The Lady Vols avoided a four-game losing streak Sunday with a gritty 76-71 road win over Missouri.
Although the past three games have come against tough opponents, it doesn’t change the fact that the No. 18 Lady Vols (16-5, 4-5 SEC) have been close during each ranked loss. Tennessee is a complete four quarters away from being able to defeat the best teams the conference.
“Happy to get out of here with the win,” Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell said. “That’s a really good team.I thought they played incredibly hard, they’re very, very well coached, especially on the offensive end.”
The Tigers (12-12, 1-8 SEC) out-shot the Lady Vols 45% to 35% through four quarters, who were led by Grace Slaughter and De’Myla Brown. The pair combined for 34 of Missouri’s 71 points.
The game itself was a tale of two halves. Tennessee needed a strong start to have confidence, but it didn’t despite knowing the quality of their opponent.
“I don’t think we got off to the start that we needed to,” Caldwell said. “We had talked at length about how hard this team plays, how physical they are, how disciplined they are, and I think we got punched in the mouth early.”
The Tigers started the game on a 7-0 run, which eventually stretched to a 16-5 lead over the Lady Vols during the first six minutes of play.
“I don’t think we were here,” Caldwell said. “I don’t think that we got off the bus. We weren’t doing what we were supposed to be doing offensively, and we were not doing anything we were supposed to be doing defensively.”
The Lady Vols had a brutal first quarter offensively, shooting 6-for-21 from the field. Tennessee found much more success beyond the arc, making three of six attempted 3-pointers.
The second brought more offensive inconsistency, but Talaysia Cooper kept the team within striking distance through the first 20 minutes. She finished the first half with 14 points, four rebounds and an assist on 5-for-11 shooting.
The third quarter was the best period of play for the Lady Vols. They shot 53% from the field and 43% from three, taking a seven-point lead in the process.
Cooper remains a big reason as to why the team can remain aggressive offensively. She ended the day leading all scorers with 27 points on 10-for-23 shooting. Additionally, she had six steals.
“I think her ability to just go get a steal whenever she wants one,” Caldwell said. “It’s her best offense, her easiest offense and she makes our team better, and she really gets everyone else to pressure with confidence as well.”
While Cooper dominated the majority of the game, she fell victim to not being able to deliver a full four quarters as she fouled out with 1:09 left in the game.
Offensively, the Lady Vols still didn’t shoot the most efficiently, going 36% from the field and 33% from three. Tennessee did take advantage of its foul shots compared to the tigers.
The Lady Vols display all the pieces, but they’ve yet to knock down the door against a top opponent. Despite this, they snap the losing streak before a matchup against UConn on February 6th.
