University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Syracuse
Lady Vols Fall To Syracuse In Elite Eight, 89-67
March 27, 2016 | Women's Basketball
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Tennessee's impressive 2016 NCAA Tournament run came to an end on Sunday as the Lady Vols fell to Syracuse, 89-67, in the Sioux Falls Regional Championship Game at the Denny Sanford Premier Center.
Diamond DeShields led No. 7 seed Tennessee (22-14) with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Syracuse (29-7), the region's No. 4 seed, won the game with impressive 3-point shooting (14-of-30) to advance to its first-ever Final Four.
DeShields shot 8-of-21 from the field and her 10 rebounds led all players. She also had five assists. Jaime Nared had 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
In her final game for Tennessee, senior Bashaara Graves tallied 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting with five rebounds and one assist. Graves finishes her UT career as one of just five players with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. With five boards on Sunday, she ended her career with 1,044 rebounds, passing Sheila Frost (1,043 from 1985-89) for third-most in program history.
DeShields and Mercedes Russell were named to the 2016 Sioux Falls Regional All-Tournament Team. In UT's four NCAA Tournament games, DeShields averaged 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists and Russell averaged 13.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
Alexis Peterson led Syracuse with 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting, including a 3-of-4 effort from 3-point range. Brianna Butler added 18 points all coming off of her six made 3-pointers. Cornelia Fondren scored 13 points and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor.
The Orange capitalized on Tennessee's 21 turnovers, scoring 25 points off of those miscues.
Syracuse pulled away in the fourth quarter, outscoring UT in the final 10 minutes, 26-11.
The Lady Vols used a 13-5 run in the middle of the third quarter to pull to within 54-51 with 3:21 on the clock. Syracuse outscored UT, 9-5, in the closing minutes of the third quarter to take a 63-56 lead into the fourth. DeShields had the hot hand for Tennessee in the third quarter, scoring 12 points, and Nared had eight.
The Orange took a 41-35 lead into halftime after relying heavily on 3-pointers (9-of-18) in the first 20 minutes of play. Peterson led Syracuse with 11 points at the half and was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. DeShields led UT with eight first-half points. The Lady Vols scored 18 of their 35 points in the paint and had a 23-17 rebounding advantage.
Syracuse knocked down five 3-pointers in the second quarter during a 19-5 run that put the Orange up, 39-31, with 2:43 left in the first half.
Tennessee had a 22-20 lead after the first quarter. The Lady Vols worked the paint, scoring 13 points inside and made five of their last six shots of the quarter. Syracuse relied on 3-point shooting (4-of-7) to keep pace with UT in the first 10 minutes.
Tennessee In The NCAA Tournament
Graves Finishes Fantastic UT Career
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