University of Tennessee Athletics
@LadyVol_Hoops Report (2/17/16)
February 17, 2016 | Women's Basketball
The Lady Vols (15-10, 6-6 SEC) will play their penultimate home game of the season as they take on Ole Miss (10-15, 2-10 SEC) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast online on SECN+ and WatchESPN.
Redshirt junior guard Andraya Carter, senior forward Bashaara Graves and Head Coach Holly Warlick spoke to the media on Thursday as the team prepares for the SEC matchup.
Live Pink, Bleed Orange
Tennessee will be wearing pink at tomorrow’s game against Ole Miss as the participate in the “Live Pink, Bleed Orange" breast cancer awareness game at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Before the game, Champions for a Cause will present the UT Breast Center with a check to further its efforts in breast cancer research, awareness and providing access to breast health education and screenings.
“Nikki Caldwell and I started “Champions for a Cause” and it’s something that we are very passionate about,” Warlick said. “Obviously we are raising awareness, and it’s amazing. The most valuable thing I have done and gotten out of this is the people I have met and the resiliency, and the fight, and the attitude.”
Every fan will receive a pink "Live Pink, Bleed Orange" t-shirt courtesy of Academy Sports & Outdoors, DISH, the Y, United Healthcare, Coke, Golden Flake and Threds when they enter the arena, and the first 1,500 fans will receive a pink rally towel provided by United Healthcare. Zeta Tau Alpha will be distributing pink ribbons at entrances, and fans are invited to snap free photos in the Knox Photo Booth at Section 127 on the concourse.
“Here I am dealing with adversity with basketball and they are dealing with adversity in life and they don’t miss a beat. If anything, I have learned to handle anything that is thrown at me, because what I am dealing with is not a life or death situation. They are dealing with their health, and it is just amazing their attitude and what it can do for people who are at that point and struggling for their life; and their faith has put life in perspective, you understand what is important in life, your health, and getting over a disease is obviously the most important thing to that person.”
UT Medical Center will have a mobile mammogram unit located outside of the main ticket office on Phillip Fulmer Way, beginning at 4:30 p.m. on game day. A special tribute will be made to all survivors and to those currently battling breast cancer.
Lady Vol fans are encouraged to nominate a friend or family member who is a survivor or currently battling breast cancer for a chance to win tickets to the game. You must send a brief statement about the nominee and contact information to utathletics@utk.edu.
Turning Around the Turnovers
One of the things that been constant throughout the season is how turnovers have impacted the team.
In wins the Lady Vols are averaging 16.2 turnovers per game this season, whereas in losses that number jumps to 18.2 turnovers per game. The difference is even more profound in SEC games, in the six wins the team is averaging 15.2 turnovers whereas in the six losses the squad is racking up 19.2 turnovers.
“I think it’s definitely been a concern all season, anytime we have close to 20 or 20-plus turnovers we come up short and we lose,” Andraya Carter said. “I think it’s just going in these next days in practice, really focusing on it, really honing in on it. We have a lot of games coming up in a short amount of time. So I think it is really getting in the half court and executing. We have practice guys who are extremely athletic, so if we really focus on taking care of the ball against them, we should be able to do okay moving on.”
“I think it is just focus, trying to pay attention, trying to make the extra pass,” senior forward Bashaara Graves said. “I feel like we have forced a lot of our passes inside. We tend to look too long, and that’s how we turn it over in the post.”
The coaches have been trying a couple different things to help the team be more conscious of taking care of the ball.
“Coach Law has a ball rack system that we do,” Graves said. “Each drill that we do we have five balls, and every time we have a turnover, we have to run. We run for every turnover that we get. We’ve tried to fix it, it comes with the chemistry and trying to get that chemistry 100 percent. That has definitely improved from the beginning of the year. We are still trying to work on it though.”
“We keep putting them in a situation where it is competitive and they have to take care of the ball, and we do it with different groups,” Warlick said. “We are just going to continue to do that and hope it sinks in. I think the Vanderbilt game, we took care of the ball and did some great things, we just have to carry it over and make sure we do the right things every game.”
The team has been better lately, averaging only 13 turnovers per game over a three game stretch prior to the South Carolina game which included road contests at #12/11 Texas A&M and Vanderbilt and a home game against Arkansas. However, the Gamecocks forced the Lady Vols into 19 turnovers.
“The ones that we can control are the ones we need to clean up,” Warlick continued. “These kids are resilient, they work hard. It’s next day and next game. They are really focused on today and getting ready to play Ole Miss.”
Scouting the Rebels
Ole Miss (10-15, 2-10 SEC) comes in to Knoxville on a six-game losing streak. The team features eight freshmen and sophomores among their 11 players, Ole Miss is the youngest team in the SEC. The Rebels are the lone team in the conference without a senior on their roster.
Leading the Rebels in scoring is sophomore forward Shandricka Sessom at 15.6 points per game. Sessom came off the bench for the first time this season against Texas A&M on Monday, leading Ole Miss with 13 points. She is the sixth leading scorer in the SEC.
Forward Bretta Hart made her fourth start of the season in Sessom’s place, contributing four points and eight rebounds for the Rebels. She leads the team in rebounding with 5.8 per game.
The Rebels like to turn teams over, averaging 11.6 steals per game and posting the second best turnover margin (+4.1) in the conference during SEC play. In contrast, the Lady Vols are twelfth in turnover margin in SEC play (-2.8).
The Lady Vols will look to capitalize on the boards. Tennessee leads the conference in rebound margin during SEC play (+6.8) while Ole Miss is last in the conference (-9.4).
Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick says that her team will come ready to play Thursday night against the Rebels.
“We don’t look past anybody,” Warlick said. “The players are anxious to get back on the court. They’ll be ready.”
The Lady Vols are 43-7 all-time against Ole Miss. Tennessee has won the last 27 contests, dating back to Feb. 4, 1996.
