Tennessee took less than four minutes to start a women’s basketball rout Wednesday night.
Finishing the job required a little more patience.
The Lady Vols needed to punch the reset button and reassess their strategy. Still, the end product was a one-sided 86-56 victory over Louisville before a crowd of 11,084 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
In the final warmup before Saturday’s showdown at No. 2 Stanford, three players scored in double figures for No. 3 Tennessee (9-0), led by Angie Bjorklund’s 19 points.
Shekinna Stricklen had 15 and Alyssia Brewer scored 12.
Brewer had a double-double with 10 rebounds. She and teammate Glory Johnson (10 rebounds) led a whopping 54-37 edge on the boards.
Every Lady Vol scored and played at least 12 minutes. Equally noteworthy, nobody logged more than Bjorklund’s 25 minutes.
“Coming off a big win is going to help us going into Stanford,’’ Bjorklund said.
Tennessee bolted to a 17-3 lead before the first media timeout at 15:56. The advantage grew to 20 points (23-3) 13:30 before halftime.
But over the next eight minutes, UT’s advantage shrank to seven at 31-24. What happened?
From UT coach Pat Summitt’s perspective, it was too much of a good thing. The Lady Vols extended their defense at the outset, resulting in seven quick turnovers by Louisville (6-4).
“When we have five players committed to going on the press, I love that,’’ Bjorklund said.
Stricklen said the team took its defensive cue from center Kelley Cain.
“I saw Kelley denying (the ball) all the way out to halfcourt,’’ Stricklen said. “We followed behind her.”
Cain’s aggressiveness, though, resulted in two early fouls and the 6-foot-6 redshirt sophomore spent the majority of the half on the sideline. At times, she was sitting on a stool at the end of UT’s bench with a towel around her neck, looking like a fighter waiting for the bell to ring.
While Cain’s 13 playing minutes sufficed against Louisville, she’ll need to be more involved Saturday for UT to slug it out with Stanford’s post game.
“We’re going to talk about it,’’ Summitt said. “People are going right at her. She’s just got to play on her feet and get her hands high and not move on screens.”
Summitt second-guessed herself for staying in the press too long. When Louisville wasn’t throwing away the basketball, the Cardinals had their moments.
“I’m not saying I’m a smart coach, but I know if you don’t shoot it’s hard to score,’’ Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “. . . Once we figured out it’s a better idea to throw it to your own team, we did some good things. We started to score.”
Specifically, Becky Burke started to score. The 5-foot-11 sharpshooter led the Cardinals’ comeback by swishing four of her seven 3-pointers and scoring 13 of her game-high 23 points in the first half.
The Lady Vols recovered before the break, restoring order with a 43-29 lead. They then reasserted themselves in familiar fashion after halftime.
“Coach emphasized getting the ball inside and keeping our energy up,’’ Bjorklund said.
Five of Tennessee’s first 10 baskets of the second half were either layups or from close range. By that point, the lead had ballooned to 67-40 and the reserves were in charge until closing time.
“It’s good just to know our whole team can help,’’ Johnson said.
On the trip out West today, Summitt will focus on one particular part of the team in advance of playing Stanford.
“On our flight to California, our three posts are going to be sitting with me watching film,’’ Summitt said. “I know they’re thrilled. I’m sure Lyssi Brewer is crying about it right now. I think this is quality time for us.”
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Comments » 29
VolInIndy writes:
Go Lady Vols - love the depth
CTOWNICON writes:
Way to go lady vols! Brewer seems to have had a good game. Angie didn't waste anytime getting her game back. Wish I could have seen this aerial show but sportsouth had other plans more like hockey. Now lets go on to Stanford, which will be a bit more difficult, but you can win!
nadio1987 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
CTOWNICON writes:
Thanks for the update, I will check it out.
LdyVolFaninKS writes:
I was able to watch it on Direct TV...there were 2 alternate channels that showed it live. Good game, but Louisville is NOT a very good team!!
CTOWNICON writes:
I figured as much. Without Angel carrying them last year they would have been lost. One question, well I guess I will see later on, but how did Becky get to hit all of those three pointers. Where was the problem on defense with that?
dwa7#337691 writes:
I watched it on SportSouth here in Bristol VA. Ladies looked pretty good. Sid Smallbone actually played very well and got 8! BUT>>>>>>>>alas.........prediction:
Stanford 78
Lady Vols 74 in a close one!
V_O_L_S_GO_VOLS_GO writes:
Big game Saturday. This could end up being a HUGE momentum booster. GO BIG ORANGE!!
hcjournals#206623 writes:
We can go undefeated if we stay humble, hungry and focused....
hcjournals#206623 writes:
Did ya'll hear me? I said undefeated. We have that much talent and desire......And, yes that includes UConn......
CTOWNICON writes:
The lady vols can beat Stanford! It will be tough but they can do it! Pat is already working it out! Get those Post ready to do battle!
reg_mza#219136 writes:
It will be sincerely difficult to stop a very well trained, well honed, and veteran lineup like Stanford but I think we can take them. Stanford does very well when everything is in front of them and they can see what is coming at them both offensively and defensively. However they struggle with unknowns, X factors, and players that just turn it up a few notches that they do not expect. Stricklen, Cain, Johnson, and even Brewer have that X factor ability to keep Stanford on their heels and unsteady. Now whether they bring that flavor at Stanford remains to be seen but I think we can take down #2. Go Lady Vols!
