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Three takeaways from Tennessee Lady Vols home loss to Mississippi State

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 21: Tennessee Volunteers fans hold up a cardboard photo of women's basketball coach Pat Summitt during the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 21, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Connecticut 60-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 21: Tennessee Volunteers fans hold up a cardboard photo of women's basketball coach Pat Summitt during the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 21, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee defeated Connecticut 60-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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The Mississippi State Bulldogs beat the Tennessee Lady Vols 71-52 Sunday. Here are three takeaways from the women’s basketball Volunteers’ loss.

It’s safe to say the Tennessee Lady Vols massively failed in their four-game stretch to finally test who they are. The Mississippi State Bulldogs assured that they went 1-3 in that stretch by destroying them in Knoxville Sunday.

The game was a bad showing for the key moments, and it was a terrible day for the “We Back Pat” celebration. Now, after a 15-0 start, Tennessee is 16-3 and 4-2 in the SEC. They will likely drop from their No. 6 ranking. Meanwhile, Mississippi State improves to 20-0 and 6-0 in the SEC and will likely improve on its No. 5 ranking.

During this stretch, the Tennessee Lady Vols’ only win came against the South Carolina Gamecocks on the road. And in that game, South Carolina was without A’ja Wilson. So there are now numerous questions as to how good Holly Warlick’s team really is.

On Sunday, Tennessee mounted a comeback in the second half at one point and showed that they couuld win the game midway through the fourth quarter. But after cutting it to 57-50, Mississippi State closed the game on a 14-2 run.

They have a chance to right the ship next week by hosting the Ole Miss Rebels and visiting the LSU Tigers. But the damage from this stretch is done. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ loss.

1.Guard play was awful.

They didn’t turn the ball over too much in this game. But that was because the Tennessee Lady Vols guards were missing far too many shots. The guards looked like freshmen in this game, and they were abysmal from the outside.

Tennessee was 0-for-8 from the three-point line, and the Bulldogs had a great perimeter defense on. Evina Westbrook, Rennia Davis and Meme Jackson could not get anything going. And to make matters worse the team’s best player is struggling. We go to that point next.

2. Jaime Nared is in a major slump.

She is still finding ways to score in double-figures, but Jaime Nared has been awful shooting the ball recently. When that happens, she can’t bail Holly Warlick and the Tennessee Lady Vols out of offensive breakdowns. And on Sunday, it finally took a turn for the worst, as she bottomed out with her performance.

Nared had 12 points because she still managed to get to the free throw line. But she was 3-of-14 overall and 0-of-3 from three. Struggling like that messed up the entire offense, and as a result, Tennessee as a unit has been having a hard time finding buckets. But there’s another huge reason for that, and we go there next.

3. Mercedes Russell still isn’t touching the ball enough.

This continues to be a theme for the Tennessee Lady Vols, and it’s getting ridiculous. Mercedes Russell was 7-of-9 from the field for 16 points on Sunday. But that begs this question: Why in the world is she not touching it more? Holly Warlick continues to allow her team to ignore Russell, even when the guards aren’t scoring and Nared is in a slump.

This is beyond ridiculous, and it’s been a mark of Russell’s whole career. She should be able to dominate anybody in the post, and as a senior, this should be her time to shine. But with the other Tennessee Lady Vols veteran scorer struggling, nobody seems to want to go inside to her. If they could have done that and slowed the game down, Tennessee would’ve had an advantage in this game. But they blew it again, and it’s a huge reason they were blown out.