It’s been a less-than-ideal run for Lady Vols basketball since Jan. 29 — winning just two games out of nine contests.
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Sunday’s meeting against No. 11 Oklahoma was no different from the last month of work, as the Lady Vols lost 100-93. It is Tennessee’s (16-10, 8-6 SEC) fourth consecutive loss.
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Seven losses in their last nine games is a mark that the Lady Vols program has not seen in its long history. There have been minimal positives despite the expectations being rather high.
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One of the reasons for the team’s hype entering the year was senior forward Janiah Barker, yet she didn’t take the court against the Sooners (21-6, 9-5 SEC) despite being healthy and dropping a career-high 29 points just a game prior.
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Lady Vols head coach cited the benching that the forward “did not meet program expectations” and didn’t travel with the team to Norman, Oklahoma, for the loss.
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The game started off strong for the Lady Vols, leading the Sooners 22-20 after one quarter, yet by halftime the Lady Vols found themselves trailing 47-45 and had a hard time finding much breathing room after that.
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Raegan Beers and Aaliyah Chavez led the charge in quarter three for the Sooners. Chavez finished her day with 21 points, while Beers finished with 18. Even with big games from the two, the biggest point of production from the night was junior forward Sahara Williams, who finished with 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting. She also posted nine rebounds and three assists.
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The Lady Vols started off the third quarter playing things close, leading by as much as four points after a Deniya Prawl three put them ahead 51-47.
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Quarter four brought some fight from the Lady Vols, but it was never enough. For every response the Lady Vols had, it felt like the Sooners were right there with an answer of their own. Beers continued her big day with seven points in the fourth quarter, including some late free throws.
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The defense continues to be an issue for the Lady Vols, as the Sooners scored 100 points while shooting just 22% from the 3-point line.
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Talaysia Cooper led the Lady Vols in scoring Sunday afternoon with 22 points. She shot 8-for-15 from the field while going just 1-for-5 from three. Perhaps the more surprising stat line was the career-night from Jaida Civil, who finished with a career-high 22 points on 50% shooting. The guards saw the most success. Nya Robertson kept things rolling with 18 points while shooting 4-for-8 from three.
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The Lady Vols entered the month of February 14-4 with just two conference losses. With just one game in the month to go and two games standing on the regular season, the team is 16-10 with six conference losses and no answers to show for it.
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The schedule stays as tough as it can with the Lady Vols traveling to take on No. 7 LSU on Thursday, Feb. 26.