Saturday’s game in Hartford was far from kind to Kellie Harper and the Lady Vols. Closing down a tough stretch that included three games in less than seven days, Tennessee was defeated by UConn on the hardwood by a score of 75-56 on Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Vols and Huskies spent most of the first quarter trading shots back-and-forth, but that was as close as Tennessee got all game. From the second quarter on, UConn controlled the contest while the Lady Vols were stuck in an offensive rut. In the end, Tennessee only shot the ball 28.8 percent from the field and 20 percent from three-point range.
After the game, Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper met with the media to discuss her reaction to the loss. And the Lady Vols’ shooting numbers on Saturday were the first thing on Harper’s mind.
“It was a tough night for us,” Harper said to begin her press conference. “Obviously we wanted to come in and compete better than we were able to do. I think, obviously, you pick up a stat sheet and you’re shooting 28 percent from the field, that’s not going to keep you in the game with Connecticut.”
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The Lady Vols’ biggest breakdown came in the third quarter when seemingly all went wrong for Tennessee. After only being down seven points to begin the third quarter, the Lady Vols eventually found themselves down by 19 to end the third after an 11-point quarter. Meanwhile, the Huskies were able to put together a 23-point quarter to really emphasize the lead.
Jordan Horston was magnificent in the road atmosphere and was the game’s leading scorer with 26 points. However, Horston was really the only Lady Vol able to generate offense and end up with double-digits in scoring, with the exception of Rae Burrell’s 11 points.
After three games, including two straight road games, in the span of six days, the Lady Vols will now have a nice three-day rest. Tennessee will be back in action this Thursday evening when they host Missouri in Knoxville.
