Lady Vols basketball opened up the new year with its SEC slate. Tennessee hosted Florida on Thursday afternoon and held on down the stretch to win 76-65.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
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Lauren Hurst In, Jersey Wolfenbarger Out
Kim Caldwell made a significant adjustment to her rotation for the SEC opener. Instead of playing forward Jersey Wolfenbarger, she inserted true freshman Lauren Hurst. Hurst, a top-100 recruit from Cleveland, Tennessee, hadn’t played much this year to this point.
Despite her limited experience, the move seemed to work. Hurst logged seven minutes, mostly early in the game, and made both of her shots from the field, including a 3-pointer, for five points. While she fouled twice, her defense wasn’t necessarily bad, and she had the necessary energy to create havoc.
Wolfenbarger entered the conference slate averaging 1.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. In 10 games and no starts, she averaged 10.1 minutes of action per appearance. She didn’t play at all, joining Mya Pauldo and Kaiya Wynn as scratches.
*After the game, Caldwell noted that Wolfenbarger was available, but did not practice leading up to the game due to illness.
Lady Vols Surrendered a 17-Point Lead
With 8:26 left to play in the second quarter, the Lady Vols had built up a 17-point advantage. At that point, it looked like Tennessee had the chance to completely run away with the game and leave the Gators in the dust.
That was far from what transpired, though. Instead, Florida fired back with a consistent push that the Lady Vols had no response to. By halftime, it was just a seven-point advantage for UT.
Tennessee wasn’t able to clean things up in the third quarter, either. Thanks to a 7-0 run for UF, the game got tied up at 42 with 6:51 remaining in the quarter. The difference was fantastic play from Florida’s Liv McGill and poor play in the margins for Tennessee. There were too many careless turnovers and other avoidable issues that led to the game tightening up.
In a game that the Lady Vols probably should’ve won much more comfortably, they let things get tight before creating the necessary separation late in the game.
Tennessee Had No Answer for Liv McGill
Not many have an answer for Liv McGill, but the Lady Vols seemed lost in their attempt to limit her. When McGill got going, there was nothing Tennessee could do to stop her.
By the end of the game, McGill had earned 32 points on 13-of-24 shooting from the field and 3-of-10 on 3-pointers. She played in 38 minutes, consistently posing a threat on the offensive end of the floor.
Heading into the game, Kim Caldwell noted how tough a challenge it would be to guard her. She said it’d be a total team effort, but it didn’t seem to matter who she stuck on her on defense. McGill consistently took advantage of one-on-one opportunities in the press and punished Tennessee at the rim.
McGill is one of the best scorers in the country, but the Lady Vols are going to have to figure out a better way to limit stars who can score in isolation for the rest of conference play.
Final Stats
Up Next
Next, the Lady Vols will play their first road game of the SEC slate. Tennessee heads to Auburn on Sunday, Jan. 4, with tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. The game will air on SEC Network.
After a game at Mississippi State the following Thursday, the Lady Vols return home to play Arkansas on Sunday, Jan. 11.
