Tennessee Lady Vols hold off Ole Miss 68-67: Three takeaways

What was supposed to be a breather game after a tough four-game stretch turned into a nail-biter. The Tennessee Lady Vols trailed 18-8 at the end of the first quarter and had to overcome a 13-point deficit in the second quarter to come back and beat the Ole Miss Rebels by one.

Ranked No. 20 in the AP Poll and No. 22 in the Coaches Poll, Kellie Harper’s team took its first lead in the game with just over three minutes to go in the third quarter. They then had a back and forth matchup until UT went up for good 62-61 with just under two minutes to go.

With the win, Rocky Top improves to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in the SEC. They will next host the Florida Gators on Sunday, Jan. 31. Ole Miss falls to 7-6 and 1-6 in the SEC, losing its fifth straight. Yolett McPhee-McCuin’s team will next visit the LSU Tigers Sunday. Here are three things we learned from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ victory.

1. Turnovers and three-point shooting kept this close.

Rocky Top was an abysmal 2-of-10 from the three-point line. Ole Miss going 6-of-11 from the three-point line at the same time was going to naturally narrow this game a bit, and it did just that. Marta Suarez, to be fair, got knocked out of the game a minute in due to an injury, and that probably had an impact on this disparity.

However, while that struggle occurred, a team that has done a great job taking care of the ball also had 17 turnovers. Rae Burrell and Jordan Horston both had four, and Kasiyahna Kushkituah had three off the bench. Sure, Ole Miss had 15 turnovers, but Harper’s team relies on such discipline. A bad outside shooting night combined with the turnovers nearly proved costly.

2. Interior was too much

This is where the Tennessee Lady Vols exerted their will, and not just with their post players. even if they are struggling to shoot from the outside, they can dominate in the paint, and they went 23-of-44 from inside the arc. Rennia Davis had one of her elite performances, scoring 21 points and going 8-of-15 from the field despite missing all four three-point attempts.

Davis was the star overall with six rebounds as well. However, Rae Burrell helped as she had 17 points with only one three-pointer. Jordan Horston was able to attack the basket for 13 points. Then there was Tamari Key, who got in foul trouble but still had two blocks and seven points. UT outrebounded Ole Miss 35-28 and had five blocks. This inside dominance saved the day.

3. Free throw shooting was the savior.

You can’t say enough about how clutch UT was from the free throw line. They went 16-of-19 on the night. Burrell was 6-of-6, Davis was 5-of-5 and Horston was 2-of-2. Jordan Walker also was 2-of-2 off the bench. Speaking of the bench, Destiny Salary deserves a quick shoutout for an efficient night with six points, four assists, four rebounds, two steals and just one turnover.

Anyway, Walker’s free throws put the Tennessee Lady Vols ahead, and that was part of the team being a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line in the final two minutes. Up by two with the ball and five seconds to go, Burrell had to make the most clutch free throws of the night, and she drained both, giving her team a 68-64 lead and rendering a last-second three by Ole Miss irrelevant.