Kim Caldwell publicly challenged her defense to take it up a notch before the Tennessee Lady Vols tipped off against the Western Carolina Catamounts Tuesday night. UT responded in a big way, and it led to a dominant offense outing.
Tennessee beat WCU 102-50 for its third 100-point game just five games into the season. Once again, though, it was thanks to their transition play and the way they were able to generate a ton of turnovers. Those almost all turned into points.
WCU committed an insane 37 turnovers on the night. The Tennessee Lady Vols forced 17 steals. As has been the case all year and was the objective of Danny White when he hired Caldwell, this team managed to put on a show. It was never close.
Also, as has been the case this year, they hit the century-mark without a red-hot shooting game from three. UT was 10-of-41 from beyond the arc. Talaysia Cooper was the only elite shooter, going 4-of-6 from downtown and leading the team with 20 points. Avery Strickland hit both her threes off the bench en route to eight points.
Outside of those two players, the team was 4-of-33 on the night from three, but their aggressive defense generating transition buckets made the difference. It’s why four other players outside of Cooper managed to score double figures, and many got in on the action.
Zee Spearman had four steals and 11 points. Sara Puckett was off from beyond the arc, going 0-of-5, but still had six points due to three steals. She also had a block. Ruby Whitehorn was able to benefit under the basket from these perimeter defenders, which led to 16 points for her, and Samara Spencer scored 11. Tess Darby had two steals and 12 points off the bench.
I know, the Tennessee Lady Vols haven’t played anybody yet, and there are plenty of questions surrounding the team. However, they are off to an insanely impressive and entertaining start to the season, and with their size and athleticism, it could carry over even without the shooting.
