All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee Lady Vols collapse in second half vs. Irish: 3 takeaways

By Caleb Calhoun

DALLAS, TX - MARCH 15: Smokey, the mascot of the Tennessee Volunteers, performs during a time out in the second half against the Wright State Raiders in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Center on March 15, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX - MARCH 15: Smokey, the mascot of the Tennessee Volunteers, performs during a time out in the second half against the Wright State Raiders in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at American Airlines Center on March 15, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Tennessee Lady Vols collapsed in a 77-62 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Here are three takeaways from the women’s basketball Volunteers’ loss.

After going into halftime ahead by three, the Tennessee Lady Vols could not hold on, as they fell by 15 points to the No. 1 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Holly Warlick’s team allowed a 24-12 run in the third quarter for their sixth straight loss by a score of 77-62.

With the loss, Tennessee fell to 12-7 and 1-5 in the SEC, very much on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament conversation. Notre Dame, meanwhile, improved to 19-1 overall. It was the first six-game losing streak in the history of Rocky Top women’s basketball.

Up next on Rocky Top is a home game against a very dangerous LSU Tigers team, so it doesn’t get any easier either. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ loss to the defending national champions.

1. Outside shooting continues to be atrocious.

Now with Meme Jackson hurt and already in a slump, you knew it was a problem. But this continued against Notre Dame. Tennessee can’t score unless they’re hitting from the outside, and they went 2-of-14 on the night. That was horrible, and what was even worse is Holly Warlick allowing her players to abandon that and settle for the midrange after a while because they couldn’t hit. The midrange is inefficient these days, so she should be having her players shoot their way out of the slump. It’s just not working. Even Zaay Green, as the leading scorer with 19 points, was 0-for-5 from three.

2. Defense remains problematic in every way.

Notre Dame did not shoot well from the outside in this game. They missed 10 free throws and were 3-for-12 from the three-point line. However, the Tennessee Lady Vols can’t guard the passing lanes and can’t force turnovers. As a result, they were able to get to the foul line and find numerous easy buckets, which is why they still scored 77 points. Tennessee only forced 13 turnovers on the night, which is not a lot for a team that likes to push the ball. And rather than guard, they committed 23 fouls. So this is something that needs fixing very soon.

3. Tennessee can’t stop the runs. 

The Tennessee Lady Vols were the story of their own season Thursday night. They took a huge first quarter run and blew it. Then they allowed a huge third quarter run to Notre Dame. Simply put, you can’t ever trust this team with a lead because they simply tune out for a quarter. Yes, Notre Dame extended the lead in the fourth, so it was really two quarters. But that’s because UT got desperate after going to sleep in the third and couldn’t fight back, which is obvious when you’re facing the No. 1 team in the country. Again, Warlick is allowing her team to get complacent too often, and we’re all seeing it.