The bus broke down.
Then, so did the plane.
In between, the top-ranked Lady Vol basketball team didn’t fare much better than its modes of transportation on a Thanksgiving trip to Texas.
Playing its fourth game in seven days, Tennessee (3-1) ran out of gas and looked out of sync in a 74-59 loss at Texas on Thanksgiving night.
“Too much Texas for Tennessee,” Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt said.
UT’s leading scorers for the season, Shanna Zolman and Shyra Ely, combined to shoot only 2-of-15 from the field, as Tennessee hit for 33 percent as a team against the Longhorns.
Inside, the Lady Vols had few answers for Texas sophomore forward Tiffany Jackson. Jackson, a high school All-American who was recruited by Tennessee, was nearly flawless, hitting 8-of-10 field goals for 19 points.
“There was just way too much Jackson,” Summitt said. “She’s a great anchor for their program.”
Tennessee starting center Tye’sha Fluker was ineffective inside, forcing Summitt to use freshmen centers Nicky Anosike and Sybil Dosty for a combined 25 minutes of the contest against the fourth-ranked Longhorns.
The two freshmen responded, using aggressive play to combine for 14 points and nine rebounds.
The lone bright spot offensively for Tennessee was Brittany Jackson, who picked up 14 points in 20 minutes of play. But with the rest of her team struggling offensively and Texas hitting an astounding 73 percent from the field in the second half, Tennessee looked lost.
“You have to make shots,” Summitt said. “That’s the bottom line.”
The bottom line for Summitt after Thursday’s contest was that some changes needed to be made.
Against N.C. State in the Jimmy V Classic last weekend, the Lady Vols struggled to even run an offense. After that outing, Summitt simplified the new offense by throwing out some of the plays.
The change brought immediate relief for the Lady Vols, leading to a 71-41 victory over George Washington.
Removing plays from the playbook seemed to spark the Lady Vols against GWU. Now Summitt is trying a different route – removing players from the starting lineup.
After watching practice on Friday and Saturday, Summitt announced that Anosike would make her first start on Sunday against Temple, replacing Fluker.
“We are a much better basketball team if we have an anchor inside,” Summitt said.
There was also some changes on the perimeter. Jackson replaced Ely as the starter at the small forward position before Sunday’s contest.
For her part, though, Summitt wasn’t completely alarmed by what happened to Tennessee against Texas.
“Our team respects Texas,” Summitt said. “They have beaten us four in a row and beat us by 10 last year in Knoxville.
“We weren’t surprised.”
Lady Vols 52, Temple 48: Tennessee shot just 20-of-62 from the field (32 percent) and squeaked by the Owls at home on Sunday. The Lady Vols host Duke on Thursday at 7 p.m.’
