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Tennessee Lady Vols survive SEC Tournament opener vs. LSU: 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 Tennessee Lady Vols held off the LSU Tigers Thursday. Here are three takeaways from the Volunteers’ women’s basketball SEC Tourney victory.

With their prospects of reaching the NCAA Tournament in significant danger for the first time ever, the Tennessee Lady Vols stayed alive in that race Thursday. The No. 8 seed in the SEC Tournament opened up the event with a win over the No. 9 seed LSU Tigers.

With Holly Warlick’s seat hotter than ever, her team came back from a 35-28 halftime deficit to win the game 69-66. Rennia Davis then made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 20 seconds for them to hold onto the victory.

At 19-11 now, UT is still firmly on the bubble. They will face the No. 1 seed Mississippi State Bulldogs at noon Friday, looking to avenge a 28-point road loss from earlier in the season. Winning that would work wonders for the program. However, before we get there, here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ Thursday win.

1. The best players played like it.

Tennessee relies on a one-two punch of Rennia Davis and Evina Westbrook to win games. They got that on Thursday with 20 points from Westbrook and 19 from Davis, as the two went a combined 15-of-25 from the field and 3-of-5 from the three-point line. This was the key in the game. Davis and Westbrook were their best players to start the year entering their sophomore seasons, and they are superstars. The postseason was the time for them to act like it. In at least one game, they have done just that.

2. Mental toughness survived a tough run.

We’ve said all year that the Tennessee Lady Vols have a problem with just bad quarters. They had that again on Thursday, letting LSU outscore the 21-13 in the second. As a result, their largest deficit in the game was at halftime, when they were down 35-28. But given all the criticism surrounding this team, they kept their composure, and in the second half, they managed to consistently control the game. That’s a big deal, and maybe it’ll lead to something  more.

3. Ball movement has to improve.

Tennessee would have dominated this game if they had not had some of the worst passing all season. Even Westbrook, who scored 20 points and shot the ball well, struggled as the distributor. She finished the game with only 1 assist. The team as a whole only had 10. Meanwhile, they had 17 turnovers. That was far too sloppy for a group that was solid in every other part of the game, and they have to fix that before facing Mississippi State if they want any chance at not being blown out.