Tennessee Lady Vols fall 59-56 to No. 9 Virginia Tech: Three takeaways

The rough start to the season continues for the Tennessee Lady Vols. Jordan Horston missed a jumper with five seconds left and UT trailing the No. 9 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies by two. Then she missed a three-point attempt with a second left, and Rocky Top fell 59-56 in a game in which it missed three players: Rickea Jackson, Jillian Hollingshead and Jasmine Franklin.

Kellie Harper’s team allowed VT to jump out to a 17-5 lead in the first quarter. For the whole game, every time UT would make a run, the Hokies would pull away. However, they fought back late, and trailing by four with 11 seconds left, Horston hit a jumper, and the Lady Vols then forced a turnover without even having to foul.

However, they couldn’t finish the job. With the loss, Rocky Top falls to 4-5 on the year and will next host the Chattanooga Mocs Tuesday. Virginia Tech improves to 8-0 and will next visit the Boston College Eagles Wednesday. Here are three things we learned from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ loss.

1. Poor three-point shooting was costly due to injuries.

Given the way Harper has built this team, from an inside-out perspective, UT can usually withstand poor three-point shooting. However, they need their stretch fours and were missing both of them in Jackson and Franklin. Missing a five in Hollingshead took away automatic domination they’d have down low.

Meanwhile, the Lady Vols shot 2-of-14 from outside. Two three-point specialists, Sara Puckett and Tess Darby, started the game. Puckett didn’t even attempt a three, and Darby was 0-for-3. Marta Suárez was 0-for-2 off the bench. Jasmine Powell was 1-of-5, and Jordan Horston was 1-of-2. Puckett and Darby being quiet were the main culprits, though.

2. Defense had no answer early.

In the first quarter, the Tennessee Lady Vols allowed Virginia Tech to score 23 points. This was how they built that huge lead in the first place. Harper switched to a zone in the second quarter, and Virginia Tech managed to carve that to pieces early, so she went back to man to man.

After the second switch, the defense regrouped. VT scored three points in the final five minutes of that half and 25 in the second half. Perhaps the zone was a mistake and UT just needed to wait for Virginia Tech to not be as red-hot, as that happened at the start of the first and second halves, but the early struggles allowed VT to stay in control.

3. Hustle was there in the paint.

With both fours and a five missing, Rocky Top fought hard down low. Horston, as usual, was a superstar. She consistently drove to the paint with aggression and had 26 points and 11 rebounds to go along with two steals. Powell, despite her off-night shooting, knew to go to Horston and finished with six assists to go along with five boards.

Since Jackson was out, Key was forced to step up more too, and she finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. She added three blocks. Suárez came off the bench to grab nine boards, and Karoline Striplin had six. The Tennessee Lady Vols outrebounded Virginia Tech 46-31 and did a lot of good things, but it would’ve been more dominant with Jackson and the others.