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
I have Directv too and ran a scan search for the game and it did not show up. Now I wish I had just gone through the screen menu and I would have been able to watch. Thanks for the info. I have learned a valuable lesson, those searches are not always realiable. Sorry I missed it. Lady Vols now go beat Stanford!!! LV...TCB....Keep on Keeping on......GBO!!!
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
Before anybody gets me, I just realized that I did not spell reliable correctly. OOOOOOOOPPPPPS!
LV..TCB...Keep on keeping on....GBO!!!
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
.......but Lady can't spell, got myself again!..LadyKnowsSports needs to go to bed!! LV..TCB..Keep on keepin on...GBO!
tonyvick#213307 writes:
...still showing hockey, damn. I need to let go cable.
xvolx writes:
Dish had the game on Alt. 421. When lady vols started switching on man to man instead of fighting thru screens, 3 pt. shooters were shut down. Lousville is not a good team, except for Burke. The switching stopped her. Brewer was chewed out the whole game by Summitt. Manning played hard every minute. Bjorkland was hot and cold. Johnson was solid on off. and def. Appears that they sometimes go into last year spurts. shooting up bricks at times from FT line. They just need to play 40 minutes and they should be fine.
BigRMan writes:
Saturday's upcoming contest with Stanford will be a tough test for the youthful, but maturing LVS. We all would be elated with a win, but regardless let's hope the team continues to progress. According to the pollsters the Lady Cardinal is second only to UCON so the LVS will REALLY be able to guage how far they've come vs. a quality opponent. Hope Cain is able to play more than 13 minutes. Coach Summitt likely will need Kelley's best effort to try and contain Appel. Best wishes to the LVS. Go Orange, hit 'em with your best shot!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
You might be right. The LVs have had a number of close and/or improbable wins over Stanford over the years. Stanford HAS to get lucky sometime. Of course, they are helped in this by having a very good team. Hope our gals show up to play. A loss won't kill them if they show fight throughout, while a win would REALLY be a feather in their cap. GO LADY VOLS!!!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Sounds good to me! I would help a LOT to get Vicky Baugh back healthy in the next few weeks. The longer it takes for her to get back, the less likely she will be a major factor for the team this year.
richvol writes:
The girls will never be able to beat UCONN if they continue to miss point blank layups like they did all night against Louisville. We must have missed at least 10.
We are playing better than last year and I see a lot of promise in this squad.
Has anyone seen an estimation on when Baugh might be returning? As pointed out previously,she may not be very effective at this point. Is she practicing?
BigRMan writes:
Direct TV huh? Where's your dish? I'll bet you freeze your hump off every time it snows and the wind blows your picture out! I'd like to see you on the roof adjusting and turning the dish. That ought to be on Comedy Central!
VolunteerLifer writes:
I didn't see the game last night, but its good to read that Brewer is gaining confidence and playing time. The youth of the perimeter players means that the inside game becomes critical to success. With Baugh an unknown this season, having a one-two punch like Cain and Brewer at the low post is essential for success.
Go Lady Vols. Good game. A thirty point win is always a good thing.
VolunteerLifer writes:
Maybe, maybe not. But we do have the coach that will allow us to compete with and beat UConn as soon as our team matures. And you know that. And that's the reason you are on these boards.
CTOWNICON writes:
Every team Uconn has played thus far is worse than Louisville! Your team has beaten very bad teams all season long, and you got the nerve to be proud of that! The lady vols are the best, the blueprint of womens basketball. Live with it, or die trying!
CTOWNICON writes:
What do you have? Tennessee has more victories, more championships than Uconn so if anything Uconn is Tennessee's child. Tennessee pulled that program out of the dugout and brought it into the limelight. Tennessee wants to be nothing like Uconn, a program that produces drunk atheletes-Diana Taurasi, makes me wonder if she was in Connecticut when they had that 50 car pile up driving drunk. That school is pathetic, no program would ever want to be like that.
camvols writes:
Do we not deserve to be ranked ahead of UCONN if we beat Stanford Saturday? Who have they played? Just a young overated Texas team.
ProwlinAndGrowlinSmokeyDog writes:
The following is directed towards MIC:(I figured that I would do it this way instead of responding directly yo your usual drivel.)
1.Talk about playing some bad teams, UConn's schedule has been full of them this year.So you have a lot of room to talk...AND let me know when you actually play a real team with some real competition!
2. National Championship's as of 2009: UT has 8 and UConn 6...so now tell me who is whose little sister???
3.)UConn hasn't beaten UT in the regular season since the drunk Taurasi graduated...So when you say that UConn owns Tennessee, it is only in your warped "little" mind as your adjusting your TV dish in the freezing cold.
4. I have plenty of bad things to say about Geno, but I will spare you on that one...So I will be a little nicer to you than you are us Lady Vol fans and not bad mouth your coach like you do ours and our team....
5.)You make it impossible for me to show your team any respect of their accolades because of your arrogant,self-centered attitude..Maybe if you show some respect, you may get some respect in return..BUT for some reason, I don't see that happening..
CTOWNICON writes:
Spare me! As if you deserve any class to be shown to you! Don't blame me because Diana has a problem drinking! Bottoms up! Chug-a-lug! Down the hatch! Drink up!
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