Tennessee Lady Vols hold off Missouri 78-73: Three takeaways

Rennia Davis scored 20 of the Tennessee Lady Vols’ 23 points in the fourth quarter and helped them survive what would have been the worst loss of Kellie Harper’s tenure on Rocky Top. In a back and forth game, UT beat the Missouri Tigers 78-73 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. Thursday night to improve to 14-6 and 8-4 in the SEC.

This was a game of runs. Despite jumping out to a 9-2 early lead, Robin Pingeton’s team then went on an 11-0 run to make it a fight the rest of the way. Trailing 60-55 entering the fourth, UT went on a 12-3 run to take the lead for good. With the loss, the Tigers fell to 8-10 on the year and 4-9 in the SEC.

Up next for Rocky Top, ranked No. 20 in the AP Poll and No. 21 in the Coaches Poll, is their regular season finale Sunday at home against the Auburn Tigers. Mizzou will visit the Mississippi State Bulldogs that same day. Here are three things we learned from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ win after facing their first unranked opponent in over two weeks.

1. Rae Burrell owned the first half; Rennia Davis owned the second.

We mentioned Rennia Davis’ dominance in the first paragraph. She had 20 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter, but she had all 26 in the second half. That comes a week after having all 24 of her points in the second half against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Davis is a clutch star, and she once again was on this night, also tallying seven rebounds and three assists.

While she struggled in the first half, though, Rae Burrell picked up the slack. Burrell had 18 points in the half and finished with 23 points along with eight rebounds, an assist and a steal. Once again, these two worked together perfectly, with the other picking up the slack when one struggled. After an ankle injury, Burrell was limited in the fourth, so Davis took over.

2. Three-point and turnover disparities were almost costly.

Honestly, the Tennessee Lady Vols were solid shooting three-pointers, and while they did have 15 turnovers, that wasn’t horrendous. However, the Missouri Tigers were insanely efficient. On the turnover front, they had just nine of them despite averaging over 14 a game. That uncharacteristic difference was one thing. Three-point shooting, though, was insane.

Mizzou came in averaging seven three-pointers a game and shooting 38.1 percent from the field. However, they were unstoppable here, shooting 12-of-30, or 40 percent. UT was fine, shooting 6-of-19, or 31.6 percent, but they were no match for Mizzou. At least the Lady Vols won the free throw game, hitting 8-of-10 while Mizzou only hit 5-of-9.

3. Inside game was dominant on the boards.

Tamari Key and Kasiyahna Kushkituah only had eight and seven points respectively. But they had six and five OFFENSIVE rebounds respectively as well, and Key had three blocks. As a team, UT outrebounded the Tigers 46-25. The inside presence remains a huge advantage for Harper’s team, and while they didn’t dominate scoring, they did all the little things.

There was also help here. Jordan Walker got the start for the Tennessee Lady Vols over Jordan Horston, and she actually led the team with 10 rebounds. Horston was still valuable off the bench with six assists and nine points, but Walker’s aggression helped UT dominate the glass and avoid what would have been a major upset.