Tennessee Lady Vols beat Wright St. 96-57: Three takeaways

For the first time all year, the Tennessee Lady Vols are above .500. Rocky Top beat the Wright State Raiders 96-57 in their first game after the news broke that Tamari Key would miss the rest of the season due to blood clots in her lungs.

Kellie Harper’s team was actually locked in a battle early, only leading 20-17 after the first quarter. They slowly pulled away in the second to go up 44-33 at halftime, but then they won the third quarter 27-9 to take complete control of the game.

With the win, UT improves to 6-5 and will next host the UCF Knights Wednesday. Wright State falls to 1-8 and will next host the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles this Saturday. Here are three things we learned from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ victory.

1. Ball movement was the best it’s been all year.

It’s a known fact that Harper’s teams has struggled with turnovers ever since she took over. That was the opposite in this game. UT moved the ball beautifully, finishing the game with 25 assists and just nine turnovers on the day.

Jordan Horston, ever the star, led the way with five assists. Justine Pissott had four off the bench. With her aggressive and smart play, Horston was also able to finish with 14 points in the game. What stands out about this assists number is that UT only shot 3-of-17 from the three-point line, which leads to our next point.

2. Interior dominance returned.

Although the Tennessee Lady Vols struggled from three and are now without Key, they got exactly what they needed underneath the basket with the return of Rickea Jackson and Jasmine Franklin. Jackson and Franklin both came off the bench and scored 17 and 14 points respectively.

Sara Puckett, who is a three-point specialist, got the start and only took one three. She hit all five field goal attempts, though, and finished the game with 16 points. Meanwhile, UT outrebounded Wright State by an insane 45-15 margin with 16 offensive boards. Jillian Hollingshead had five of them to make up her six total rebounds.

3. Perimeter defense had an off-day.

If there is one thing to criticize, it’s the fact that UT’s defense wasn’t as dominant on the perimeter as it usually is. They only forced 12 turnovers, had just five steals and allowed Wright State to shoot 10-of-21 from beyond the arc.

Of the five steals, Karoline Striplin, a post player had two. Now, to be fair, the Tennessee Lady Vols were still dominant enough to win, but this has to improve as the season progresses. At the end of the day, though, they are above .500 after a brutal start. That means something.