University of Tennessee Athletics
Massengale Backs Up Billing On Senior Day
March 01, 2015 | Women's Basketball
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
-- Pat Summitt named Ariel Massengale the starting point guard at Tennessee when Massengale was still a senior at Bolingbrook High School.Since then, Massengale's goal and focus on the court as a Lady Vol has been to live up to the billing that Summitt gave her. Sunday afternoon, in her final regular season game in front of Summitt on the court that bear her name, Massengale had the best game of her senior season and one of the finest of her career.
Massengale scored 26 points and tied a Tennessee record with eight 3-pointers in Tennessee's 79-49 win over Vanderbilt at Thompson-Boling Arena. The win earned Tennessee a share of the Southeastern Conference championship, the 18th in program history and second in three seasons for Holly Warlick.
Coming in as a freshman with all those expectations with Summitt's declaration did not put pressure on Massengale, it only served as motivation. Instead of making her cocky or overconfident, it helped her stay humble and hungry on the court.
"Coming in, I knew I had five seniors that I was playing with and I didn't want them to think that I thought I was going to come in there and be the show," Massengale said. "Once I stepped foot on campus, I had to work hard and compete for that position and they were very encouraging and very supportive of me. It's just been a great four years and I'm glad that couch Summit saw that in my and I hope after these four years she's proud of me."
Warlick said Massengale had lived up to the billing and more.
"That is a lot of pressure when Ariel was named the starting point guard before she got to The University of Tennessee," Warlick said. "That is a respect for her game, but that was a lot of pressure. I think she came to Tennessee with great expectations. I don't think she has disappointed."
As her career has wound on, Massengale has not always found herself in that point guard spot. With the additions of Andraya Carter and Jordan Reynolds, Massengale has been able to slide out to a scoring role, occasionally with all three in the game together.
"I think it has helped Ariel coming off of not being the point guard and opening her up to other looks and shots," Warlick said. "Jordan is so comfortable and very good at pushing the ball for us. Andraya has been kind of our clean up player and defensive stopper. Those three play really well together."
Massengale closed the regular season with two of her best performances, 17 points in a road win at Georgia on Thursday, then the big numbers Sunday.
"It's been just confidence," she said of her two-game stretch. "We have been moving the ball, we are sharing the ball we are playing together as a team, and I think once you are in a rhythm and you're doing that it's a lot easier to knock down shots. No one person feels any pressure. We made 27 shots and had 24 assists and I think whenever you can play together as a team like that you have a very good chance of winning."
With less than a minute remaining, Massengale and fellow senior Cierra Burdick came out of the game for the final time, giving the home fans a chance to salute both. As she looked around walking off the court, she took a moment to reflect on the time behind her and the next few weeks that lie ahead.
"This day was everything I imagined," Massengale said. "I cannot believe these four years are not over, but like I said in the huddle after the game, now is when the real season starts. There's no reason to cry now, we are just getting started. We will cry, we'll be sad when its over and it's not there yet. So it was definitely bittersweet it was a lot of fun playing in this arena with these great fans for one last time."
