After a drubbing of MTSU in Murfreesboro on Thursday, Lady Vols basketball returned to Knoxville on Sunday to host Coppin State. The result was another strong win by the score of 88-35.
Here are three quick takeaways from the win.
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Janiah Barker Continues to Dominate
Janiah Barker continues to look like the Lady Vols’ most consistent piece. Talaysia Cooper might be capable of hitting a higher ceiling, but Barker has been a steady and elite presence in just about every game.
This one was no different. She finished with 19 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field. However, she went 0-for-6 from range, meaning she was 6-for-7 on attempts inside the 3-point line.
Barker also contributed eight rebounds, an assist and five steals in her performance.
Don’t forget about what Cooper did, though, as well. She had a near quadruple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and seven steals.
Need This Shooting From Nya Robertson
I’m not saying Nya Robertson needs to hit 10 threes a game, but this is the shooter that the Lady Vols were hoping to get when she signed. For a team that needs someone to step up as a consistent shooter, Robertson getting in rhythm would be a big deal for the upcoming trip out west.
She finished the game with a program record of 10 makes for a jaw-dropping 32 points. This came on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and 10-of-16 on 3-pointers. She also contributed three rebounds, an assist, three steals and a block in her showing.
Even if Robertson just knocks down a few a game, it’d still go a long way for Tennessee as long as she stays efficient. If she can do that and avoid the pitfalls of heat checks, it’d make her an extremely valuable piece as the schedule starts to heat up.
Defense Clamped Down in the Second Quarter
Tennessee created a good bit of separation in the second quarter to take a 24-point lead into the half. That was thanks to the defense clamping down and creating plenty of turnovers and bad looks with the press.
Coppin State turned the ball over 12 times in the second quarter. The result was 17 points off turnovers in the second quarter alone. In the first half, it was 31 of the 45 points coming off of turnovers.
Coppin State was also only able to produce six points in the period. This came on 2-for-9 shooting from the field and a miss on the lone 3-point attempt. When it was actually able to get a shot off and didn’t turn it over, it was mostly poor looks that were well off the mark.
There were almost no second-chance looks either. CSU only grabbed a single offensive rebound in the frame, which it did convert into two of its six points.
Final Stats
Up Next
Next up, the Lady Vols will face their biggest test of the season yet. Tennessee heads out west to play UCLA on Sunday, Nov. 30, at 4:30 p.m. ET. The game will air on FS1. Then, UT matches up with Stanford in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 9:15 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
