Time was conspiring against Tennessee’s Shekinna Stricklen. But space remained on her side.
With the first half of Thursday’s game against Middle Tennessee State winding down, the Lady Vols freshman forward had little choice but to take aim and fire away on a 27-foot attempt.
“I like that range,’’ she said.
Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt had something a little more high percentage in mind.
“I was suggesting she get a little closer,’’ she said. “We’re not going to practice that shot in practice very often.”
Regardless of their differences, both parties agreed on the impact of Stricklen’s buzz-beater, which hit nothing but net and served as a fitting highlight for UT’s 81-52 victory at Thompson-Boling Arena.
“We went in the locker room and everyone was fired up about it,’’ said Stricklen, who finished with a team-high 20 points.
Once again, she was right on target.
“I think a shot like that definitely is a feel-good shot,’’ Summitt said.
No. 7 Tennessee (7-1) had plenty more like it, albeit of a more conventional variety. The Lady Vols shot a season-best 51.7 percent from the floor (31 for 60). Their 40 percent accuracy on 3-pointers (6 for 15) tied for second-best overall.
Middle Tennessee State (5-4) had a shooting star of its own in forward Alysha Clark, who converted 11 of 21 attempts and scored a game-high 28 points. But the Blue Raiders couldn’t match Tennessee’s firepower.
“I thought they played a lot better than I saw on film,’’ MTSU coach Rick Insell said.
The biggest difference he noticed was UT’s field goal accuracy.
“Some of those looks they got, they weren’t as open as they looked,’’ Insell said. “We had a hand on the ball, in their face. They were able to go up and hit shots.”
Sophomore Angie Bjorklund backed up Stricklen by scoring 16 points. Freshman Glory Johnson added 11.
Those three joined freshman point guard Briana Bass and sophomore forward Vicki Baugh to comprise the youngest starting five in program history. This group beat out the rookie trio of Tamika Catchings, Semeka Randall and Teresa Geter, who started with juniors Kellie Jolly and Chamique Holdsclaw during the 1997-98 season.
The distinction inspired a bold claim by the 5-foot-2 Bass.
“I think that we, as a team, are about to shock the world,’’ she said. “Even though we are young, we are about to bring some heat. So they had better get ready for us.”
The Lady Vols were ambitious in the first half. Stricklen’s jumper provided a 41-23 lead at the break.
Tennessee built its advantage to 53-27 early in the second half but then scored just two points during the next eight minutes, two seconds.
Clark, meanwhile, wasn’t resting. The 5-10 junior put her quickness and determination to good use while her teammates kept delivering the basketball.
“Cagey, isn’t she?’’ Insell said.
Tennessee deployed multiple defenders on Clark. Most of them were at least four inches taller. Still, Clark couldn’t be overshadowed.
“I’ve always played against bigger girls,’’ she said. “I know that I can’t shoot over them, so I have to use my quickness and my mind to work around them.”
The Lady Vols’ best strategy was to outnumber the MTSU star. They rebuilt their lead and then some despite playing without point guard Cait McMahan, whose right knee has been acting up lately.
Baugh pulled herself after playing four minutes in the second half. She had ice on her surgically repaired left knee.
“She told me she wanted to come out,’’ Summitt said. “If she’s feeling any pain whatsoever, she has the option of pulling herself.”
Insell still saw enough Lady Vols to compare them favorably to No. 5 Oklahoma, which beat the Blue Raiders 85-65 on Nov. 19.
“I felt like Tennessee gave us more problems and challenges than Oklahoma,’’ Insell said. “They ran more people at us.”
Old school: Archived photos of UT…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 19
xvolx writes:
this is not a 40 minute team. they take possessions off or 1/2 possessions off. when they play a good team like texas, they will pay for this type play.
ncvol writes:
The Lady Vols were pretty good. Angie and Striklen looked awful good. They have a tough challenge in Texas next game.
Go Vols!
mad_poly_uct writes:
Actually I think it's the other way around. It's Texas who has the tough challenge.Haven't had chance to see Vols yet, but from what I can glean from the web, this is going to be a very, very tough team come March. Kind of reminds me of the '96-97 team, just no Holdsclaw type has yet stepped up.Geez, Louise, I sure hope I'm wrong!:) Good luck!
Titan writes:
I wish Clark was a Lady Vol. An impressive individual performance. Hustle every time down the court on both ends.
BigOrangeVol writes:
Poor Rick is working with a one-man show in Clark. Brown got 11 but the rest of the Lady Blue Raiders were AWOL. Pickel had 6, Lymon had 5, Garrett had 2 and the rest of the five players got goose eggs. Only five players had rebounds. I really thought they would put up more of a fight.
Props to Kelley who only saw the floor for 13 minutes but scored 8 points, pulled down 5 boards, blocked 2 shots and grabbed a steal; that’s being productive!
Amber got 8 points in 8 minutes. Shekinna was obviously the MVP tonight with 20 points, 6 caroms, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block.
It’s the Pack the House Challenge and you can bet that the Erwin Center will be stuffed Sunday with 17K burnt orange ‘horn fans. The Lady Vols will be the toughest competition Texas will have the rest of the season until the Tournament so we can be sure that they’ll be ready to play. Their schedule thus far has been tougher than ours and they are 8-0. The Lady Horns have an excellent defense as well. Their shooting behind the arc is 40%+, 50% from the floor, 71% from the stripe and they have a rebound margin AVERAGE of +13.
They are led in scoring by Junior 2-Guard, Britt Raven with a 17-point average. Senior Point Guard, Carla Cortijo is an assist/steal machine! The two 6’-4” Ashley’s are legit shot blockers. The Lady ‘horns are 11 deep and they don’t foul-out! I’ve never been a Goestenkors fan at all but she and Mickie have one heck of a team with 4 Seniors; 3 Juniors; 1 Sophomore and 3 Freshmen. If our girls can pull off a win in Austin it would be HUGE!!!
