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Tennessee Lady Vols throttle Liberty: 3 takeaways from NCAA Tournament win

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 14: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 14, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kentucky defeated Tennessee 65-62. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 14: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 14, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kentucky defeated Tennessee 65-62. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee Lady Vols destroyed the Flames in their NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament opener. Here are three takeaways from the Volunteers victory.

Things got closer than they should have been plenty of times throughout the game. But the Tennessee Lady Vols closed out their first NCAA Tournament game of 2018 in amazing fashion, dominating the Liberty Flames 100-60.

Holly Warlick’s team used a second half offensive onslaught to destroy the No. 14 seeded Flames in Knoxville. Tennessee’s offense hit its stride in the third quarter, scoring 38 points.

With the victory, UT will host the No. 6 seed Oregon State Beavers on Sunday with a chance to go to the Sweet Sixteen. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ dominant win.

1. Aggression in the paint and unselfishness drove the offense.

Tennessee was only 4-of-12 from the three point line. You would think it would be much higher for a team that scored 100 Points in a game. However, the story was what they were able to do elsewhere. Tennessee picked up 24 assists in total and dominated inside.

We said before the tournament that the Tennessee Lady Vols need to be as aggressive as possible down low. That’s just what they were. And by the way, it wasn’t just Mercedes Russell and Jaime Nared doing it. The whole team was driving and getting to the line. That’s why Tennessee made 22 free throws as well. Add in their 45-29 rebounding advantage, and it’s clear why they dominated.

2. Holly Warlick was able to turn to her bench.

The Tennessee Lady Vols still have a bit of a thin roster, so they need to go as deep as possible to rest their starters as much as possible in a tournament like this. And Warlick was able to do just that in this game.

Tennessee went 10-deep in this one. What’s even more remarkable, though, is how spread out the scoring was. Eight of the 10 players scored in double figures in the game. It didn’t matter who Warlick put out there, in the second half, Tennessee had its way with Liberty. And that was a much-needed type of game.

3. Tennessee should press more often.

When Liberty made things close at different times, the Tennessee Lady Vols went to a press. And when that happened, the Flames could not do anything to beat it. Playing that up-tempo style is why Tennessee got the win.

Sure, they had 18 turnovers as a result of this up-tempo style. But they forced 21 turnovers and got a ton of easy buckets. Perhaps it’s just because a team like Liberty is easier to beat with such aggression. But whenever Tennessee turned up the tempo, well, their opponent went down in Flames…literally.