Tennessee Lady Vols win exhibition vs. Georgia College 108-44: Three takeaways

Well, at least for their first outing on the court, the Tennessee Lady Vols looked like they haven’t lost anything from last year. Okay, so they were playing the Georgia College Bobcats, but there were still lots of positives in this game.

UT dominated its first exhibition in two years 108-44 a week ahead of the first official game of Kellie Harper’s third season. They did it against a Division II program led by Harper’s brother, Russ Jolly, who is also entering his third year at his program, is coming off a 1-13 season and is 6-36 on the job there.

Rocky Top jumped out to a 15-0 lead in Knoxville, Tenn. at Thompson-Boling Arena and led 28-6 at the end of the first quarter. They will open the season at home next Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET against the Southern Illinois Salukis. Here are three things we learned from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ victory Wednesday.

1. Shooting efficiency already a major concern.

It’s hard to read too much into these games. However, you can always read into free throws. UT shot 9-of-21 from the foul line. Rae Burrell, who unsurprisingly led the team in scoring with 18 points, was the only elite free throw shooter, hitting all three attempts. Keyen Green was the only other player above 50 percent, going 5-of-9, which still isn’t good.

Tamari Key was 0-for-3, Jordan Horston was 0-for-2, Brooklyn Miles was 0-for-2 and Kaiya Wynn was 1-for-2. Going 7-of-17 from the three-point line, with Horston going 2-of-4, was mildly encouraging, but against Georgia College’s defense, we can’t read nearly enough into that. The free throw shooting outweighs it, and it’s once again a concern.

2. Defense and transition scoring was amazing.

To make up for the lack of free throw shooting, the Tennessee Lady Vols absolutely dominated on the perimeter. Okay, so they also dominated in the paint, outrebounding Georgia College 64-33 and having nearly as many offensive rebounds alone with 31. Key had three blocked shots, and the team had eight overall.

Once again, though, you can’t read much into that given UT’s insane length advantage in this one. On the other hand, despite being much better on the perimeter too, getting 18 steals is insane. Rocky Top turned it into points as well with 34. Miles led the way, having a breakout performance with five, but Horston and Jordan Walker each had three.

3. There is production at forward to replace Rennia Davis.

This one isn’t as clear because of the level of competition. However, the Tennessee Lady Vols had two new players on their roster to fill the stretch four spot Rennia Davis left. One was Green, who was back from injury. The other was Troy Trojans transfer Alexus Dye. Both players scored double figures in this one.

Dye had 12 points and 6 rebounds and was the most efficient of the two. However, Green did have 11 points, 6 rebounds and a steal, although her missed free throws were a problem. Neither of these guys can replace Davis, but they could help the Tennessee Lady Vols dramatically, especially with Marta Suárez’s season-ending injury. This may have just been a taste.