For the No. 11 Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team, Sunday’s season-opening clash with Presbyterian provided opportunities.
An opportunity for the freshmen to get valuable experience, an opportunity for the upperclassmen to lead, and an opportunity for the team to excel in the three phases that head coach Holly Warlick wanted to see them display in game one.
“We really wanted to focus in on intensity,” Warlick said. “We wanted to take great shots. I thought we started attacking the basket and got great shots. And thirdly was dominate the boards. I thought we did just that.”
On Wednesday, Tennessee (1-0) will get a chance at those opportunities again as they face their second-straight Big South Conference opponent, the University of North Carolina-Asheville Bulldogs (0-1), in a midweek contest at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The game will be the first between the two programs.
UNC-Asheville is lead by head coach Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick, who is entering her 7th season at the helm. The Bulldogs’ last outing resulted in a 70-53 road loss to Charlotte.
Coming off of a dominating defensive performance versus Presbyterian, where the Lady Vols scored 44 points off of 39 turnovers and controlled the floor for most of the game, Warlick credits practice and mindset and hopes to see that style of play carry over against the Bulldogs.
“It does go back to practice, and it is a mindset,” Warlick said. “That’s where we want them to be. We play like that, (and) practice like that everyday. We’ve worked on our press, and what you saw was a reflection of our practices.”
One of the Lady Vols who played a crucial part in Tennessee’s success in defense in the opener was sophomore guard Evina Westbrook. In addition to eclipsing a career-high in points with 20, Westbrook was also responsible for 7 steals, another career-high for the Salem, Ore. native.
Don’t look for Westbrook to be resting on her laurels from that game, however. For her, it’s about the next game, which happens to be UNC-Asheville.
“The show continues,” Westbrook said. “We have to continue to play hard. I just had to do what my team needed me to do. I really owe it all to my teammates. On to the next game.”
For Tennessee as a team, the Lady Vols were down a player in sophomore forward Rennia Davis, who missed the Presbyterian game with an injury. With four freshmen already on the roster, the injury provided the chance for the newcomers to make a name for themselves, and they took full advantage of it.
“For them to play this game and how all of them played, I think they’re playing with energy,” Westbrook said. “We’re all really proud of them. They’ve been doing great at practice, and it’s been transitioning really well.”
Four freshmen accounted for 41 of the team’s 97 points, with two of them, guard Zaay Green and guard/forward Rae Burrell, scoring in double figures.
With Davis being out, Warlick was pleased to see the freshmen step up when they were needed, which is something Tennessee will have to count on going forward.
“It’s a tribute to our team,” Warlick said. “To have one of your best players sitting on the bench and you come in and make up points she usually gets … so I love it. I love that they can step in and take up the slack.
There has been no official word on if Tennessee expects Davis to play or not on Wednesday.
The Lady Vols and Bulldogs are slated to tip-off at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+.
