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Tennessee Lady Vols fall at LSU Tigers: 3 takeaways from loss

By Caleb Calhoun

BOSTON - APRIL 02: Fans of the Louisiana State Tigers cheer as the team is announced before the game against the Duke Blue Devils during the 2006 Women's NCAA Basketball Championship Semifinals on April 2, 2006 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Duke defeated Louisiana State 61-45 to advance to the championship game. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
BOSTON - APRIL 02: Fans of the Louisiana State Tigers cheer as the team is announced before the game against the Duke Blue Devils during the 2006 Women's NCAA Basketball Championship Semifinals on April 2, 2006 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Duke defeated Louisiana State 61-45 to advance to the championship game. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee Lady Vols lost to LSU 70-59 Sunday. Here are three takeaways from the women’s basketball Volunteers’ performance.

Holly Warlick’s team is looking worse and worse. And once again, a long period of hideous play cost the Tennessee Lady Vols. As a result, they lost for the fourth time in six games to the LSU Tigers on the road.

Falling to a Top 50 RPI team like LSU in Baton Rouge isn’t a terrible loss. But for a Top 10 team like Tennessee, who was trying to prove it was back to its dominant ways after starting off 15-0, it’s embarrassing. And losing by double-digits is even worse.

The Tennessee Lady Vols now fall to 17-4 on the year and 5-3 in the SEC. Meanwhile, LSU improves to 13-6 and 5-3 in the conference.

Tennessee hosts the Texas A&M Aggies on Thursday, Feb. 1, meaning things are not about to get any easier. Here are three takeaways from their Sunday loss.

1. LSU just out-hustled Tennessee in every way. 

It was a performance that had Pat Summitt rolling over in her grave. The Tennessee Lady Vols were outworked and outclassed from the start. LSU outrebounded this team 44-32, and they had 23, yes 23 offensive rebounds. As a result, they outscored Tennessee 20-10 in second-chance points. It was embarrassing to see from the start, and Holly Warlick should get some blame for not motivating her players. But there is even larger blame to place in this one.

2. Veterans are falling short of their roles. 

Mercedes Russell and Jaime Nared are seniors. One spends all the time on the block, and the other plays outside or inside. Both are the ones primarily responsible for the Tennessee Lady Vols getting killed on the glass. And they aren’t looking good right now. Russell had four turnovers. The freshmen did as well as they could today, especially with the guards getting in foul trouble. But Russell and Nared showed no aggression. Nared was in a slump for a while, then in this game she only had nine points. Russell, to be fair, had a double-double. But with 14 points on 50 percent shooting, her lack of touches is now on her. She needs to be demanding the ball more as a senior inside player. And that’s especially true since our final takeaway deals with outside shooting.

3. Outside shooting is becoming a major problem

This is part of Jaime Nared’s slump. The Tennessee Lady Vols shot 4-for-18 from the three-point line on Sunday. That’s no longer a one-off either. Over the past three games, they are 6-of-37 from outside. So the whole team is in a major funk. If they got Russell the ball more, they could likely draw more attention under the basket. But with their refusal to do it, defenses are beginning to get aggressive on the perimeter with them. As a result, they’ve been struggling from outside. And it’s cost them. This is something that Warlick has to hope is just a fluke slump and not a trend. However, there is major cause for concern now.