GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Lady Vols had a chance for revenge in the SEC Tournament.
After Tennessee fell at the buzzer in Nashville to Vanderbilt, it was set for a rematch in the second round of the conference bracket. The Lady Vols squandered the opportunity, losing 84-76.
This eliminates Tennessee (22-9) in Kim Caldwell’s first SEC Tournament. As the 9-seed, it made a run to the second round after blowing out 16-seed Texas A&M by 40 points on Wednesday.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
The 8-seed Commodores (22-9) had much more success against the Lady Vols’ press, though. While the Aggies drowned in the pressure, Vanderbilt only turned the ball over 14 times while hitting 46.3% of its shots from the field and 37.5% from range.
It was SEC Freshman of the Year leading the way. She dropped 24 points on 8-for-20 shooting. Iyana Moore also contributed 23 points while Khamil Pierre had a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double.
For Tennessee, it was led by a quartet of players in double figures. Ruby Whitehorn dropped 14 on 6-for-11 shooting to lead the team. Behind her, the trio of Jewel Spear, Talaysia Cooper and Samara Spencer finished with 13
As a team, the Lady Vols shot 47.1% from the field, 31% on 3-pointers and turned it over 13 times.
The Lady Vols got out to another slow start. Quickly, Tennessee saw itself trailing Vanderbilt by 12 points due to a 13-3 run. This came despite Caldwell calling a timeout after dropping to a 10-2 disadvantage.
By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Vols trailed by seven points.
The second quarter saw Tennessee surge back, though. The Lady Vols would go on a 12-2 run to take its first lead of the game with 4:45 until half.
This one-point advantage stood in a deadlock for two and a half minutes as neither team could get a shot to fall. Vanderbilt would finish the half on an 8-1 run to take a 39-33 lead into the half.
Tennessee was led by Cooper and Whitehorn. Both notched eight points in the opening 20 minutes. Zee Spearman was also effective with five points, seven rebounds and a block.
The Lady Vols got out to a nice start in the second half. Tennessee jumped to a 6-0 start which tied up the game.
That didn’t last long.
Vanderbilt would go on a 13-0 run to take a demanding 14-point lead. The Lady Vols finally broke up the stretch, but the Commodores continued to pour it on. By the end of the quarter, it was a 20-6 run that catapulted Vanderbilt to a 15-point lead with 10 minutes to play.
Despite Tennessee’s efforts, it struggled to make any meaningful cut into the Commodores’ lead. Vanderbilt led by as much as 21 in the fourth.
However, down the stretch, the Lady Vols got hot. An 8-0 run made it a seven-point game with 40 seconds to play, leading to a Caldwell timeout.
Tennessee didn’t have enough to pull off a miracle, though. The Lady Vols fell by eight points to be eliminated by their in-state rival.
This marks the end of Tennessee’s stay in Greenville for the SEC Tournament. Now, it’ll await its selection in the NCAA Tournament.
The selection show is set for Sunday, March 16, airing on ESPN. It will begin its bracket reveal at 8 p.m. ET. The first round will begin on March 21-22.
Charlie Creme of ESPN currently has the Lady Vols as the 5-seed in the Chapel Hill Regional hosted by North Carolina. That projection was prior to the loss to Vanderbilt, though.
