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Tennessee Lady Vols: Three takeaways from 72-55 loss to Mississippi State

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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With no Rennia Davis, the Tennessee Lady Vols fell to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Here’s what we learned about the women’s basketball Volunteers.

For the fourth straight time, the Tennessee Lady Vols lost to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Kellie Harper’s team hung tough with the No. 8 ranked team in the country early on, even leading 21-19 after the first quarter. But dominant second and third quarters by MSU gave them the 72-55 win.

UT, ranked No. 23/25 in the nation, played this game without its star player, Rennia Davis, who was battling an illness. It was their second straight loss after falling to the No. 1 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks 69-48 on the road this past Sunday. They have now fallen to 17-6 and 7-3 in the SEC, and Vic Schaefer’s team has improved to 21-3 and 9-1 in the SEC.

Up next for Rocky Top is a trip to the LSU Tigers, as they still have three games left in their five-game stand against teams in at least one of the top 25 polls or in the top 25 of the RPI. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ loss on Thursday.

1. No Rennia Davis made it hard to score on Mississippi State’s defense.

Rae Burrell did a great job filling in for Rennia Davis with 20 points and 10 rebounds. But the Mississippi State Bulldogs play a suffocating defense, and without Davis, UT’s best scorer, it was only that much tougher to score. It showed, as they shot 36 percent from the field. MSU would collapse on them in the paint, and that’s why no post players had double-figures.

2. Turnovers were disastrous.

How many times do we bring this up? Well, with the Tennessee Lady Vols relying on freshmen and sophomores in the backcourt and this time not having their best player to pass the ball to, things were disastrous. UT had 22 turnovers, and MSU had 13 steals. Jordan Horston had six turnovers, and in for Davis, Rae Burrell did have five despite her stat line elsewhere. So it was a big problem.

3. Inside players were aggressive off the ball.

This is one thing worthy of praise. UT’s post players, despite their size, haven’t always been consistent when it came to rebounding, ie. the UConn Huskies. But they hung tough with another great inside team in this game. The Lady Vols outrebound MSU 40-39, and they also had six blocks. Tamari Key got in foul trouble, but she had two blocks. So they deserve credit.