait for these openings. It was especially noticeable against South Carolina, but has been an issue all of conference play. Shooting smarter shots leads to more points and thus, more wins.
The Week Ahead
It’s another huge week for Tennessee. The Lady Vols return home to Food City Center on Thursday, February 6, to play host to Geno Auriemma, Paige Bueckers, and the 5th-ranked UConn Huskies. That game will air on ESPN with a 6:30 PM EST tip time as the rivalry is renewed between two tradition-rich opponents. Can Kim Caldwell finally get her signature win early in her tenure? Will Tennessee be able to limit Bueckers and her costars and score efficiently? It’s going to be a madhouse inside the confines of FCC for this one, you don’t want to miss it.
After that, UT travels to Baton Rouge to take on Kim Mulkey’s top-10 LSU Tigers for the second time this year. After losing a heartbreaker to the Bayou Bengals in Knoxville, the Lady Vols look to avenge that loss and pickup a top 10 road win for the first time in Caldwell’s Tennessee career. This game could mean a great deal in terms of moving up in the league standings as well. As it stands, Tennessee would not get the double bye in the SEC tournament and could have a tough road to the title game once they get to Greenville. A couple wins down the stretch against ranked teams could change that. How will Tennessee handle one of the toughest environments in college basketball? It should be another good one.
