Kelley Cain was missing a great women’s basketball game and there wasn’t much she could do about it.
Tennessee’s 6-foot-6 center stood near the end of the Lady Vols’ bench like a lonely sentry, rocking from one foot to the other. After picking up two fouls in the first three minutes, nine seconds of the State Farm Tipoff Classic against Baylor, she went from a lead performer to a supporting role.
“Just cheering them on,’’ she said, referring to her teammates. “That’s all I could do.”
Cain was back in character after halftime and her presence was instrumental in the Lady Vols’ 74-65 comeback victory before a crowd of 12,824 Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena. She scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half. Seven came in the first 3 1⁄2 minutes, as No. 8 Tennessee converted a two-point deficit into a 36-26 lead. She also played a part in Baylor center Brittney Griner picking up three quick fouls. Suddenly, the roles were reversed for the two centers. The course of the game followed suit.
“Kelley Cain picked up two quick fouls and that handcuffed us,’’ UT coach Pat Summitt said. “But we had some people step in and do a good job. Last year when that happened, we struggled.”
No Lady Vol did more than point guard Shekinna Stricklen, who cobbled together an All-American-like performance with 25 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, five assists and three steals. After Baylor pulled within 62-55, the 6-foot-2 sophomore, who played the entire 40 minutes, swished a clutch baseline jumper with 4:41 left. She iced the outcome with four free throws in the final minute.
“When (Stricklen) makes those shots, it really picks up our team and lets us know that we’re still in it and that we aren’t going to let them come back,’’ Cain said.
Angie Bjorklund was Tennessee’s other double-figure scorer with 13 points.
Melissa Jones led No. 7 Baylor with 21 points, hitting all 10 of her free-throw attempts. Griner played 32 minutes and scored 15 points. She had three baskets but no dunks. Morghan Medlock had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The Lady Bears lost the battle of the boards 42-39 and committed a game-high 22 turnovers.
“It was a great way to start off the season, other than the loss,’’ Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said.
While UT didn’t expect to play without Cain for most of the first half, the Lady Vols did have an unusual defensive plan for Baylor. Concerned about the Lady Bears’ dribble penetration as well as Griner’s looming presence, UT opened in a zone alignment and rarely budged.
“That’s the first time in 36 years that we started in a zone and stayed with it throughout the game,’’ Summitt said. “How about that?’’
Mulkey considered the strategy to be a compliment.
“Let me say this: This basketball program at Baylor is gaining respect,’’ she said. “Have you ever watched a game where Pat Summitt only played two possessions of man-to-man defense? That’s respect.”
The zone didn’t prevent foul trouble as Baylor built an 11-0 edge at the foul line in the first half. And it couldn’t cover for the Lady Vols misfiring at a 28.9 percent clip (11 for 38) at the break.
“We didn’t have composure and we rushed at the opening of the game,’’ Summitt said. “I told them at halftime, ‘OK you can settle down now. Most of these people are cheering for you.”
As soon as Cain wasn’t one of those people, they were fine.
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Comments » 42
huntined#565710 writes:
Great win
GO VOLS!!
dbc5361 writes:
Women's basketball..... Yawn....
huntined#565710 writes:
IF YOU DON'T LIKE WBB GO ON TO BED AS IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE SLEEPY
ProwlinAndGrowlinSmokeyDog writes:
Way to go Lady Vols!!!Great Game!!!
I watched the whole thing and they look like a much improved team!!!!
Hounddog writes:
Great win Lady Vols! You got ir over a higher ranked program, good day for Tennessee.
Let's play basketball. Hounddog.
halloffamebowler writes:
Poor shooting at times.This team played well for the most part but also took minutes off at times.First game jitters maybe.Need to learn to finish their shot,especially in close.Proud of Kelly.She has gone through so much and never complained.Hope she makes it through the season without hurting her knee again.She was a beast at times tonight.Stricklen was unstopable in the second half.Baylor will have a real beast in Griner come tourney time.Glad we played them early.Really hope we do not have to face them come March.
utfpmd writes:
They play harder than our defense did Saturday!
dbc5361 writes:
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
huntined#565710 writes:
Griner will be a great player for them but as I see it Uconn and Stanford and those teams will have her in foul trouble real early. But no way to deny the fact that we would love to have her as a VOL
vols_fan_n_tx writes:
The Lady Vols have won more national championships than any other team sport at UT. If you're a Vol fan, support all sports. If not, move on and support another team. GBO!
huntined#565710 writes:
his mommy has put him in bed..
