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Tennessee Lady Vols beat No. 12 Texas 74-70 in OT: Three takeaways

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee center Tamari Key (20) and Texas forward DeYona Gaston (5) fight for possession of the ball in the NCAA women's basketball game between the Tennessee Lady Vols and Texas Longhorns in Knoxville, Tenn. on Sunday, November 21, 2021.Sy 0646
Tennessee center Tamari Key (20) and Texas forward DeYona Gaston (5) fight for possession of the ball in the NCAA women's basketball game between the Tennessee Lady Vols and Texas Longhorns in Knoxville, Tenn. on Sunday, November 21, 2021.Sy 0646 /
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They did it again. The Tennessee Lady Vols overcame a 10-point deficit with just over six minutes to go to beat the No. 12 ranked Texas Longhorns in overtime without Rae Burrell. With the win, Kellie Harper’s team improved to 4-0 on the year, while Texas, who beat the Stanford Cardinal on the road earlier in the year when they were ranked No. 3, fell to 3-1 .

The Lady Vols had a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter to comeback. They then sent the game into overtime tied at 59, and in the extra period, they scored on every possession that came immediately after a Texas score to win 74-70. This is the second top 25 win for Harper’s team this week, as they beat the No. 23 ranked South Florida Bulls at home last Monday.

Ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll, Rocky Top will next face the Kansas Jayhawks and Oklahoma State Cowboys next Friday and Saturday respectively in Las Vegas, Nev. for the Thanksgiving shootout. Texas will next face the Cal State Northridge (CSUN) Matadors on Saturday. Here are three things we learned from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ shocking victory.

Interior defense paved the way.

Even as the Lady Vols were struggling throughout parts of the game, they always denied the paint. Tamari Key had a historic effort, coming away with another triple double. That was due to her scoring 10 points, grabbing 18 rebounds (12 of which were on defense) and blocking 10 shots.

Alexus Dye also blocked four shots, and Keyen Green had a block off the bench to give this team 15 blocks overall. Lauren Ebo, Texas’ only starting post player, was held to nine points. Now, this came with a cost, as Key got in foul trouble and fouled out in overtime, but her play until then was so elite that it still had a huge impact.

Guard play was dominant on offense.

While Key and Dye both scored double figures to add to their dominant interior defense, the guards were the ones who won this game. Burrell’s injury always meant Jordan Horston would have to step up more, and once again, she accepted the challenge. Horston had 28 points and attacked the basket all day. Her aggression also resulted in 15 rebounds.

It’s safe to say that Horston was elite and has become the Tennessee Lady Vols’ best player without Burrell. However, Walker was elite as well, coming away with 13 points. UT still wasn’t great from three, but it did go 4-of-9, as Horston went 1-of-2, Walker went 2-of-3 and Sara Puckett, who had six points off the bench, went 1-of-2.

Too many little errors are still haunting.

Some of these issues come with playing hard and aggressive, so you can’t fault them. However, Key did foul out in this game, and UT did miss eight of their 24 free throw attempts. They also had trouble finishing the comeback in regulation because of so many Texas offensive rebounds, and despite being undersized, Texas won the offensive rebound contest 20-18.

Those things shouldn’t happen, but then there’s the turnovers issue. The Tennessee Lady Vols turned the ball over 24 times. Horston and Walker had eight and six respectively. You have to respect their heart, but this lack of control could prove costly. Luckily for Rocky Top, they could overcome it in this game.