They had everything they needed to pull off the upset. The No. 5 seed Tennessee Lady Vols faced a team they match up well with in the No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns, their fans packed the stadium in Birmingham, and they were fresh, as proven last week, thanks to two weeks off after the SEC Tournament.
Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell missed the team’s loss at Texas earlier in the year due to having her baby, but Tennessee only lost by four. Simply put, there was every reason to believe this team, ranked No. 20 in both polls, could pull off the upset against the No. 5 ranked team in both polls.
Unfortunately for Tennessee, the one issue that was a concern all year reared its ugly head: Their inconsistent three-point shooting cost them in a 67-59 loss. Despite setting an SEC record for most three-pointers made in a season, this isn’t a great shooting team, as their three-point percentage was 33 percent on the year, outside of the top 100.
In this game, they happened to have a bad shooting performance, going 5-of-19 from outside. Ruby Whitehorn had 16 points, and Samara Spencer had 12 points, but Talaysia Cooper could not get her scoring going off the bench as she had been in the NCAA Tournament, having seven points and five turnovers.
Texas’ defense was much tougher this time around, and the Lady Vols could only get six steals. To get their tempo going, though, they were going to have to be deadly from three, and that just wasn’t the case. The fact that they kept it close and led in the fourth quarter at one point amidst that fact is actually even more impressive.
When Caldwell constructed her team via the transfer portal route last offseason, she was clearly aware that her lack of size and athleticism with the Marshall Thundering Herd would cost her in the SEC. She lives and dies with up-tempo basketball and three-point shooting, but she had to sacrifice the three-point shooting to get the available tall, athletic players.
Caldwell’s gamble was that the athletes would be better shooting in her system with more open looks due to the tempo, but they would be inconsistent. That was the case all year, but it was bound to get them at some point, and it got them. They also went 4-of-10 from the free throw line.
With the loss, the Lady Vols’ season ends at 24-10. Texas improved to 31-3 and makes its fourth Elite Eight under fifth-year head coach Vic Schaefer. On Monday, looking for their first trip to the Final Four under Schaefer, they will face the No. 2 seed TCU Horned Frogs, who beat the No. 3 seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish 71-62 Saturday.
