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Tennessee Lady Vols individual player awards for 2017-2018 season

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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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

Bench Player of the Year – Anastasia Hayes

One of the elite freshmen in the 2017 Tennessee Lady Vols recruiting class, Anastasia Hayes became a very good player off the bench. In fact, she earned recognition as the SEC sixth-woman of the year thanks to her play.

Holly Warlick was abysmal with her substitutions for much of the year, but Hayes was one player who consistently got the chance to make a difference. In 24 minutes a game, she averaged nearly nine and a half points, three and a half assists and two and a half rebounds.

Now, she suffered through turnovers a lot like the rest of the team, having many freshman type nights. She also was an abysmal 21 percent from the three-point line. But given her youth, she has plenty of chances to improve in both categories.

Despite both of those things, we really couldn’t give the award to anybody else anyway. As we mentioned, Warlick is terrible with her substitutions off the bench. And Hayes is the only player she consistently turned to.

So although Hayes won this award and was solid in many ways, it was partially by default. Still, don’t let that take away from the value she provided and the potential she has with the Tennessee Lady Vols.

She shot a decent 42 percent overall from the field while going 71.5 percent from the free throw line. So she was efficient in some areas. If her three-point shot starts to fall and she cuts down on her turnovers, the sky is her limit.