Tennessee Lady Vols handle Vanderbilt to complete sweep: Three takeaways

With both teams wearing pink to bring awareness to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, the Tennessee Lady Vols dominated the Vanderbilt Commodores Sunday afternoon. In the process, they completed a sweep in the season series and extended their winning streak to two games.

Kellie Harper’s team, ranked No. 13 in the Coaches Poll and No. 10 in the AP Poll, won every quarter against Shea Ralph’s team. Trailing 26-25 in the second, they finished the half on a 6-0 run and never trailed again. UT then opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take complete control.

Rocky Top improves to 21-4 and 10-2 in the SEC with a trip to the Alabama Crimson Tide set for Thursday. Vandy falls to 12-14 and 3-9 in the SEC with a trip to the Kentucky Wildcats set for Thursday. Here are three things we learned from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ win.

1. Jordan Horston dominated outside; Rae Burrell dominated inside.

These were the only two players for UT who had double figures. Jordan Horston did it this time by going 3-of-4 from the three-point line en route to 16 points. She was once again the star in general, coming away with 13 rebounds and seven assists, both of which led the team. Oh, she also had two blocks.

What helped Horston in this game was Rae Burrell dominating in the paint. She hit one of five three-point attempts, but Burrell was unstoppable driving to the basket. It didn’t matter how many Vandy players were down there, she just kept finishing at the rim en route to 15 points. She and Horston going a combined 7-of-8 from the stripe was a huge help.

2. Defense and rebounding remained dominant.

Although the Tennessee Lady Vols only forced 10 turnovers, had just one steal and three blocks, they still were elite defensively. Vanderbilt was 21-of-67 from the field and 6-of-27 from three. Guards collapsed the paint as well as anybody, and that played a huge role in helping them win this game so easily.

On the boards, Rocky Top was also dominant, winning the glass 48-29. While Horston led the way, Tamari Key did her part with nine boards. Sara Puckett had seven off the bench, and Burrell, Alexus Dye and Jordan Walker all had four.

3. Turnovers, to nobody’s surprise, were a problem.

Vanderbilt’s traps at mid-court were naturally going to make this an issue while UT also took advantage of many easy opportunities at the basket. Both were true. They ended up with 19 turnovers. Key, who was getting held all game, had seven of them, but Horston did have four.

Ball movement wasn’t bad, as Key also had five assists, and Tess Darby had four assists. Beating Vandy’s trap allowed Key, Puckett and Dye to score eight points each. However, the Tennessee Lady Vols still had trouble with Vandy’s pressure at times.