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3 Takeaways from Tennessee Lady Vols’ season-opening victory vs. ETSU

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the first half of the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Neyland Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the first half of the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Neyland Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee Lady Vols beat the East Tennessee State Lady Buccaneers 87-49. Here are three takeaways from the women’s basketball Volunteers’ victory.

With a ton of new faces and a couple of very familiar ones, the Tennessee Lady Vols dominated in their opener against East Tennessee State Sunday afternoon 87-49 in Knoxville. The team won every quarter.

It was a back and forth start, with ETSU scoring first, but their last lead came with a bucket that put them in front 6-5 less than three minutes into the first quarter. However, they finished that off with a 14-0 run to close that quarter.

Holly Warlick’s team is now 1-0 in her sixth season leading the program. Her team’s next match-up is Wednesday night in Knoxville against James Madison.

Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ win against ETSU.

1. Defense was suffocating.

The Tennessee Lady Vols forced 21 turnovers and scored 25 points off of them. Although many fans might point to them shooting 46.2 percent from the field and Mercedes Russell’s double-double, the big story when it came to the blowout was that defense.

Not only did they force 21 turnovers, but they held ETSU to under 25 percent from the field. They also held them to 4-of-22 from the three-point line. As a result, this was a dominating defensive performance from the start.

2. Offense is still inconsistent.

They did shoot over 46 percent. However, the Tennessee Lady Vols are too reliant on scoring in the paint. At least they were in this game. Russell scored 20 points, and Jaime Nared also had a double-double, playing big inside.

But while they forced 21 turnovers, they had 24 on their own. That is a huge issue that can’t continue to happen. Meanwhile, they still shot only 26 percent from three. So that has to improve as well. In the end, they were too dominant on the inside for those issues to matter in this game. That is not a good sign going forward, though.

3. Bench production was very reliable. 

This is where the freshmen really showed up. Yes, Evinna Westbrook and Renia Davis were the two freshmen to start. But Warlick, unlike what she did all of last year, was able to go nine-deep because of what the young players on the bench provided. It also contributed to the turnovers, to be fair, as Anastasia Hayes came off the bench and scored 17 points while committing eight turnovers.

She’ll get better and more consistent with time. Meanwhile, Kortney Dunbar is able to take on a larger role with experience as a junior off the bench. And newcomer redshirt-junior Cheridene Green, who transferred from overseas and sat out last year, showed she can provide some real depth in the paint along with Kasiyahna Kushkituah. Altogether, this team has a solid rotation. And that should be very useful going forward.