Tennessee struggled to take care of the ball in its eventual loss to the Tigers
Baton Rouge, LA. – Fresh off its first Top-5 win of the Kim Caldwell era, the Lady Vols traveled to Baton Rouge for a rematch against LSU.
The Lady Vols improved in areas it struggled in the first meeting but then regressed in areas it was strong. That led to problems the Lady Vols couldn’t overcome.
Once again, the Lady Vols lose a Top-10 matchup by single digits.
FDP’s three takeaways following the 82-77 loss.
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Jewel Spear’s record-setting three.
Jewel Spear on the step-back three-pointer splashed for a school record. The third triple of the game gave the Lady Vols the single-season school record for three-pointers made with 243.
Spear broke that record on the next possession with a second-straight three-pointer and brought the Lady Vols within one score of LSU. This 6-0 run and rewriting program history happened within 55 seconds.
The Lady Vols reached that while making 243 of its 734 attempts in less than 22 complete games.
Part of her back-to-back three-pointers, she had 13 points in eight minutes of play, she went 4 of 5 on her attempts.
The Lady Vols finished with six-made three-pointers against LSU, resetting its own record a couple more times in the match.
Through 22 complete games, the Lady Vols have made 245 three-pointers.
Six games remain on the regular season slate plus post-season action.
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Turnovers costly for the Lady Vols
Through two quarters of play, LSU capitalized on Tennessee’s 12 turnovers to the tune of 19 points. Whereas the Lady Vols only had four points off of LSU’s seven turnovers.
Talaysia Cooper helped give Tennessee a pair of a steal then on the other end she put on a spin cycle in the paint to spilt two defenders and finished with a clean layup, 47-43 Lady Vols.
Late in the third quarter, LSU’s Sa’myah Smith blocked Ruby Whitehorn’s jumper and Jersey Wolfenbarger grabbed the defensive rebound for the 15th turnover of the game. Kailyn Gilbert in transition and with Samara Spencer in her face she pulled up and sank the jumper to give LSU the lead back, 50-49.
On the very next possession, Spearman turned the ball over on a bad pass, and once again it’s Gilbert who finished with the bucket, that time a three-pointer.
In the final minutes of the game, Cooper swipes the ball while LSU’s in transition and took it to the rack on the other end to give the Lady Vols a pair. However, they trailed 76-70 with 2:42 to go. The 13th point off of turnovers.
LSU won the turnover battle with 24 to Tennessee’s 13 points off turnovers.
On average, the Lady Vols turn their opponents over nearly 24 times. They managed 19 against the Tigers.
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Efficient scoring night overshadowed
Watching the game, it didn’t feel like Tennessee had good control of the game, even when they led or tied the game. That’s mostly because of turnovers and struggling to keep up with the total rebounding margin.
Four times in the game Tennessee made three or more consecutive buckets. Three times the final bucket of that streak gave the Lady Vols a lead.
Tennessee was the same or better than its season average of 33% from three in the first two quarters but didn’t take a single three in the third quarter.
In the first and third quarters, they were better than 50% from the field.
That level of production kept the game close, even when it didn’t feel that way.
In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, the Lady Vols made an effort to pass the ball more to find the best shot. This was evident at the 8:01 mark when Tennessee went around the horn and finished with Jillian Hollinshead dishing it to Tess Darby from the arc. She sank the trey to give the Lady Vols a brief 64-62 lead early in the fourth.
Ruby Whitehorn ended a three-minute scoring drought and LSU’s 8-0 run with a layup off the glass, cutting into the deficit with 3:49 to go, 73-68.
In the final seconds of the game, it was Whitehorn taking the hoop and the harm to give the Lady Vols a crucial layup. After making her free throw, it was a two-point game with 23.9 seconds to go.
The Lady Vols finished 47.5% from the field and 33.3% from three, beating and meeting season averages respectively.
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