All for Tennessee
Fansided

Three takeaways from Tennessee Lady Vols’ 108-63 (exh.) win vs. Carson-Newman

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee guard Jordan Walker (4) drives to the basket while guarded by Carson-Newman forward Kali McMahan (3) and guard Emily Gonzalez (22) in the women's NCAA college basketball game on Sunday, October 30, 2022 in Knoxville, Tenn.Gvx Lady Carson Newman
Tennessee guard Jordan Walker (4) drives to the basket while guarded by Carson-Newman forward Kali McMahan (3) and guard Emily Gonzalez (22) in the women's NCAA college basketball game on Sunday, October 30, 2022 in Knoxville, Tenn.Gvx Lady Carson Newman /
facebooktwitterreddit

All the hype behind the Tennessee Lady Vols took a minute to take off in their one exhibition game ahead of their season opener, but when it got going, it was fun to watch. Kellie Harper’s team, ranked No. 5 in the AP Poll and No. 4 in the Coaches Poll, defeated the Carson-Newman Eagles 108-63 Sunday afternoon.

Led by 13th-year head coach Mike Mincey, Carson-Newman is coming off a South Atlantic Tournament Championship and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament with two All-Conference players back, so they were a good test for UT. They showed it early. The Eagles only trailed 22-19 after the first quarter.

UT went off in the second quarter, though, winning 37-14, to take control. Up next for Harper’s team is a trip to the Ohio State Buckeyes to officially open the season Tuesday, Nov. 8. UT-Martin opens the season Saturday, Nov. 12 at the Lander Bearcats. Here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ exhibition win.

1. Three-point shooting was unstoppable.

It wasn’t like Carson-Newman didn’t shoot well from outside. They were 8-of-23 on the day. However, UT was red-hot from the outside, shooting 12-of-28. This is exactly what Kellie Harper needs to make sure she can take advantage of the length on this team.

What’s crazier is that this happened despite Tess Darby, their best three-point shooter, having an off-night, going 1-of-5 from outside. Sara Puckett, her backup, was the star, going 3-of-5 from outside en route to 15 points. Jordan Horston and Marta Suarez each hit one with 17 and 14 points total respectively, but there was another story here.

2. Newcomers showed their potential.

In terms of three-point shooting, the second and third best for the Tennessee Lady Vols were Justine Pissott and Jasmine Powell. Pissott went 3-of-6 from outside, and Powell went 2-of-3. Both had nine points. Pissott is a freshman who was a five-stat recruit, and Powell was a transfer from the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Adding to the newcomer success, even Edie Darby, a walk-on and sister of Tess Darby, hit a three and had four points. In the post, Missouri State Lady Bears transfer Jasmine Powell had 10 rebounds, Georgia Bulldogs transfer Jillian Hollingshead had a block, and Mississippi State Bulldogs transfer Rickea Jackson had 14 points.

3. Ball movement looked better across the board.

Turnovers were a problem for Rocky Top last year, but they didn’t show in this game. UT had 28 assists to just 11 turnovers, and they actually had almost as many steals as turnovers with 10. Jordan Horston had two steals to just one turnover.

Next. Lady Vols' 2022-23 season preview: Backcourt. dark

What really stood out is that everybody for the Tennessee Lady Vols moved the ball well, as nobody had more than three assists despite 28 on the day. Jackson had two steals as well, adding to the defense, and we should add that Tamari Key had two blocks, but the assists, steals and turnovers numbers were all elite.