Lady Vols’ Head Coach highlights how the team’s responding to their 3-game losing streak
Knoxville, Tenn. – It’s unfamiliar territory for Lady Vols’ Head Coach, Kim Caldwell whose team is in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Unfamiliar because it’s the first time in Caldwell’s career that she’s lost three straight contests.
Now the Lady Vols are 3-5 inside Southeastern Conference play.
Caldwell said the team is responding well but the real test is “if they can keep it up.”
The season started at a blistering pace with 13 straight wins, signaling their effort and discipline was good enough to get them those victories. However, it’s not been enough in conference play.
It was first exposed after their first loss of the season when Caldwell asked a very simple question.
“We had that talk maybe after our Oklahoma game, our first loss, of how many of you guys got in the gym the next day and put up shots, and not very many people raised their hands. I said, ‘That’s not what championship teams do,'” said Caldwell.
Lady Vols’ point guard, Samara Spencer appears to be one of the players that’s trying to set the example of what championship teams look like.
Following the 70-63 loss to No. 2 South Carolina, she was back on the Summitt Floor putting up shots. Action that Caldwell said, “speaks volumes.”
“It shows that it matters. It shows that she’s not okay with the loss. It shows that she’s not okay with how she played and she wants to fix it,” said Caldwell.
Attitude that’s translated into practice this week in preparation for a road contest with Missouri for Talaysia Cooper.
“She’s been great in practice. She came to film, she was talking in film, she was vocal in film, and she’s had two of her best practices,” said Caldwell.
For Caldwell, she believes if they can have better and more consistent practices, their execution come game time will reflect those efforts. She said it’s likely discipline that’s leading to inconsistent play in games.
“I think it’s probably all self-discipline. It just kind of comes back to coaching. I mean it’s my job to teach them, it’s my job to show them, it’s my job to make sure it’s ingrained in them,” said Caldwell.