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Undefeated Tennessee Lady Vols beat No. 2 Texas Longhorns: 3 takeaways

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 undefeated Tennessee Lady Vols beat the No. 2 ranked Longhorns 82-75 Sunday. Here are three takeaways from the women’s basketball Volunteers’ victory.

Don’t look now, but the Tennessee Lady Vols appear to finally be back to the powerhouse program they once were. Ranked No. 11, Tennessee scored a huge win over the No. 2 Texas Longhorns on Sunday afternoon.

With the win, the Lady Vols move to 10-0 on the year, while Texas falls to 7-1. Despite victories over the Marquette Golden Eagles and the Oklahoma State Cowboys, it was still tough to tell if Holly Warlick’s team had returned to form and improved on the recent two years.

But the return of two key players combined with the No. 1 recruiting class validated itself in a big way with this win in Knoxville. Now, Tennessee has some confidence as it gets set to head on a three-game road trip, which includes games against two Top 25 teams and the SEC opener against the Kentucky Wildcats.

Simply put, you can’t understate this victory for Warlick’s team. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ home win over the Texas Longhorns.

1. The veterans did their job. 

Both Mercedes Russell and Jaime Nared had double-doubles in this game. In their first major test without Diamond DeShields, who did not return for her senior season, Nared and Russell showed they could clearly lead this team. And their leadership has trickled down to the younger players.

Russell was her typical self with 15 points and 12 rebounds. She kept coming back in to stop Texas runs. However, Nared was the star of this game. She led the team in scoring with 23 points, and she added 13 rebounds, including four offensive rebounds. One of those rebounds came with a minute left off a missed free throw with the Tennessee Lady Vols up 75-73. Nared went up, grabbed the ball, drew a foul and went to the free throw line with just over 30 seconds left. She made both free throws, which is what put the game away as it gave Tennessee a four-point lead.

2. Depth and mental toughness continues to look better than previous years.

Tennessee never trailed this game, but every time they tried to pull away, Texas just kept fighting back. However, with a solid rotation eight players, Warlick was able to keep her team fresh for the whole game.

On top of that, given the disappointment of the previous two years, it was understandable to think this team would collapse when Texas continued to make things close. But Russell and Nared did a great job of not letting that happen. And when you add in the overtime win over Marquette, these freshmen are showing some mental toughness to complement them. One of the freshmen was another story tonight.

3. Evina Westbrook showed another side to her game. 

Evina Westbrook has been as much of a star freshman as Anastasia Hayes and Rennia Davis. However, she’s drawn more attention as a distributor for those guys while they shoulder the scoring load along with Nared and Russell. That didn’t happen Sunday.

Davis could never get her outside shot going, and Texas kept Hayes from getting the ball enough when she came off the bench. So Westbrook decided to take over in this game for the back court. And that’s exactly what she did with 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Now, the aggressive scoring wasn’t without a big negative, which is the fact that she did have six turnovers and four fouls. But she still proved that she has that element to her game, and that’s another huge reason the Tennessee Lady Vols have more depth this year. It’s also a reason they have returned to form as a powerhouse.