Lady Vols basketball was back in action after a week off for a road trip against MTSU. Tennessee looked sharp in its return to action, winning 85-41 in Murfreesboro to advance to 4-1 on the season.
Here are three quick takeaways from the win.
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Lady Vols Jumped on MTSU Right Out The Gates
Kim Caldwell has complained early in the season about the energy of her team. In what she calls an ‘effort-based system’, there wasn’t much strain shown from her team. The result was some ugly performances.
Against MTSU, that was anything but the case, particularly out of the gates. To get the game started, Tennessee jumped out to a 16-0 lead. The Blue Raiders didn’t score until the 4:28 mark, which saw them in a significant hole before people even got settled in their seats.
By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Vols held a 25-9 lead. This was thanks to forcing nine turnovers and 9-of-16 shooting from the field with four made 3-pointers. That wasn’t the end of the hot start, either. Tennessee carried it into the second quarter to create pure carnage on the scoreboard. By the end of the half, the score sat at 48-16.
In the opening 20 minutes, the Lady Vols shot 19-of-37 from the field, but held MTSU to just 6-of-24. The Blue Raiders turned it over 17 times in the frame, giving Tennessee 30 points.
Half-Court Offense Looked So Much Better
The Lady Vols’ half-court offense in the first four games of the season was nearly nonexistent. Tennessee settled for pull-up contested threes and didn’t see a lot of them drop.
Caldwell said that during the week of preparation for this game, she made every player on the team verbalize in film if a shot they took was good or bad. If they could answer it correctly, then why are the in-game decisions still poor?
That seemingly worked against MTSU. While points in transition off turnovers went a long way, when UT did have to settle for a half-court set, it was far less often that the shot selection wasn’t ideal. The reason for this also seemed to be a better run offense. There was more on and off-ball screens, movement without the ball and passes made to open teammates.
If the Lady Vols can parlay the press, which also looked much more effective tonight, with that offense, they’ll look a lot more like the high preseason projections than they did in the first four games.
Lady Vols’ Duo Looked the Part
Tennessee has two potential WNBA draft picks on its roster. Both Janiah Barker and Talaysia Cooper are being looked at at the next level and could go in the first round if they put together strong seasons. In the win over MTSU, both looked the part.
Barker finished with 20 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the floor and a made three. She recorded a double-double with 12 rebounds to go with her two blocks and a steal, as well. In 24 minutes, she managed a +20 plus/minus.
Cooper posted 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field and 3-for-7 on 3-pointers. She was much more than just a scorer, though. She grabbed three rebounds, passed for five assists and came up with six steals in her 20 minutes on the court. The result was a +34 plus/minus.
It was a freshman shining as the third option, though. Deniya Prawl had a great game, recording 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting with four rebounds and four steals.
Final Stats
Up Next
Next, the Lady Vols return to Knoxville to host Coppin State on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET and will air on SEC Network+.
Then, it’s a trip out west to play UCLA on Nov. 30 and Stanford Dec. 3.
