Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell said the Lady Volunteers must rely on their resilience entering postseason play after a difficult close to the regular season.
“I think we have been resilient all year,” Caldwell said Tuesday. “This is just another situation where we’re going to have to continue to do that.”
Caldwell spoke a day after fifth-year guard Kaiya Wynn stepped away from the program. Wynn said Senior Day became a “breaking point” in her decision to leave the team.
The development adds to a challenging stretch for Tennessee. The Lady Vols leave later this week for the SEC Tournament.
Tennessee enters the tournament as the No. 6 seed. The Lady Vols finished the regular season 16–12 overall and 8–8 in SEC play. They closed the regular season on a six-game losing streak.
Third-quarter struggles played a major role during that stretch. Opponents outscored Tennessee 150–93 in the period during the losing streak. Vanderbilt alone held a 30–15 advantage in the third quarter of Sunday’s game.
Caldwell said film review pointed to defensive issues.
“The majority of it is coming on the defensive end,” Caldwell said. “Our help-side defense has not been good.”
Caldwell said players learn to handle adversity long before they reach this level.
“In order to get here, in order to make it as far as a basketball player, you’ve always been handed some type of adversity,” Caldwell said. “They’re the cream of the crop, and they know how to do it.”
Caldwell also said the players’ passion for the game helps them navigate the long season.
“You have to love the game,” Caldwell said. “We’ve been doing this since June. We’re on month 10. You have to love the game.”
Tennessee secured the No. 6 seed through conference tiebreakers after finishing tied with several teams in the middle of the SEC standings. Caldwell said she recently explained that context to her players.
“Our schedule was really backloaded, and we had to play them all at once,” Caldwell said. “Now we’ll see how that built us and how that shaped us.”
The SEC Tournament begins this week. Caldwell said March brings a different mindset.
“This is the best part,” Caldwell said. “This is when you’re a basketball player. This is what you play for.”
