Tennessee jumped out to a quick 15-0 over Georgia College in Wednesday’s exhibition game at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Lady Vols didn’t look back, cruising to a 108-44 victory.
Here are four takeaways.
Tennessee Sets The Tone Early
The odds of Tennessee losing to Division II Georgia College were miniscule. Any question on if the Bobcats could keep in competitive was answered with a resounding no early in Wednesday’s game.
The Lady Vols scored the game’s first 15 points while making their first five shots. When Tamari Key finally missed Tennessee’s first shot, Alexus Dye grabbed the rebound and missed a bunny. Then Key snagged the rebound and finished the score.
Tennessee didn’t let Georgia College stay in the game long and never looked back from the dominant start.
The Lady Vols opened up a 28-6 lead in the first quarter by forcing eight Bobcats’ turnovers and balancing scoring. Five Tennessee players scored between three and six points in the first quarter as eight Lady Vols scored.
Freshmen Round Up
Tennessee had four freshmen make their first appearances at Thompson-Boling Arena Wednesday.
Brooklyn Miles, Sara Puckett, Kaiya Wynn and Karoline Striplin all played 14 or more minutes and were all on the court together in the waning minutes of the blowout win.
“It was probably about like I thought it would be,” Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper said of her newcomers. “I thought they’d be a little anxious. I thought they’d be a little nervous. Some of their shots reflected that, I thought. They’ll be better the next time out because they have this under their belt. The thing that I love about them is they have just a toughness about them. They have a fearlessness about them. They don’t play with a lot of caution.”
Miles scored six points on three-of-five shooting in her debut. Playing the second most minutes of any Tennessee freshman, Miles added four rebounds, five assists and a game high five steals.
It wasn’t the best night on the offensive end for forward Sara Puckett, but Harper certainly wasn’t deterred by the Alabama native’s performance.
“She does so many things well that you don’t think twice of,” Harper said. “She can make routine plays better than anybody. She doesn’t overcomplicate things. She didn’t shoot it as well tonight, she didn’t finish some layups— she’s going to finish those. I’m not worried about that. She has all the skill set and part of it is innate for sure but she’s just worked really hard on her game before she got here, since she’s got here. Being good is really important for her.”
Puckett scored five points on two-of-seven shooting while adding a game high nine rebounds and dishing out three assists. The Lady Vols are looking for Puckett to play a major role on this team in place of the injured Marta Suarez.
Guard Kaiya Wynn totaled seven points (three-of-10 shooting), six rebounds, three assists and two steals in the win.
Forward Karoline Striplin’s 14:36 of playing time was the least of Tennessee’s freshman, but the Alabama native impressed with her playing time. Striplin totaled six points, five rebounds and two steals in the win.
The 6-foot-3 forward looked confident when she got the ball in the post and comfortable on the court throughout the game.
Balanced Scoring Behind Burrell
Tennessee’s players and coaches made it clear at last week’s media day. No one can replace what Rennia David did for the Lady Vols the past few seasons.
The Lady Vols would have to replace her offensive output with contributions up-and-down the roster.
Tennessee did just that Wednesday as five players scored in double figures and all 12 Lady Vols that played scored.
Senior guard Rae Burrell led the way for Tennessee offensively, scoring 18 points on an impressive seven-of-nine shooting from the floor. It’s only natural that Burrell would be the lead horse on this team. Burrell totaled 15 of her points in the first half and took just one shot in the second half.
Burrell’s emergence as a scorer last season rejuvenated Tennessee’s offense and gave the Lady Vols’ two go-to scorers. The breakout junior earned Second Team All-SEC honors and now as a senior, Burrell has the makings of being one of the best players in the SEC.
Behind Burrell, Tennessee’s offensive output was balanced. Jordan Horston scored 14 points (six-of-14 shooting), Alexus Dye scored 12 points (six-of-10 shooting) and Jordan Walker (five-of-seven) and Keyen Green (three-for-four) scored 11 points.
“I do like having balance,” Harper said. “I think we’re capable of having balance. When I look at the stat sheet the one thing that jumps out to me is Tamari Key has to get more touches so our post play— we have to get the ball inside a little more. The fact that we have confidence in everyone taking shots I think is really good.”
Only three shot attempts separated Dye — Tennessee’s second leading shot taker — and Walker — Tennessee’s sixth leading shot taker.
All 12 of Tennessee’s players played between 13 and 23 minutes.
Tennessee’s Defense Too Much For Georgia College
In a matchup between one of the nation’s most revered women’s basketball programs and a Division II school, there’s expected to be a major size and athleticism gap.
That much was evident from the jump Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena. Georgia College had just one starter that stood at 6-foot or taller and four of Tennessee’s starters were the same size or taller than the Bobcats’ tallest starter.
That size advantage showed up on the court as Tennessee blocked eight shots including three from star defensive center Tamari Key.
The Lady Vols’ athleticism and length also gave Georgia College issues — especially early. Tennessee forced 25 Bobcats turnovers including four before Georgia College recorded its first points.
In total, Georgia College shot just 27% from the field and 13% from three-point range in what was a dominant defensive performance from Tennessee.
“We’ll do some things defensively,” Harper said. “We’ll talk about some of our techniques defensively. We can shore up some ball screen defense. Some things that we maybe haven’t practiced against, we need to work on.”
