Lady Volunteers rolling now
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Tennessee’s women’s basketball program hasn’t had a particularly good season — especially by its lofty standards.
But at least for one afternoon, the Lady Volunteers looked very much like one of the nation’s elite teams in an 82-64 victory over No. 3 Mississippi State on Sunday. It was their first road win over a top-three team since 2004.
Now Tennessee (19-10, 10-6 Southeastern Conference) has won three straight games heading into the conference tournament, which begins Wednesday in Greenville, S.C.
“It re-establishes who we are,” Tennessee guard Diamond DeShields said. “It sends a message to everybody who doubted Tennessee, who had anything bad to say about Tennessee, who said we don’t play defense or whatever the case may be.”
Tennessee did just about everything well against the Bulldogs. Jaime Nared scored a career-high 30 points, DeShields added 20 and the Lady Vols made shots from all over the court, going 29-of-53 (54.7 percent) from the field.
“Our offense was very fluid,” said Nared, who went 8-of-14 from the field and 12-of-13 from the free-throw line. “We were always moving, and we played well with each other.”
Tennessee led nearly the entire game, jumping out to an 18-8 lead by the end of the first quarter. Mississippi State cut Tennessee’s lead to 10 points early in the fourth quarter but was never really in the game despite having a sellout crowd of 10,500 fans behind it.
“If I could see all 10,500 that were in the arena today, I would personally shake their hand and apologize,” Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer said.
The Bulldogs (27-3, 13-3), who lost two straight games to end the regular season, were led by Victoria Vivians’ 18 points. Roshunda Johnson added 16.
It was an emotional afternoon for Mississippi State, which honored four seniors — Ketara Chapel, Dominique Dillingham, Chinwe Okorie and Breanna Richardson — who all played huge roles in the Bulldogs’ push into the SEC’s elite.
But Mississippi State struggled from the outset, shooting just 8-of34 (23.5 percent) in the first half to fall into a 36-20 hole by halftime.
Tennessee won the rebounding battle 39-26.
“We were outtoughed and outhustled and it seemed like we lost all the energy plays,” Schaefer said. “Those are things we pride ourselves on. I just didn’t have them ready.”
Tennessee coach Holly Warlick was glad her Lady Vols took advantage of the opportunity.
“They were all dialed in,” Warlick said. “If I could bottle it, I would bottle it. Sometimes it’s like Forrest Gump — you don’t know what you’re going to get. But we got the good chocolate today.”