Tennessee Lady Vols lose 77-70 at No. 2 Stanford: Three takeaways

After a back and forth first half that ended with a 35-all tie, the Tennessee Lady Vols went on a 10-0 run late in the third quarter to go up 52-44 at the No. 2 ranked Stanford Cardinal. However, they couldn’t hold on, and with the score 58-50, Stanford went on a 12-0 run.

Included in that was a 9-0 run to open the fourth quarter. Stanford remained in control of the game after that to pull away for a 77-70 win, as they went up by as many as nine at certain points in the fourth. This game snapped a three-game winning streak by UT.

With the win, Stanford improves to 11-1 and will next host the Creighton Bluejays Tuesday. Rocky Top, meanwhile, falls to 7-6 and will next host the Wofford Terriers on Tuesday, Dec. 27. Here are three things we learned from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ loss.

1. Stanford dominated the paint.

The way Kellie Harper has built her team is to do what Stanford did to them Sunday. Rocky Top got absolutely obliterated down low, and while Tamari Key is a huge loss for the season, it never should have been that bad. UT was outrebounded 53-38 and allowed 10 blocks.

On the other side, Rocky Top had no blocks in the game. Cameron Brink had 21 points, six blocks and 17 rebounds, and Haley Jones added 19 points and 12 rebounds. Rickea Jackson was the only performer down low for UT, but she is still coming off the bench as she was recently hurt. She finished with 14 points. Jordan Horston did have 10 boards.

2. Perimeter defense kept it close.

Neither team shot well from three, as the Tennessee Lady Vols were 4-of-16 while Stanford was 5-of-20. Sara Puckett carried UT there by going 3-of-6 from three with 11 points, and Tess Darby added one. However, the defense on the outside kept UT in it.

Harper’s team came away with nine steals and forced 14 turnovers while they just had five. Horston wasn’t efficient in scoring but did have four steals en route to 19 points. Darby, Puckett, Karoline Striplin and Jillian Hollingshead all had a steal too.

3. Foul disparity was a problem just like the men’s team.

You can somewhat question officiating on this one, just like you could with the men’s Vols’ loss to the Arizona Wildcats on the road Saturday night. UT had 25 fouls to Stanford’s 15, and Stanford shot 30 free throws to Rocky Top’s 17. Jasmine Franklin fouled out. This explains some of Stanford’s dominance down low.

What kept this from being a blowout was Stanford shooting 18-of-30 from the foul line while the Tennessee Lady Vols shot 12-of-17. Their efficiency almost mitigated this disparity, but it limited their aggression in the paint and was a reason they got dominated down low.