Red-Hot Tennessee Lady Vols Beat Vanderbilt Commodores 70-57 to Win Sixth Straight: 5 Takeaways

The Tennessee Lady Vols beat the Commodores 70-57 for their sixth straight victory. Here are five takeaways from the Women’s Basketball Volunteers’ game.

The red-hot Tennessee Lady Vols continued their winning streak with a huge win over the Vanderbilt Commodores in Nashville.

Holly Warlick’s team moved to 10-4 and 2-0 in the SEC with a huge road win over its in-state rival, who fell to 10-5 on the year with its fourth straight loss.

Tennessee is now on a six-game winning streak, which includes two wins over Top 25 opponents. With a game against the No. 4 ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs on Sunday, this was a huge win to get the Lady Vols a 2-0 start in the SEC.

And now, on a roll, they soon have a chance to really take a step that they never took last year.

Here are five takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ huge in-state win.

1. Mercedes Russell is becoming a more complete player.

We already knew she could score, but Mercedes Russell is becoming an all-around superstar for the Tennessee Lady Vols. She scored 15 points on the night, and it was through very efficient play. After all, she was 4-8 on field goals and 7-11 on free throws. But on top of her offense, she got physical.

Russell had 13 rebounds and six blocks in the game, and she forced her inside opponent, Marqu’es Webb, to struggle all night. Webb finished the game with six turnovers and only five points. So Russell deserves credit for really living up to her billing now.

2. Free throw shooting is a huge advantage.

The Tennessee Lady Vols may have some trouble with depth and consistency on offense, but they have a huge advantage at the free throw line. Mercedes Russell going 7-11 was a huge deal. And overall, they went 21-27 from the line.

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt went 14-22 from the line. Make no mistake, the free throw shooting was huge. It wasn’t the difference, but it kept the game from being tight and having a completely different flow. So it deserves acknowledgement.

3. Ball movement is still an issue.

They had 70 points on the night despite shooting just 35.5 percent, but the Tennessee Lady Vols had major issues moving the ball Thursday. They suffered 14 turnovers with only 12 assists on the night.

If they are to take the next step and be the elite program all Vols fans hope them to be, that number has to change. Fortunately for them, they compensated on the other side of the ball. And that’s our next point.

4. Aggressive defense is paying off.

While Tennessee had 12 assists to 14 turnovers, Vanderbilt had 8 assists to 21 turnovers. The Tennessee Lady Vols were aggressive all night against Vanderbilt. They used an in-your-face defense to force those turnovers, which created lots of their scoring considering the fact that their offense was a bit off.

And if this defense keeps up, they should be in decent shape long-term. Especially if they improve int his final area.

5. Depth may be developing.

Throughout this season, the Tennessee Lady Vols have struggled down the stretch because they only had enough horses to run seven people. However, Kortney Dunbar, Alexa Middleton, and Shaquille Nunn are all seeing action off the bench now.

With Diamond Deshields fouling out and Jordan Reynolds getting into foul trouble, Middleton was huge off the bench for Warlick’s team. That has to continue. If the Lady Vols can stay deep enough to be fresh when they play their aggressive defense, they have a chance to make a great run this year.