Lady Vols basketball outlasts UConn and take down the Huskies for the first time since 2007 in another battle where Kim Caldwell’s squad has risen above expectations.
Tennessee’s 80-76 win over UConn is the first top-five win of the season for the Lady Vols in a game where their defense stepped up for most of the night to shut down UConn’s offense.
Tennessee forced 12 turnovers on the night, including an important late-game turnover that gave teh Lady Vols an opportunity to go up two scores with less than 90 seconds remaining in the game.
Tennessee completely shifted momentum in the third quarter to take the lead and take control of the game throughout the second half but UConn battled back.
It seemed like Tennessee was a couple of possessions away from pulling away in the second half but UConn stayed in the game and made virtually every play they needed to make to stay in the game and keep it close.
The Huskies made a late-game push to beat the Lady Vols, tying the game with three minutes left in the game but the Lady Vols didn’t let them complete the comeback.
Tennessee has lost a few close games this year, including an 87-86 loss to No. 9 Oklahoma, 89-87 loss to No. 5 LSU, 71-70 to Vanderbilt, and 80-76 to No. 7 Texas. All of those teams are still in the top 25, while the Lady Vols continue to battle in games they are not expected to win.
You could see down the stretch this was a game the players wanted bad. They've been so close in similar games and they finally took down a top-five team, earning a statement win in Caldwell's first season on Rocky Top.
Caldwell said postgame she believes the Lady Vols would have to outwork UConn if they wanted to win and she believes they did just that to secure the win.