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Tennessee Lady Vols beat South Carolina again without A’ja Wilson: 3 takeaways

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 Tennessee Lady Vols swept the South Carolina Gamecocks on the year without A’ja Wilson. Here are three takeaways from the Volunteers’ win.

It was a sense of deja vu. The No. 15 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols closed out the regular season by blowing out the No. 7 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks Sunday afternoon, completing a sweep of the series for the year.

However, that sweep comes with a major caveat: South Carolina did not have A’ja Wilson in either game. Wilson sat out this game in Knoxville with vertigo. Tennessee took advantage again, winning 65-46 with a 29-9 third quarter.

With the victory, Holly Warlick’s team finishes the regular season 23-6 overall and 11-5 in the SEC. South Carolina, meanwhile, also finishes 23-6 but went 12-4 in the conference.

Tennessee is not able to get a double-bye in the conference tournament, however, as their record tied for fourth with three other teams. All three of those teams had tiebreaker advantages over the Lady Vols.

Still, despite everything, this was a major quality win nonetheless. And it will likely help Tennessee’s RPI standings and potential for a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. So they shouldn’t be ashamed of beating South Carolina. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ victory.

1. Defense was outstanding.

Perhaps this had something to do with Wilson not being in the game, but Tennessee was terrific on defense all game once again. They forced 21 turnovers and held the Gamecocks to 46 points, going 3-of-11 from three and 17-of-49 overall. That was the difference in the game and deserves a ton of credit. However, even in a blowout, this team was not beyond criticism…

2. Ball movement on offense remains too slow.

This falls on Holly Warlick more than anything else. But the Tennessee Lady Vols still struggle to move the ball at a fast pace on offense. They spend too much time on the perimeter and then don’t give the ball to Mercedes Russell enough. Russell did have 16 points and 12 rebounds in this game, but that remained a problem overall. She should have had 30 points, but she didn’t touch it enough. And it contributed to their poor offensive numbers, shooting 21 percent from three.

3. Rebounding was huge.

And this is where the South Carolina Gamecocks clearly missed A’ja Wilson. Behind Russell, the Tennessee Lady Vols dominated the rebounding game 46-31. But that’s not the real stat. The real stat was 21 offensive rebounds for Tennessee compared to only 7 for South Carolina. The Lady Vols dominated under the basket, and they took full advantage of Wilson’s absence. That’s what got them the win.