NORFOLK, Va. — Tennessee already knew the devastating impact of pressure defense.
The Lady Vols took the court Sunday against Old Dominion with the damage caused by Georgetown last weekend still vivid in their minds. They have some fresh memories after a 74-44 women’s basketball thrashing of the Lady Monarchs before a crowd of 7,774 at the Constant Center. They’re much better, too.
The strategy that caused them to commit 29 turnovers and stumble to a 69-58 loss at the Paradise Jam was their best asset eight days later, disrupting Old Dominion while providing some much-needed tempo and offensive traction.
“Watching tape on (ODU) and understanding how they push the ball really hard in the open floor,’’ UT coach Pat Summitt said, “we thought just because of our length — we’re long and rangy — that we could have a better impact.
“I thought the team made it work.”
After a lumbering start, No. 9 Tennessee (8-1) opened an 18-point halftime lead and then surged again in the final 10 minutes. Freshman guard Meighan Simmons scored a team-high 14 points, extending her streak of double-figure scoring games to start her UT career to nine. She matched former Lady Vol Candace Parker’s double-figure scoring debut.
Shekinna Stricklen, in her new role as a forward, scored 11 points and Kamiko Williams had 10.
Senior guard Jasmine Parker scored a game-high 16 points for Old Dominion (3-3), surpassing 1,000 career points. But she was more preoccupied afterward with her 10 turnovers, which amounted to nearly half of the Lady Monarchs’ 22. She suffered the most at the hands of Tennessee’s defenders.
“I had a lot of unforced turnovers,’’ Parker said. “Just taking care of the ball was the Achilles’ heel for me and also for my teammates. I wish we had some of those possessions back.”
UT’s zone press often deployed 6-foot-3 forward Glory Johnson on the front of the alignment and had multiple defenders lurking around half court like hungry predators, waiting to trap the ball or disrupt its passage.
The Lady Vols went to their press about seven minutes into the game with their lead a tenuous 8-7. By halftime, they had accumulated half of their 20 points off turnovers and their advantage had ballooned to 40-22.
“It kind of determined their offense and it kind of made them rush a little bit,’’ said Johnson of the pressure. “I think it made their guards a little uneasy.
“Their (forward) taking the ball out, she didn’t really like to dribble as much so it made them change the way they were taking the ball out and how they were pushing it.”
Old Dominion was playing without starting forward Alena Voronina, the team’s third-leading scorer (10.2 points per game). She suffered an elbow injury in last Tuesday’s game at Florida.
“I’m not telling you that was the difference in the game,’’ ODU coach Wendy Larry said. “I’m just saying we weren’t really, really comfortable.”
The Lady Vols’ defense covered for their ongoing offensive adjustments. They committed 18 turnovers (13 in the first half). Simmons, who finished with a team-high four assists, lamented some of the opening acts of her second start at point guard.
“In the beginning, I was a little overanxious,’’ she said. “I turned the ball over a couple times. I was rushing things.”
Summitt conceded, “We’re going through some growing pains.”
The latest installment apparently wasn’t overly painful for the coach, however. She teased Johnson afterward in the interview room about “reaching and fouling” more than scold her. She took the same approach with Simmons in talking about her “playing out of control a little bit.”
And when asked about Williams, who had three steals, Summitt cracked up Simmons and Johnson by saying, “(Kamiko) found a pulse.”
“All in all,’’ said Summitt, “it was a really good win for us.”
Oregon sends Lady Vols home from…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 21
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
Did not see the game, it was blocked out in my area, but listened to it on Yahoo sports. Hard to complain with this blow-out. Simmons, Williams, and Strick played well. We still need to work on TO's and get a court leader. With Baugh not getting much PT, I vote Simmons and/or Johnson. Kamiko is really coming into her on this year. Angie had 0 points in first half, but did knock down a couple in the 2nd half.
We are going to have to play much better overall as a TEAM. I'm sure Pat will figure it out before we play Texas. Nice win ladies, but still much work to do.
LADY VOLS.....TCB.......KOKO.....GBO!!!!
ladivolfan writes:
I chose not to watch the gametracker during the game. It is now halftime on the game delay on CSS. I'm not surprised at the end results. My primary question is answered: Angie didn't show up in the second half either. These girls simply must get it together at the same time. If they can do that they will be unbeatable.
SoddyVol writes:
I think Cain still hasn't recovered from injury. It doesn't seem to matter that the rebound is closer to Cain, the opponent still gets to it quicker. Other than that, the team has a few very quick players. At times (just not enough) their play is good enough to beat Any current team.
PINK_CHAMPAGNE writes:
Simmons continues to impress! What a gift for the team! Glory's stats may not show it, but she had a pretty good game as well. The team shook off the slow start and got the win.
I am concerned about Angie! She seems hesitant with her shot at times. In the first half,she was invisible! If Angie is not open, she does not work hard enough to get open. If Angie would pump fake, step in and take the jumper, she would score more, I think. Defenders know she is a three point specialist, she is going to have to add something to her game. She can shoot the pull up jumper. I have seen her do it. Come on Angie! This team needs you! The players also need to help her out, and set more screens. I am still not seeing screens being set, as much as they should be.
