Struggling Lady Vols play Vandy tonight

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee’s women’s basketball team needs to end more than a month’s worth of road frustration or risk falling out of The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in three decades.

The 25th-ranked Lady Vols (14-9, 5-5 Southeastern Conference) carry a five- game road skid into tonight’s game at Vanderbilt (15-8, 4-6). They haven’t won away from home since winning their SEC opener at Missouri on Jan. 4.

“We’re in our own little cocoon,” Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick said. “We’re just trying to get better and focus on the next game, and obviously it’s Vanderbilt. Look, they’re devastated when they lose. They’re disappointed. But we’ve got to watch the tape and we’ve got to move on.”

Or out of the Top 25, a position Tennessee hasn’t been in since February 1985.

Despite the Lady Vols teetering on the unthinkable, Tennessee’s administration is standing behind Warlick, who has had success in previous campaigns. The Lady Vols either won the SEC tournament title or captured at least a share of the conference’s regular-season championship in each of Warlick’s first three seasons after she replaced former coach Pat Summitt, who led Tennessee to eight national championships.

After Warlick earned her 100th career win last week against Arkansas, athletic director Dave Hart congratulated her during a postgame celebration in the locker room.

Hart said in a statement Wednesday: “I remain proud that Holly Warlick is our women’s basketball coach, and her staff and players have our full support.”

“I’ve always said basketball is a tournament sport,” Hart added. “The greatest opportunities come in tournament play at the end of the season. At that point, it’s all about momentum and matchups. Two years ago, our men’s team personified that example (by) coming within 10 seconds of playing Kentucky for a berth in the Final Four after a slow start out of the gate. Hopefully, we can get on a run to finish out the regular season heading into SEC tournament play.”

Tennessee hasn’t reached the Final Four since winning the 2008 national title, but the Lady Vols still have plenty of talent. Tennessee’s roster features seven former McDonald’s All-Americans. Bashaara Graves is a former SEC newcomer of the year, Diamond DeShields is a former Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year and Mercedes Russell was rated by multiple recruiting services as the nation’s top prospect in her high school class.