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Tennessee Lady Vols implode late in loss at Notre Dame: 3 takeaways

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 24: Tennessee Volunteers students celebrate after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 82-80. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 24: Tennessee Volunteers students celebrate after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 82-80. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee Lady Vols in the fourth quarter against the Fighting Irish. Here are three takeaways from the Women’s basketball Volunteers’ losses.

The Tennessee Lady Vols had a 23-point lead over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in their stadium in the second quarter. They ended up losing embarrassingly, 84-70. Why?

Holly Warlick’s team was outscored 34-10 in one of the worst fourth quarters in school history. It was a collapse of epic proportions that leaves Pat Summitt weeping from above.

With the loss, Tennessee fell to 16-2 on the year and 1-2 in this brutal four-game stretch. Their final chance at redemption will be Sunday against the undefeated Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, improves to 17-2 overall. The Irish have been resilient through a string of injuries, and even with all of them, UT could not capitalize. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ late-game collapse against Notre Dame.

1. Turnovers finally got the best of the team.

Throughout the year, the Tennessee Lady Vols had been playing fast and loose with turnovers, routinely committing more than 20 a game. However, their easy start to the season schedule-wise allowed them to get away with it. Their only loss to Texas A&M was due to a late defensive breakdown in overtime and failure to make shots in regulation. But in this game, they committed 28 turnovers and that as a result allowed Notre Dame to score far too many easy buckets. And this time, they could not overcome it. But maybe they would have had fewer turnovers if they avoided the next issue.

2. The Tennessee Lady Vols inexplicably ignored Mercedes Russell.

Tennessee built a 23-point lead in the first half over Notre Dame, and after that Mercedes Russell touched the ball two more times the entire half. As a result, the Irish came back and cut it to 10. Holly Warlick said at halftime they need to get Russell more touches. So in the second half, they built the lead back up to 15 by getting her 4 points early. But up 52-37 with five minutes to go in the third, they went away from her the rest of the game. Russell had one more touch the final 15 minutes, and the offense went cold. Whether or not Warlick or the guards deserve the blame is up for debate. What’s clear is she’s not touching the ball nearly enough.

3. Jaime Nared is in a major slump.

This is a huge issue for the Tennessee Lady Vols. Yes, the freshmen are now struggling at times. Yes, Holly Warlick’s strategies are questionable. But Jaime Nared is in a slump. She’s still putting up double-figures, but she’s been shooting under 40 percent from the field in too many recent games. And in this one, she also had five turnovers. Tennessee needs Nared to be the go-to bail out scorer who still has a high-percentage of efficiency. That hasn’t been the case, and as a result, they’ve been falling apart when their offensive strategy breaks down. She needs to stand out as the elite scorer and stats sheet filler if the Tennessee Lady Vols are going to get back on track.