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Tennessee Lady Vols Shock Ohio State Buckeyes to Advance to the Women’s Elite Eight

By Caleb Calhoun

Mar 25, 2016; Sioux Falls, SD, USA; Tennessee Lady Volunteers guard/forward Jaime Nared (31) looks to drive on Ohio State Buckeyes guard Kelsey Mitchell (3) in the first half of the semifinals of the Sioux Falls regional of the women
Mar 25, 2016; Sioux Falls, SD, USA; Tennessee Lady Volunteers guard/forward Jaime Nared (31) looks to drive on Ohio State Buckeyes guard Kelsey Mitchell (3) in the first half of the semifinals of the Sioux Falls regional of the women /
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The No. 7 seed Tennessee Lady Vols shocked the No. 3 seed Ohio State Buckeyes 78-62 in the Women’s Basketball Sweet 16 Friday to advance to the Elite Eight.

Even in a down year with the head coach on the hot seat, the most losses in program history, the lowest seeding in program history, and no SEC regular season or tournament championship, the Tennessee Lady Vols are advancing to the Elite 8 once again.

Holly Warlick’s team was led by Mercedes Russell, who scored 25 points and added another 15 rebounds. Combining that with Bashaara Graves’s 14 points and nine rebounds meant Tennessee did exactly what it needed to do against a finesse team built on three-point shooting: pound it inside and dominate the paint.

Diamond DeShields had a rough night shooting, going 3-for-14, but she still managed 10 points after the Ohio State defense sold out to stop Russell and Graves.

The red-hot Lady Vols jumped out to an early lead and led 23-10 in the first quarter. They never looked back after that, despite Ohio State cutting the lead to eight at halftime.

After taking a 16-point lead into the fourth quarter, they extended the lead to 22 at one point before Ohio State cut it down after Tennessee took its foot off the pedal.

Improving their record to 20-13, the Lady Vols have saved their best basketball for the tournament, with DeShields and Russell finally reaching their full potential and Graves being the leader.

That translated to upsetting the No. 2 seed Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and dominating the No. 3 seed Buckeyes, who were short-handed but still not expected to be manhandled like this.

Now, the Lady Vols are back in the Elite 8 with a chance to go to the Final Four for the first time since 2008. What’s more is that the South Carolina Gamecocks were upset by the Syracuse Orange earlier in the evening, making their path to the Final Four a heck of a lot easier considering they beat Syracuse earlier in the year.

The Stanford Cardinal also upset the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, meaning Tennessee would not have to face a No. 1 seed until the national championship game.

The run has likely helped cool off Holly Warlick’s seat, as she was under fire all year, but she has clearly pulled the team together for the Elite Eight.

This is the 28th Elite Eight for the Lady Vols.

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