YankeeVol writes:
Loved watching Kelly Cain get so pumped up during the game. Loved watching Shekinna play like the powerhouse she is. Loved watching Amber Gray cheer from the bench. I hope all of these things are good signs for things to come.
hawkvol07 writes:
Lady Vols are looking good!
CTOWNICON writes:
Lady Vols are looking good! Although I am glad they got the win the thing that most impressed me was the heart and desire they showed to win. Shekinna is going to be an all-american if she keeps playing the way she played tonight. Proud of all the ladies, they played pretty good. Brewer and Cain were not scared and they took it to Griner, I appreciate that. Great win over a program ranked over lady vols. On another note, the commentator with Carolyn Peck the guy I can't remember his name but I got so sick of him talking about the early exit from last years tournament, he had to have said that about five times. Back to the court: how about that zone defense, it really was impressive. I hope to see a lot more of the zone throughout the season.
ladivolfan writes:
Shekinna rocks! Way to go Lady Vols!
LdyVolFaninKS writes:
I knew the refs wouldn't let our posts play...Brewer should have only had one, maybe two fouls. Same with Cain. Nice blocks by Brewer, she was quite impressive. They all played solid on both ends. Fun to watch these Lady Vols come together. Can't wait to see Baugh out there with them! I was also right in saying Griner can't go left, but she will still be a powerhouse and Kim will teach her to go left...
cumberlandVOL writes:
way to go ladies, i got a feeling this will be a good year
BigOrangeGhostHunter writes:
Mike, why don't you go troll around somewhere else? Your coach is a crybaby with no class, and you're team isn't playing in the National Championship yet, so spare us your stupid comments until UConn has done something!
AllforTenn writes:
Mike in Connecticut is entirely disconnected. Apparently he knows little about that of which he speaks. 1. "She is a poor free throw shooter." She only hit 9 of 10! Lots of great players have never won a high school championship - it usually takes more than one great player. As for Cain, apparently you didn't watch the game. I'll bet she can beat you one on one any time.
ladyvolsfan789 writes:
I was really impressed by the Lady Vols defense tonight. It was a good win for them, it showed that all that work they put into the offseason is starting to pay off and that they can still win if the shots aren't going in by playing good defense and crashing the boards.
CTOWNICON writes:
Uconn plays Northeastern a team nobody has ever heard of and we play the number 4 team in the country and win. Shows you just who is scared of competition. You got the nerve! You know nothing about this sport, you are just a wannabe and you're a pathetic fool! At least our first game was against a quality opponent and not a cupcake program like Northeastern. You can't stand the fact that Tennesse is on the rise and you know what that means. Uconn ain't all that great without Renee and it will show against Stanford. After Tina Charles and Maya Moore, Uconn has nothing. That Doty and that other girl together can't give you what Renee gave Uconn and its gonna show. Take a look at the games yall play throughout the season. After the few quality opponents you play, the rest of them are programs that probably could not beat a high school girls team. You play teams like Holy Cross, who is that? Of course you would beat those teams into the ground. You wanted so much for Baylor to beat Tennessee today, too bad. Your deep rooted hate for Pat Summitt and lady vols is alarming. Another thing is this, Tennessee is not chasing Uconn, its the other way around dodo bird. This is why you should not try to carry a conversation with this filthy piece of swine from Uconn because it always will be jealous of lady vol program, and jealous of Pat Summitt. I know you could just kill yourself it hurts you so that Tennessee won this game. When you turn that bottle up to ease the pain don't drive drunk through Connecticut like Diana did in Phoenix. By the way, did you go visit her in jail?
PureOrange writes:
What kind of boring life does anyone have that would cause them to think they should post such a negative attitude about one of our great teams.
The Lady Vols have been our most consistent winner over all these years, and they have set the standard that everyone else follows for achieving excellence.
If you don't like women's basketball, don't watch, but don't post about it either.