These next five games are going to be brutal especially with four of them being on the road. We’ll really see what our girls are made of in the next three weeks.
adimatteo#261830 writes:
nice job, tough stretch ahead, and Ims ure if/when they lose an away game here and there in the stretch some will forecast the earth ending, program done, Pat quiting,e tc.
Reality is, a top notch group of girls, remendous talent, lot to learn there will be ups and downs, more ups then downs, and a year to develop, and grow.
Always behing the lady Vols, some people just get spoiled with all the past sucess, they will do fine.
WilliamDawes writes:
Interesting experiment last night. With Cait McMahan out, Pat used Freshman 6-1 Forward Alicia Manning as a point guard whenever Bass needed a breather. Last night, anyway, those "possessions off" were usually the result of a freshman fish out of water trying to direct an offense.
Alicia has a long way to go to make the transition to guard, but she's got a great teacher. If she sticks it out, she has the basic skill set you're looking for - good ball handling, good jump shot, and can hit the 3. At 6'1, she'd make one heck of a challenge for opposing point guards. But right now, she's got a lot of work to do on perimeter defense, court vision, and passing. Last night, the offense was sluggish in the half court and had too many turnovers when number 15 was taking her turn at the point, but December is a long way from March and she's only a Frosh... so there's no sense shutting down the experiment just yet. Something about the way she played that spot last night reminded me of Debbie Scott. I just hope she doesn't come down with a bad case of homesickness like Debbie did.
rockytopron writes:
Another good win for a growing and learning team. These young lady Vols are going to be special when they get things in order.
Go Lady Vols!
dwolfcreek#397971 writes:
insel stole her from Belmont ,COURSE THATS WHY HE'S GOT MTSU JOB ,, RECRUITING PLAYERS TO SHELBYVILLE .
richvol writes:
Manning could be a very good point if she would get lean enough to run for 40 minutes...she is clever with the ball in her hands. She and Bass would be a great tandem. Cait is too erratic.
Cain is out of shape but has tremendous upside. If she would eat right and put enough time in the weight room she could dominate this league.
A lot of talent on this team...Glory and Shekinna give great effort.
KCHS63 writes:
Debbie Scott homesick? Don't you mean sick of sharing time with Lisa Harrison? One of the two reasons the '90 squad missed out on being part of WBB's first three-peat.
utbacker writes:
You guys have been around the program and seen a lot over the years with these kinds of situations. How do you all see it playing out with this UT team? If they all stick it out and fight through the adverstity (is it possible?)... how many championships do you think this group can legitimately win?
DroopyDrawers writes:
Easily two. I like Manning at the point. She has a lot of BB smarts and is 6'1".
She and Bass could split the time and no drop off. Bless Cait, but her knees won't let her get into the flow.
fortandrews writes:
I'll wait until after the Texas game but you can see the job Pat is doing in getting these "kids" ready to play "big time". They have come along way since the first game. Everybody likes to talk about how they are playing but ALL the credit must go to Pat and her staff. Pat gas done one hell of a job with this team. Thank you Pat.
ps11824 writes:
It was about this time last season when Lady Vols fans started screaming and wailing about a loss to Stanford. The comments were riddled with 'dire straits' for Pat and her squad. Let's stay real and stay positive for a few more days in 2008. Yes we may give up some tough games on the road, We will need to play some fantastic ball to win out this stretch of games we are facing, brutal schedule it is.
I still like Brewer. She just seems like the kind of quiet assassin we need coming off the bench. As for Gray, she just need to get really loose and let her game come to her. It's there. We've seen flashes of it. There's tons of potential dressed in TN Orange. Yes, utbacker, it is possible and probable that this bunch of Baby Vols will grow up before our very eyes. The main thing is to keep them healthy. Stop banging heads and knees. Get some body armor on those kids, knee pads and ankle braces. Shucks, if the bigs will keep their heads up (and the ball) there won't be any head banging done.
I love this team. I seriously believe they can be one of the best in the country and one of the best Pat has ever had without the so-called 'superstar' status. Before anyone jumps on this statement I'll admit they have a ways to go yet. I feel like the reason they are sketchy at this time as far as shooting woes and lapses in D is due to the fact Pat is implementing so much stuff. They have been taken to the largest 'basketball buffet' ever, and Pat has said "try some of everything."
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
98, the comments about Stanford last season stressed 2 things, both very accurta:
-Anosike was fat, useless, and overmatched by Jayne Appel, and needed to get her butt in gear for the NCAA run (which she did)
=the team was leaning on Candace too much. this proved to be true as well. The 'unloss' to Rutgers and the loss to LSU proved that out. Credit goes to Auguste, Anosike, Hornbukle, and Bobbitt for stepping up in the end, along with a bit of Baugh help.
As for this year: Cait and Fuller are marginal, need to just go ahead and sit it out. I know local fans love Cait, but she's never shown much to me. As for Fuller, she is a role player. Period.
Kelley Cain nedds to learn to dominate. She is our one 'unmatched' player, and she's got to get the fire going. We really need her for big 'go-to' baskets, and to break down other teams zone pressure.
Oh well, JMHO.
mississippi writes:
Time will only tell but last night was very impressive
ncvol writes:
Anosike may have been slightly overweight but she still could muscle her way on the court and play some basketball.
I think all our girls will put forth the effort and perform for the L.Vols this
year. Go Vols!
dwolfcreek#397971 writes:
insell is as good as the girls he gets any way he can , usually illegal , but he gets away with it . you think that makes him cool .you must be one of his lap dogs .
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