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Tennessee Lady Vols: Three takeaways from 77-66 win vs. Ole Miss

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - FEBRUARY 2: Cheerleaders of the Tennessee Volunteers pregame against the Kentucky Wildcats in a game at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 2, 2016 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Patrick Murphy-Racey/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - FEBRUARY 2: Cheerleaders of the Tennessee Volunteers pregame against the Kentucky Wildcats in a game at Thompson-Boling Arena on February 2, 2016 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Patrick Murphy-Racey/Getty Images) /
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In their last home game, the Tennessee Lady Vols beat the Ole Miss Rebels. Here are three things we learned from the women’s basketball Volunteers’ victory.

Kamera Harris and Lou Brown went out on the positive note. The Tennessee Lady Vols made sure that happened for those two seniors in the final home game of Kellie Harper’s first season on the job, as they beat the Ole Miss Rebels 77-66.

UT used a 15-0 run in the first quarter to go up 20-9, Ole Miss did make a run in the third quarter and cut their lead to 45-42, but Rocky Top responded with a strong run to finish the third and go into the fourth up 65-50. They were never threatened after that.

With the win, Harper’s team improves to 19-9 and 9-6 in SEC play, and their final regular season game is set for Sunday at the Auburn Tigers. Meanwhile Ole Miss fell to 7-21 and 0-15 in the SEC under second-year head coach Yolett Mcphee-Mccuin. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ Senior Night win.

1. Tamari Key was much more effective off the bench.

Sure, it only happened because Kamera Harris and Lou Brown got the starts as the post players for Senior Night. And they were only playing Ole Miss. But Tamari Key was much more aggressive, scoring 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Key shot six-of-nine from the field, and most importantly, she hit five-of-six free throws. If this Key shows up in the future, things look bright for UT. Being effective from the foul line could turn her into a major superstar in the future.

2. Ball movement looked much better. 

Again, take it with a grain of salt since they played Ole Miss. But the Tennessee Lady Vols have struggled with ball movement all year. Sure, they were going to dominate on the rebounding front, but in this game, their big improvement was 21 assists and only 11 turnovers.

Jazmine Massengill struggled, being held scoreless and going 0-for-three from the three-point line, but she had six assists and only two turnovers, managing things well. That was why Rennia Davis and Rae Burrell could do their thing, scoring 19 and 14 points respectively.

3. Perimeter defense struggled.

This was one reason the Rebels were able to make things close at times. They got red-hot shooting the three. Ole Miss went 12-of-32 from the three-point line, shooting 37.5 percent. While UT dominated on the inside and moved the ball well, this was an issue.

Meanwhile, the Lady Vols only forced 12 turnovers. Again, it didn’t matter because they were able to use so many other advantages, but struggling defensively like that was an issue. They can’t let that happen if they want to avoid slipping out of the NCAA Tournament.