CTOWNICON writes:
Mike has a hard time giving any other school credit! He knows not what he speaks! He just likes to talk trash. Griner got most her points at the line as you stated and if that dummy was looking at the game he would have seen that as well. As far as his crack about Cain, he is just scared by her talent and he knows it can cause problems in the future for any program. He is just hurt that the lady vols won this game. Kelly will be a lot better than them steroid queens Geno producing in the long run. All she has to do is stay healthy!
BIGEJ writes:
Opinions vary..... as does shoe size. GO VOLS
tonyvick#213307 writes:
Mike wrote this in the summer, you can tell he didn't watch the game. Griner is going to be a great player even this year. I liked what I saw in Kamiko if she listens to Pat she's going to be special for us this year. I want to see more from Bjorkland and I still think Glory, with control, will be one of our top performers. I'm amazed at the soft and accurate hands of Cain, she is going to be our most needed player this year. It's hard to judge our 1st game but they did the things they needed to do to win the game which is a good characteristic of the past champion lady vols.
CTOWNICON writes:
Bipolar are we? Not long ago in some of your posts you critcized these same girls who won the game today. You have went so far as to say they are slow and they are the same team as last year and they will make another early exit from the tournament again this year and you hope they don't run across Uconn in the tournament and that Vicki and Kelly would reinjure themselves and so on. Now you come here and act as if you have supported them because they won this game and shows promise of having a good season. I just can't take fans like you.
rocky_topper writes:
It was a great game and a great crowd!
tonyvick#213307 writes:
Funny I thought she was going for that wizard-of-oz-tin-mannish kind of look with the Texas-big-hair thing. Just to think she gave one last look in the mirror before she left the hotel and silent said "Vasace ain't got nothing on me"
rockytopron writes:
Mikey boy - thanks for those useless comments I needed something to whip my "you know what" this morning.
reg_mza#219136 writes:
I was impressed by the energy that Stricklen brought. The first half she was like a prized fighter trying to feel out her opponent and in the second half she just rushed the champ (I say champ since they were ranked #4 and we were horrible by our own standards last year) with head and body blows which the champ couldn't take.
For someone that was in Pat's doghouse for lack of defense, Kamiko brought some energy and quick hands on D. Yes her feet get twisted and she can get beaten for not squaring up her shoulders and defending with a good base, but she didn't give up on any plays and I was impressed. Offensively she could progress to be a deadly weapon. That no look pass was impressive.
I was not all that impressed with Manning or Spani. They looked lost quite a bit yesterday and perhaps they were just not prepared enough for the speed of Baylor and they will improve but they seemed off yesterday.
Cain...do I really need to proceed further? She is the Lady Vol heart, to Baugh being their spirit, to Stricklen being their energy, to Bjorklund being their mind.
Not too bad Voltron, I mean Vols!
RockyTop1 writes:
BNM (Brown Nosed Mike) from UCONN I get so tired of your drivel. No real facts, just suck up comments on how GREAT Geno is, what a mantra.
Someday the TRUTH will come out on GENO and your world will come crashing down since you will have nothing left to hold on to.
Get a life and go drool on your UCONN website unless you have something of substance to "add" or "contribute"!
Griner will be a GREAT player just not this year! GO LADY VOLS!!
BigRMan writes:
GRiner is a diamond in the rough. After 4 years with Mulkey and Barmore, she will be the prime dynasty maker for some team (Mystics hopefully) in the WNBA! The Lady Vols have already progressed light years from last season. More cohesive team chemistry is evident, as is a more consistent flow to the offense. Cain looks like an entirely different player. Williams,great addition, Spani,Johnson, and Stricklen all look like they've made solid strides in improvement over the Summer and in practice. This year's edition of the LV's will be able to compete at a higher level over a 40 minute game span. I'm not saying NCAA title this year, but barring a slew of injuries, the LV's go well beyond the first round of the Tourney!
ps11824 writes:
“That’s the first time in 36 years that we started in a zone and stayed with it throughout the game,’’ Summitt said. “How about that?]]
Who said Pat couldn't change? That was a good call on D. Wish I could have watched the game from start to finish. Sneaking peaks on the job is not a good way to enjoy a game. However, what I did see of Cain looked promising.
I would love to see her and Baugh 100% healthy. That could be such an awesome duo. Whenever I think of all the doubters regarding recruiting, I need only remember the potential of this team as a healthy whole. Injury woes changed all that, but we may be assured there was no "lack of recruiting strategy" in play.
