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Tennessee Lady Vols: 5 keys for SEC play in 2017-2018

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 23: Tennessee fans cheer prior to the start of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on October 23, 2004 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 23: Tennessee fans cheer prior to the start of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on October 23, 2004 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images /

2. Tennessee Lady Vols freshmen need to continue to step up when scoring. 

When Diamond DeShields left the program, it meant a greater scoring load for Mercedes Russell and Jaime Nared. Returning players Meme Jackson and Kortney Dunbar also needed to step up as role players. And redshirt junior transfer Cheridene Green, now healthy, needed to immediately be able to step in and fill a role.

All three players have done that. The next key was immediate help in scoring from the perimeter. Luckily for the Tennessee Lady Vols, Holly Warlick scored the No. 1 recruiting class. And that’s where she got immediate help.

Anastasia Hayes, Rennia Davis and Evina Westbrook have all stepped up at different points so far this year to shoulder some of the scoring load. That has freed up Russell and Nared to do lots of great things.

Davis has been the star, averaging 12 points a game and over eight rebounds. It’s like she’s been playing for years, and she seems like the heir apparent to be the next Nared.

Hayes, meanwhile, is the leading scorer of the three, averaging just over 12 points off the bench. And Westbrook  is averaging nearly nine and a half points a game. But she has stepped up in key moments when called upon. On top of that, she averages nearly five assists a game.

Simply put, this is a pretty amazing collection of players. The question remains, though, if they’ll keep this up in SEC play. Again, they haven’t been tested heavily yet. So now is the time for them to really show what they’re made of.

Could they be like the Tennessee Lady Vols freshman class of 1997-1998? That’s an unfair expectation, but it’s something everybody should shoot for on Rocky Top. And if they even come close to that group, then Tennessee will be fine in the SEC. But they can’t forget their bread and butter.