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Tennessee Lady Vols eliminated by Oregon St. from NCAA Tournament: 3 takeaways

By Caleb Calhoun

CLEVELAND - APRIL 01: Fans of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers support their tema against the North Carolina Tar Heels during their National Semifinal game of the 2007 NCAA Women's Final Four at the Quicken Loans Arena on April 1, 2007 in Cleveland, Ohio. Tennessee won 56-50. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND - APRIL 01: Fans of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers support their tema against the North Carolina Tar Heels during their National Semifinal game of the 2007 NCAA Women's Final Four at the Quicken Loans Arena on April 1, 2007 in Cleveland, Ohio. Tennessee won 56-50. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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The Oregon State Beavers eliminated the Tennessee Lady Vols from women’s basketball March Madness. Here are three takeaways from the Volunteers loss.

One day after the men were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament thanks to a heartbreaking last second shot, the Tennessee Lady Vols were sent home as well. Oregon State defeated Tennessee 66-59, sending them home in the first weekend for the second straight year.

Holly Warlick’s team looked to be in good shape after jumping out to 19-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, Oregon State controlled the game the rest of the way. they cut that lead to two at the end of the second and took a five-point lead at the end of the third.

Late in the fourth quarter, they built a 13-point lead. It was all the Tennessee Lady Vols could do to cut it to seven by the end of the game. Despite a 15-0 start, they finish the season 25-8. Here are three takeaways from their first home loss in March Madness history.

1. Tennessee never learned about Mercedes Russell.

This seems like a weird thing to say since she had 21 points. But Mercedes Russell went silent during the time Oregon State came back. After a 19-9 first quarter lead, the senior took three shots in the second and third quarters each, and four of them were jumpers instead of playing under the basket. Did Holly Warlick ever learn that the Tennessee Lady Vols are at their best when Russell plays the role of Shaq?

She managed to be aggressive late in the fourth, but it was too late. She rarely got the ball in position under the basket when Oregon was making its run, and that’s why this team is going home.

2. Foul trouble cost Tennessee.

The Tennessee Lady Vols were stuck in a game in which the officials called everything. That happens sometimes in the NCAA Tournament, and it resulted in Anastasia Hayes fouling out and Meme Jackson picking up four fouls. Simply put, they were never able to adjust to the officiating.

As a result, Oregon nailed 19 of 23 free throws while Tennessee only went 6-of-10 from the line. That was the difference in the game.

3. Offensive coaching was horrendous.

There’s no way around this. Sure, the Lady Vols shot poorly from the field. But it’s not like they had an off-night. Both they and Oregon shot between 20 and 30 percent from the three-point line. On top of that, this team led by freshmen only had 8 turnovers The difference is Oregon was able to draw fouls and find easy two-pointers.

Tennessee, which managed to find tons of easy points Friday, settled for too many difficult jumpers all game. They never had any offensive movement. That’s why Russell settled for so many jumpers. As a result, they were eliminated.