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Tennessee Lady Vols destroy Portland State: Three takeaways from 88-61 win

By Caleb Calhoun

ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 14: A general view of megaphones for the Tennessee Volunteers cheerleaders against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the quarterfinals of the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at Georgia Dome on March 14, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 14: A general view of megaphones for the Tennessee Volunteers cheerleaders against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the quarterfinals of the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament at Georgia Dome on March 14, 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The Tennessee Lady Vols rebounded from a bad loss to top the Portland State Vikings. Here’s what we learned from the women’s basketball Volunteers’ victory.

After being blown out by the Stanford Cardinal on the road Wednesday, the Tennessee Lady Vols made sure they split their two-game West Coast road trip on Saturday. And they clearly unleashed some anger over what happened earlier in the week.

Kellie Harper’s team scored a blowout 88-61 win over the Portland State Vikings. It wasn’t easy at first, as UT jumped out to a 9-0 lead only to find themselves trailing 19-18 at the end of the first quarter. But a 14-0 run in the second quarter sent them to halftime with a 40-26 lead, and they never looked back, dominating the rest of the way.

With the win, Rocky Top, ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll and No. 24 in the Coaches Poll, moves to 9-2 on the year and 3-1 on the road, although they likely won’t be ranked by next week. Portland State falls to 6-4 overall, and this was their first home loss. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ win in Oregon.

1. Portland State was no match for the wings.

Rennia Davis is the star of the Lady Vols, but Rae Burrell has been amazing backing her up. Together, they were dominant Saturday. Burrell was the superstar this time, scoring 21 points and nine rebounds on 10-0f-13 shooting. Davis, meanwhile, was her usual self with 18 points, 13 rebounds and four assists on seven-of-11 shooting. These two wing players continue to shine.

2. Defense withstood red-hot streaks by Portland State.

The Vikings scored 19 points in just over six minutes in the first quarter and continued to stay with the Tennessee Lady Vols because they could get red-hot. It showed with them shooting 12-of-30 from three-point range. But Kellie Harper’s team stayed poise and didn’t abandon its game when those streaks happened, and that’s why they began to pull away and dominate.

3. Guard play dramatically improved.

After struggling severely on Wednesday, Jazmine Massengill was much better in this game. She only had two points on one-of-four shooting, but her unselfish play led to 10 assists to only two turnovers. That’s a great ratio. Meanwhile, Jordan Horston played combo guard, and she dropped 20 points and five assists on eight-of-12 shooting. So both were great and earned praise.