Entering halftime, there was perhaps a different feeling that the Lady Vols could finish their season on the right foot, as they led No. 5 Vanderbilt through the first half.
Yet, like the theme for the rest of the season, the Lady Vols couldn’t put together 40 minutes of basketball as Vanderbilt handled the second half with ease, winning 87-77 over Tennessee, spoiling the Lady Vols’ Senior Day.
The Lady Vols (16-12, 8-8 SEC) finish the year in the record books for all the wrong reasons. Their nine losses in their last 11 games are the worst stretch of losses in the history of the school and are a feat no other team has achieved before.
“We know what we can do,” Tennessee guard Nya Robertson said. “We just have to do it. I mean, it starts with one.”
The Commodores (27-3, 13-3 SEC) win their third straight game, using a big third quarter as the push-ahead over the Lady Vols. They outscored Tennessee 30-15 in the third, which very well set the tone for the rest of the game.
Vanderbilt only had three scorers hit above 10 points, yet it felt as if the Lady Vols’ defense had no answer for any offensive attack. Mikayla Blakes, a sophomore, has had Tennessee’s number through now three games against the school.
The answer has felt so close for the Lady Vols, but no dice. In their last three games, they’ve come out of the half playing their worst basketball, being outscored 73- 45 in their last three third quarters.
“I think, again, you focus on your next game,” Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell said. “It’s go time. March is when you want to be playing your best basketball. Regardless of what our record has been, I do think that we are showing some improvement in some areas. We need to continue to put it together.”
Blakes finished her day with a team-high 34 points. Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph spoke postgame about the impact and value of winning at an arena with such prestige against a program with a handful of banners.
It was also a memorable one for Ralph, despite the loss.
“The last time we were in this building, we lost,” Ralph said. “On the way home, Mikayla Blakes committed. That was a really cool moment, and now fast forward a couple years and we’re back in this building with her on our team and we get a win.”
Now, Blakes has played in three games against the Lady Vols, and she has been at the forefront of the wins in each of those three games, averaging 27 points per game.
Following Blakes was guard Aubrey Galvan, who scored 24 points in her first career game against the Lady Vols.
Along with the inconsistent play comes trouble with defense. After a first half where it felt the press was actually having an impact. In a tale of two halves, the Lady Vols led the points off turnovers differential in the first, before losing it entirely in the second half.
As the defense continued to falter in the second half, the Commodores’ lead only grew. With the Commodores shooting 63.3% from the field in the final two quarters, that was a recipe built for a win.
The 16-win mark for the Lady Vols is the lowest win total in a regular season since the 1970 pre-modern era. The Vanderbilt win was also just their second school win at Thompson-Boling Arena ever.
The SEC Tournament looms next, and now isn’t the time to look back on past losses and trends. The Lady Vols’ seeding for the tournament is still in flux.
“We need a win,” Caldwell said. “You need a win. You need a win in the SEC tournament, get some momentum, and take it game by game there.”
