Once more, the Tennessee women’s basketball team will be leaning on youth and inexperience.
Last year, two freshmen started in almost every single game for the Lady Vols, and others saw valuable minutes off the bench. This season, eight of the 11 total players that comprise the roster have two or fewer years of experience.
“We played a lot of our freshmen last year,” head coach Holly Warlick said. “Same thing this year. Our freshmen are talented, and our freshmen right now are buying into the system … I will say this, they’re fearless.”
The lack of experience isn’t necessarily a problem, however. The two freshmen that started almost every game last season, Evina Westbrook and Rennia Davis, were both named to the Coaches Preseason All-SEC team for this year. Now sophomores, they’re expected to lead the younger members of the Lady Vols.
Davis, who made first-team All-SEC, averaged 12 points-per-game last season and finished 11th in the conference in rebounding, averaging 7.6 rebounds-per-game. That mark also ranks sixth best among Lady Vols freshmen in the team’s history. She missed the first game against Presbyterian due to an injury to her left foot, but the malady
isn’t expected to bench her for too long.
Westbrook, a member of the second-team All-SEC squad, did play in the Lady Vols’ season opener and recorded career highs in points and steals, with 20 and seven, respectively. She also started all 33 games for Tennessee last season.
“I just had to do what my team needed me to do,” Westbrook said. “I don’t come out every game thinking I need to score this many points, just whatever my team needs me to do for that specific game.”
Kasiyahna Kushkituah did not play a lot last season as a freshman due to senior Mercedes Russell eating up most of the minutes at center. Now, she’s been thrust into a starting role as a sophomore.
In the season opener, Kushkituah scored in double figures for just the second time in her career, matching her previous best of 10 points. Of the seven rebounds she was able to nab, six were on the offensive boards.
Behind the trio of sophomores is a quartet of talented freshmen that comprised the No. 4 recruiting class for the 2018 cycle.
Perhaps the most impressive thus far has been Zaay Green, the former No. 10 overall player in the nation. She got the start on Sunday against Presbyterian in light of Davis’ injury, earning the spot after a 28-point, 10-rebound performance in Tennessee’s exhibition win over Carson-Newman.
In 22 minutes of play, Green recorded 13 points and five steals. She was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, leading the team in 3-pointers made.
The second highest scorer for the Lady Vols on Sunday was another freshman, Rae Burrell. She scored 14 points, drawing three fouls with her play inside the paint. Burrell was ranked the 43rd overall prospect out of high school, lettering in both track and basketball.
Freshman Mimi Collins may be the most versatile player on Tennessee’s roster, practicing multiple positions in the offseason, but finding her home at the four spot. The former McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American played 19 minutes in the season opener, falling just short of a double-double with nine points and seven rebounds.
The freshman Warlick seems most excited about, though, is guard Jazmine Massengill. Though she didn’t have a huge impact in her debut, Warlick believes she has a world of potential.
“Very confident that she can come in, and she and Evina (Westbrook) can split time,” Warlick said. “She’s got a calming effect to her, which we need. I knew what I was getting when I sat down and talked with her and watched film.
“She’s a special kid.”
While youth is often seen as a negative by most teams, Tennessee is taking advantage of the young talent it has, and it appears to be paying off for the Lady Vols thus far.
