What these losses mean for Tournament seeding
Knoxville, Tenn. – A first-round bye in the SEC Tournament and a potential 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament are on life support after the Lady Vols lose to Georgia in the regular-season finale.
Georiga came to Rocky Top ranked 12th in the SEC with just three wins in conference play. They captured their fourth in a 72-69 victory over the Lady Vols on Sunday.
Tournament outlook:
Tennessee has closed its regular season with back-to-back losses, a reality that has all but closed the door on a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament.
The game that would decide Tennessee’s start in the tournament came down to Missouri versus Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon.
With a 100-59 Commodores win, the Lady Vols lost its first-round bye and their tournament run will now begin on Wednesday, March 5 at 11:00 a.m…
The Lady Vols will be the 9 seed in the SEC Tournament and will take the 16th seed.
A year ago, the Lady Vols lost in heart-wrenching fashion on a buzzer-beater against South Carolina in the semi-finals.
As far as the national tournament is concerned, Tennessee has all but lost its chance to a host team. Of course, there are plenty of games left to be played where Tennessee could maybe find itself positioned in the conversation.
However, a deep run in the conference tournament seems like one of the only ways they can find themselves at home to start the NCAA Tournament.
How Tennessee got itself in this position:
Fresh off its largest loss of the season against Kentucky, the Lady Vols were still ice cold in the next game. UT barely managed to put up 10 points in the first quarter, they were 2-16 from the field with their last bucket being a Jewel Spear triple.
A start that did not please their head coach.
“It’s very disappointing the way that we came out today. Incredibly disappointing that, that was our response” said Caldwell.
Most of the game was simply a retelling of an old story. The offense couldn’t find a shot and the defense couldn’t get a stop.
In the third quarter, Zee Spearman snapped a near-eight-minute scoring drought with a nice layup.
Free throws saved the Lady Vols in that quarter, 14 of the 20 total points came from the free throw line. Caldwell said she liked that quarter. At least in that frame, the team was more aggressive and driving to the rim, which allowed them the chance to get to the line. A level of fight that was absent against Kentucky.
Toward the end of the fourth quarter, another scoring drought. With about two minutes left to play, Tennessee was in a near-three-minute scoring drought, yet the game was within reach with Georgia ahead 64-62.
“We had better effort (in the third quarter) we had players on the court that were going to give us effort,’ said Caldwell.
“In the fourth quarter we would make plays, but couldn’t get stops down the end which really hurt us,” Caldwell added.
These two straight losses for Tennessee appear to be uncharacteristic compared to their previous games. However, there have been cracks along the way that are now exposed.
With tournament play next up, there couldn’t be a worse time to be seemingly slipping.
“It feels like a regression. I don’t necessarily know if we’re seeing anything different. I just think that maybe we are kind of like the old us. The us, the earlier part of the year,” said Caldwell.
The Lady Vols will have just one practice before they head to Greenville, South Carolina for the conference tournament.