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Three takeaways from Tennessee Lady Vols 73-71 loss to Texas A&M Aggies

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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For the fourth straight time, the Tennessee Lady Vols walked away with a loss. Here’s what we learned about the Volunteers against the No. 16 ranked Aggies.

Kellie Harper’s team is in trouble. The Tennessee Lady Vols extended their losing streak to four games on Sunday afternoon and blew one of their only two final opportunities left to score a second quality win in the season.

The Texas A&M went into Rocky Top, took control of the game in the second quarter and held off a furious comeback in the fourth, walking away with a 73-71 victory. With the win, they improve to 20-5 and 8-4 in the SEC.

UT, meanwhile, falls to 17-8 and 7-5 in the SEC. Up next for them is a trip to the No. 23 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ Sunday afternoon loss at home.

1. Late-game clock management was horrible.

As they were mounting their comeback, the Tennessee Lady Vols had the ball down by six with just under two minutes to go. However, out of a timeout, both two Texas A&M post players at four fouls, Rae Burrell tried a quick three and missed.

Then, on Rocky Top’s third and second to last defensive possessions, down by five and three respectively, they allowed 20 seconds to run off the shot clock before fouling purposefully each time. That resulted in them running out of time late, and they didn’t complete the comeback.

2. Nobody could stop Chennedy Carter.

Kellie Harper threw in a zone, a half-court man-to-man and even a press late. But nothing worked. Chennedy Carter dominated, going for 37 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. She was unstoppable all game.

Texas A&M is not deep, and they got tired late, which is why UT was able to mount a fourth-quarter comeback. But Carter kept it from happening. What was key was her hitting 14-of-16 free throws as well, which leads to our next takeaway.

3. Turnovers and missed free throws were the culprit. 

We can discuss the clock management, and Chennedy Carter was great. But this game came down to the basics, and UT failed miserably on that front. A&M hit 28-of-33 free throws. The Lady Vols, meanwhile, only hit six-of-16. Tamari Key was the biggest culprit, going one-for-six, but Rae Burrell was three-for-six, and Jaiden McCoy was 0-for-two.

People can blame the free throw disparity, but the Lady Vols missed five more free throws while shooting less than half as many. That’s the story. On the other hand, they also had 16 turnovers. Burrell, who deserves credit for joining Rennia Davis to lead the team with 19 and 18 points respectively, was a culprit there as well, committing five. These mistakes were the difference.