University of Tennessee Athletics
Milestones And Career Day Lead Lady Vols
February 01, 2015 | Women's Basketball
By Brian Rice
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
UTSports.com
By game's end, there was a 40th member. In between, one of Harrison's fellow seniors turned in her best performance as a Lady Vol. There was also a 13-point win over another ranked team. Just another Sunday in Thompson-Boling Arena.
Harrison set the tone early in each half. Just minutes after accepting a commemorative ball for her 1,000th point scored Thursday night against Kentucky, Harrison went strong to hoop for the first points in the game, setting a tone that would ring true all afternoon.
The frontcourt trio of Harrison, Bashaara Graves and Cierra Burdick combined for 52 of Tennessee's 79 points.
"We knew [Mississippi State] was a great team," Burdick said. "We want to be a great team. You've got to come out and play and compete every single night, no matter who you're playing against. We're trying to be a better Tennessee basketball team. No matter who our opponent is, we've got goals that we want to achieve."
The Bulldogs brought out the best in Burdick. The senior scored a career-high 24 points, pulled down eight rebounds and dished six assists.
"She was huge today," Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick said. "You are going against very athletic guards, they took out our point and two players so she had to bring the ball up. She was so focused today, I think at times she lets her game, she gets really inside of herself. I though today she took great shots, she had six assists, I just think she played solid. When she takes the shots and gets the looks that she got and worked to get the ball, she is going to shoot a high percentage."
Graves entered Sunday needing 16 points to join Harrison in the 1,000-point club. After a steady performance had her close in the game's final minute, Harrison wanted to make sure her teammate got there.
Harrison dished a pass to Graves down low, where the junior drew a foul to go to the line. Two free throws later, part of a 7 for 7 day at the line, Graves had 1,001 points.
"I wanted Bashaara to join the 1000 point club," Harrison said. "[The defender] was playing upper high and I just threw up that pass and she did a good job making contact."
For her part, Graves did not even know how many points she needed. But it was appropriate that on a day when she had a large gathering of family in the stands, she hit the milestone on UT's final points of the day.
"It was great," Graves said of hitting the milestone in front of family. "None of them knew I was even close, I don't think. It was just great for them to be here and to share this moment with them."
It was another strong performance for Graves, exactly what Warlick has been looking for out of the junior.
"I told her she plays like that, she wants the ball, she worked hard to get the ball, she has extended her game, she can shoot from the outside, along with being in," Warlick said. "So when you do that, she is very difficult to defend."
The Lady Vols now have a week off before a trip to Florida next Sunday. Coming off a complete performance, Warlick sees the break as coming at a perfect time for her team.
"Going into February it's hard, it's difficult, it's a grind right now, to see who we have coming up," she said. "We have to be mindful of how we are physically and how we feel so we are going to take advantage of the week off."