There, on the bench, IMO, is one heck of a leader/athlete, in Baugh. Whether she will ever be full go, is yet to be seen. But for now, a remarkable cheerleader. The way she gets into the game from the sidelines makes me want to play better. To me, she won the MVP of the '08 championship game after going down with injury.
I just wish this Lady Vol team success and good health this season. They deserve some good fortune after the torture they've endured. I'm onboard to the very end. GO LADY VOLS!
ORANGE5 writes:
Kamiko will be a star.
ladyvolsfan789 writes:
With Baugh healthy the Lady Vols would have such a ridiculously good inside-out game. A starting liineup of Stricklen, Baugh, Bjorkland, Cain, and Spani would be a force on both ends of the floor.
You could really see the depth that the Lady Vols had this game. Every single person we brought in to guard Griner ended up in foul trouble in the first half, but Coach Summit just brought in someone else and they played great defense.
Also, did anyone notice when Williams got two calls she didn't like and it looked like she might be frustrated, but she just went up to the reff and shook her hand? I thought that was kind of funny.
Bloodrunzorange writes:
Great effort put forth in the second half. Baylor is a good team. We needed that win to get started right. This will build up great confidence! You could tell, the Lady Vols were really trying hard! Go Vols and Great Win!
reachkim00 writes:
Great win for the ladies. I can see a huge difference already compared to last season, especially in defense and rebounding. Their confidence level is thru the roof and I'm loving that. If they keep this pace of improvements going game to game the end result will be as expected, National Championship. I am really excited about these girls and what they can and will accomplish. You can see the fight and determination in them and this Lady Vol fan is loving it! Keep it up ladies!
GO LADY VOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
johnlg00 writes:
Great game plan by Pat. I think the zone is the way to go all season, except maybe for a few minutes at a time when they might play small. Kelly Cain looks so assured in her post moves this year with wonderful touch on her shots. Shekinna was a flat-out marvel in every phase of the game. Everybody else missed way too many open shots, but battled hard otherwise.
Griner WILL be a star, especially if she always plays with those sorry refs. Apparently, no one can even stand next to her without getting called for a foul. Seriously, forget about dunking, she has a nice touch for a freshman--9 out of 10 at the line for the "poor free-throw shooter" and a couple of nice turn-around jumpers as well. She also covers a lot of space defensively.
For me, the most exciting, though not most decisive, play of the game came in the last minute or so. Baylor was rolling the ball up the floor to delay the clock from starting. Shekinna lunged flat-out for the ball, 10 feet or so in back-court and heading away from the action. Baylor made two quick passes for a shot from the right wing and Shekinna came flying in for the rebound. From flat on her face over 50' from the basket, she got back for the rebound of a quick shot! My jaw just dropped in amazement! If she and the other LVs can duplicate that effort all year, the season may well turn out better than most of us think right now.
oldvolsfan writes:
numnuts go play on inter state and see if you can dodge the trucks
ProwlinAndGrowlinSmokeyDog writes:
I agree with you on everything..I also noticed the mention about last year's tourney and I got sick of hearing it..I am trying to forget about it..Last night's game certainly helped!!
ProwlinAndGrowlinSmokeyDog writes:
I'm not surprised that you showed up..We obviously got your attention because you are on here posting....Don't you need to be concentrating on your own team instead of criticizing ours???
ps11824 writes:
johnlg, that was one of the plays I did get to see. If the team as a whole, displayed such hustle for the loose ball including rebounds, as Stricklen, we would have a lot to look forward to, and Pat might maintain a lower blood pressure. SS was really feeling it last night from what little I saw.
I caught a short glimpse at the opening minutes and it looked as if they were trying to play too fast and throwing up some junk. Nerves to start a big first game and hype does that oftentimes.
At one time I was watching from afar and noticed one of the players looking a lot like Candace Parker, not in style of play, but in body type. Which player was that, the one wearing long sleeves? I was momentarily taken aback by the sight.
I'm not at all pleasantly surprised to see mickeymouse trolling in here again. That rat just has an addiction to the Lady Vols, does it not? Why does rat not change its screen name to mikelovesOrangeblood?
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