Forget about the Super Bowl party. Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena, Tennessee hosted a three-point party in its 99-67 win over Ole Miss.
Playing in their second consecutive game without junior center Tye’sha Fluker, the Lady Vols turned to the perimeter to beat the Lady Rebels. Fluker remains at home in California following the death of her grandmother and she will fly directly to Baton Rouge for Thursday’s contest against LSU.
Without her in the lineup, UT went to the outside. The Lady Vols hit six three-point shots in the opening half, converting them at a 40-percent clip.
Even with the first half proficiency, UT coach Pat Summitt was still displeased with one problem in particular — turnovers.
“We weren’t real happy at halftime,” Summitt said. “We had 16 turnovers in the first half. The play off the bench was unacceptable.”
Her team readjusted at the half.
“They came out of the locker room in the second half and played like I’ve seen them play too many times in my career,” Ole Miss coach Carol Ross said. “They played with incredible pride in their home court.
For the game, Tennessee tied a school record by connecting on 13 shots from behind the arc. Junior guard Shanna Zolman led the barrage with five three-pointers, while senior guard Brittany Jackson added four.
The three-point shooting performance against the Lady Rebels tied the record set against Army on Nov. 11, 2002.
“I want to give three-point shooters the green light within our offensive scheme,” Summitt said. “I don’t want them second-guessing when to take a three.”
When the perimeter wasn’t open, UT took the ball strong to the basket. Nowhere was that mindset more evident than in the performance of Ely.
After a two-point, zero-rebound performance against Florida on Thursday, Ely looked like her old self against Ole Miss. On three possessions in the second half, she aggressively took the ball to the basket and came away with three-point play opportunities.
“We just tried to get open looks at the basket today,” Ely said. “In the second half, our defense really helped create our offense. We were able to run and open up the offense.”
To Summitt, though, the difference between a seven-point halftime lead and a 32-point win was in limiting the turnovers.
“We were playing quick and careless in the first half,” she said. “In the second half, we played quick, but we took pride in taking care of the basketball.”
For Ole Miss, there were no explanations for what happened. All Ross could see was a crushing loss.
“It’s one thing to get beat,” she said. “But we got taken to the outhouse and whupped, as they say in the South.”
