Alabama women’s basketball coach Rick Moody could only find one reason for his team’s 72-51 loss at Tennessee Sunday – post play.
The Crimson Tide (10-6, 2-1 SEC) set the tempo in the first half, but fell behind quickly in the second when senior center Ashley Robinson and junior forward Shyra Ely took over.
“(After) watching film on Tennessee, Robinson and Ely will annihilate you if allow them to do so,” Moody said. “In the first half, we sent our guards in to try and double up on their post players, knowing that we were giving open looks to their perimeter players.
“But it was all we could do.”
Those double teams helped Alabama keep the Lady Vols’ scoring to a minimum in the first half, as UT (14-1, 4-0) led only 24-16 at intermission.
The Lady Volunteers shot a dismal 28 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from behind the arc in the first frame.
“I thought in the first half, we had good possessions and open looks,” UT coach Pat Summitt said. “We just didn’t convert. We allowed them to set the tempo to slower than we would have liked.”
Her team heeded its lesson immediately following the break.
Ely stole the ball on the Tide’s opening possession and knocked in a layup at the 19:34 mark, pushing UT’s lead to 10.
Then the rest of the Lady Vol post players got involved.
Robinson, Ely, sophomore center Tye’sha Fluker and freshman forward Sidney Spencer combined for 19 points over a 10-minute span, increasing the Lady Vol lead to 55-35.
Summitt, meanwhile, saw her team’s offense as a direct extension of its defensive efforts.
“We extended our defense in the second half and really used our half-court press,” she said. “That helped us up the tempo of the game, which was good for us offensively, as well.”
In addition to altering their defense, the Lady Volunteers also hit the boards in the second half, turning an early rebounding deficit into a 40-35 edge for the game. Ely, Robinson and guard Loree Moore each picked up seven boards.
Their efforts left Moody with few answers in the end.
“It was a typical Southeastern Conference game,” he said. “We tried to be as physical as we could with them throughout the game. But if you let Ely or Robinson get shots off, you’re dead.
“They did that, and it knocked us out.”
Alabama (51)
Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Hill 1-2 0-0 2, Merriweather 3-4 1-2 7, Redus 0-5 0-0 0, Sipe 0-4 2-2 2, Drury 0-1 0-0 0, Freeman 2-8 0-0 5, Mastin 3-6 0-1 7, Bivins 5-11 0-0 11, Gamble 3-8 1-1 7, N. Moore 4-9 2-2 10. Totals 21-59 6-8 51.
Tennessee (72)
Butts 1-5 3-4 6, Ely 8-13 2-2 18, Robinson 3-3 6-11 12, Zolman 2-9 2-2 7, L. Moore 3-5 0-0 6, Spencer 1-3 0-0 2, Davis 1-2 0-0 2, Redding 1-1 0-0 2, Jackson 2-9 1-2 6, McDaniel 0-1 2-2 2, Fluker 3-5 3-4 9. Totals 25-56 19-27 72.
Halftime – Tennessee 24, Alabama 16. Fouled out – Merriweather. Rebounds – Alabama 35 (Merriweather 9), Tennessee 40 (Ely, Robinson, Moore 7). Assists – Alabama (Merriweather 2), Tennessee 15 (Ely 4). Total fouls – Alabama 21, Tennessee 13.
A-14,934
