All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee Lady Vols dominate Chattanooga 91-41: Three takeaways

By Caleb Calhoun

Dec 27, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Lady Vols center Tamari Key (20) is defended by Chattanooga Lady Mocs forward Abbey Cornelius (25) during the first half at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 27, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Lady Vols center Tamari Key (20) is defended by Chattanooga Lady Mocs forward Abbey Cornelius (25) during the first half at Thompson-Boling Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

In their final game before SEC play, the Tennessee Lady Vols scored a second straight 50-plus point victory over an in-state Southern Conference team. UT dominated the Chattanooga Mocs without Jordan Horston 91-41 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn., Monday night, their first game in exactly a week and their first after Christmas.

Ranked No. 7 in the AP Poll and No. 10 in the Coaches Poll, Kellie Harper’s team jumped out to a 10-0 lead. They closed that quarter with a 10-0 run as well, which was part of a 12-0 overall run to build a 24-5 lead in the second quarter, and they kept up their dominance the rest of the way.

With the win, Rocky Top improves to 11-1 on the year and will next host the Alabama Crimson Tide on Thursday. Chattanooga, meanwhile, falls to 2-12 and will visit the Jacksonville State Gamecocks on Thursday before beginning SoCon play the next week at the Samford Bulldogs. Here are three things we learned from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ win.

1. Defensive performance was complete.

You couldn’t ask for this team to do any better on that side of the ball. It’s exactly how they looked earlier in the year. They didn’t just hold Chattanooga to 41 points. The way they contested shots and forced numerous turnovers was the stories.

Chattanooga shot 12-of-53 from the field, or 22.6 percent, and they committed 21 turnovers. Rocky Top came away with nine steals, and Jordan Walker led the way with three of them. Brooklynn Miles added two off the bench. The team also had four blocks, and Tamari Key led the way with two, which leads to our next takeaway.

2. Dominance continued in paint.

Obviously, this is a huge advantage for the Tennessee Lady Vols in any game against lesser opponents, but they really had to use that advantage Monday They already didn’t have Rae Burrell, and Horston was out as well. The inside game lived up to its expectations.

Key led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds. Alexus Dye also had 15 points and eight rebounds. Karoline Striplin had a breakout game off the bench with 12 points and nine rebounds. Keyen Green and Emily Saunders had eight and six points respectively. UT outrebounded Chattanooga 56-24 on the night.

3. Three-point shooting keeps getting better.

One huge blessing for UT is that without Burrell, they have been forced to find other three-point shooters, and lots of players keep developing on that front. Tess Darby was again the star here, going 3-of-5 from the outside.

Beyond Darby, though, Sara Puckett was 1-of-3 from beyond the arc. Miles was 2-of-3 off the bench, and the team was 6-of-19 overall. Developing more of a threat from three continues to be why the Tennessee Lady Vols are getting even more able to dominate so often down low, and that showed again in this game.