University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols' Confident Effort Falls Short
January 19, 2015 | Women's Basketball
By Brian Rice
NOTRE DAME, Ind.
UTSports.com
The other half of the box score showed a #6 Irish team with a next-level effort on offense, one that was not countered by Tennessee's defense in the eyes of Holly Warlick.
"We didn't finish our defense off like we need to do," Warlick said. "I thought their kids got loose and hit shots."
For much of the game, Tennessee was able to match the Irish shot-for-shot, but could never get over the hump to lead.
"When you're trading baskets, it's hard to win a ballgame," senior Cierra Burdick said. "You have to be able to get stops. But we continued to fight, we never let up and that's a good sign for us."
Basharra Graves stepped up to carry the load for UT with a season-high 22 points, one short of a career best.
"I think Bashaara was really focused today," Warlick said. "She competed. I thought she felt like she needed to step up today with Izzy struggling a little bit, she had to step up. That's the kind of game she has to have for us. Outstanding game, we have to continue to build on that."
The Lady Vols trailed by a single point with 3.5 seconds left in the first half, but gave up a tip-in by Jewell Loyd at the buzzer to push the lead to three. A layup from Harrison pulled UT within a point in the opening minutes of the second half, but a stretch where UT couldn't match ND's baskets proved to be the difference.
"There was a three or four minute stretch where the shots didn't go and then they go down and capitalize," Warlick said. "Then we come back and get the same look and don't hit it. If they go in, it's a little different."
The stretch was an illustration of the biggest issue on the night, misses in the paint. Though they combined for 34 points, Graves and Harrison were 14 of 35 from the field, much of that coming in the paint.
"We missed so many shots around the basket, those need to be our high-percentage shots," Warlick said. "We missed a lot of opportunities today."
The loss ended Tennessee's 11-game win streak, the longest of Warlick's career. But it did not shake the confidence of a team that has to get up and return to SEC play Thursday night against LSU.
"We gave great effort," Andraya Carter said. "I think everything that happened out there is fixable, we can go back and watch film and correct our mistakes. SEC play is tough and we can't afford a break in our confidence."
The effort showed how far the Lady Vols progressed over that 11-game span since falling at Texas in December.
"It's night and day," Warlick said. "In the Texas game, we were uninspired and low energy. I can't fault effort, we played hard. You have to fight, we talked about that before the game. It's about fighting and dictating. We had high energy, we just couldn't finish on defense. I know we're going to learn from it and get better."