Kamiko had a good game! Stricklen is going to get more comfortable down low, and she will be a nightmare for another teams defense with her skill set.
My other concern is our post players are not seeing much playing time. Kelly played in the second half. Vicki also played. The commentator asked about it, and he said that Pat said that they were all healthy. They are still rusty, from not playing much. My concern is, they have to go to Texas rusty, and face Texas and Baylor. Two tough games. That starting linuep they have been using, there is no one on that floor to defend Griner. If we think for one minute, that at Baylor, they are going to let the lady vols push Griner like Uconn players did, we have another thing coming. I hope practice over the next few days will help Vicki and Kelly to shake the rust, because to me, they are the one's who will have to defend Griner. Everybody else is just to undersized to defend her, on her homecourt. Forget how Uconn played her, that was on their homecourt. Lady Vols will be in hostile territory, and the whistles aren't always kind!
RLL59 writes:
Old Dominion had no inside game and shot poorly from the outside. The only way they could score was to have their guards drive by overguarding Lady Vol defenders and pass off to an open shooter when they got into the paint. Near the end of the game when the Lady Vols went to a zone, Old Dominion had no way to score. I think by that time Coach Summitt was using the rest of the game to prepare for Texas.
Regarding setting picks to open up a 3 point shooter like Angie, the Lady Vols have rarely ever used it in their offensive patterns. It's not exactly the most complicatedt play to learn, so it must be the coaching staff's choice not to routinely use it.
Overall, the Lady Vols played a good game. It's interesting to note that both Kamiko and Meighan will on occasion bring the ball all the way up the court and shoot a jump shot early in the shot clock. You never see Angie or Shekkina, or the other guards do that. Not saying there's anything wrong with it; it's just that it's something Coach Summitt has rarely tolerated.
wigmeister writes:
No consistency from too many players. Simmons is great and consistent, game after game. Johnson is beginning to elevate her game. Stricklen may be alright after she settles in to her new position. Williams is improving. Never know which Angie is showing up. They will make the big dance. But once they get through the first or second round, unless all the players play with intensity for the whole game, this type of play will catch up to them. I hope Georgetown wasn't a precursor to the future. You notice I never even bothered to mention our post players.
flatrock writes:
To borrow from last year: give the ball to Kamiko!
The girl has game.
Would also help if screens were set to get Angie open.
JUSTHOOPIN writes:
What people don't pay attention to is that yes you would think Simmons is consistent but if you shoot the ball almost everytime you touch it, of course you should makes some shots. Look at the stats, 9 of 20 or 6 of 18, with these type of stats, I'm suprised that the team hasn't lost a few more games. Pat has created this problem and it is going to bite her in the end. The go to player Angie doesn't get as much touches as one would think. Pat has everything running through the freshman Simmons but when the defense stops her the team gets stuck. The athletes seem to be so frustrated with Pat so they just shut down.
As for Johnson & Stricklen, these players have proven themselves already but now they just would like to receive some touches of the ball as well.
As for Williams, again everyone thinks this kid can't play because Pat has made it known that she is only focused on the McDonald All-Americans but again when you check the stats, this kid is actually leading in all areas from the guard position such as shooting pct, rebounding, assist to turnover ratio. I've been saying it over and over again, Pat only uses Kamiko when her star players are in trouble which is most of the time when the competition becomes to much for them. Once the team gets the lead, you will notice how she takes Kamiko out of the game and then it's back to padding the stats of those stars who are not putting in the work to get them to the position they are in.
It's a shame though that still to this day Pat is playing towards the political aspect of the game. If this doesn't change, I don't think we will be ready for the challenges that lie ahead during the NCAA tournament.
JUSTHOOPIN writes:
I've been saying this from day one. Pat needs to stop the craziness and let the young lady play. As you can see, the team plays so much better when Kamiko is at the point and she definitely finds the open man with no issues.
1volk-nowi-tall writes:
Angie carried this team for a couple of years. Good to see that she has some help now. I believe she gets too much criticism. She remains a leader on this team with her unselfish play. She will get more open shots as opponents learn that they will have to defend Simmons and Williams from the drive to the basket. They will begin to kick it out to AB. Angie is not gifted with extreme quickness but she is blessed with high BB IQ and a great shooting touch. Good assist to TO ratio as well. Get off her back and accept her strengths. She draws the best defender from every opponent and they know that they must hang on to her all over the floor. Our own turnovers and our inability to prevent the opponents from driving for easy layups concern me more. Must continue to work on getting arms straight up in defending as well. We give the refs too many opportunities to call fouls even if we don't commit them. The bigs may not have recovered enought to sustain much time on the court, but we can win without too much from them. Most teams that have beaten us in the past were not bigger than us. In women's BB shooting skills, ball handling and quickness will deliver victories. We can rebound with the smaller players as well..
RLL59 writes:
Good analysis. Regarding easy drives to the basket, most occur because of overguarding a quicker opponent who hasn't picked up her dribble. It's clearly a Coach Summitt strategy, but it requires coordinated help from teammates, and for whatever reason, the Lady Vol defenders consistently are late or absent.
25vol writes:
Please , coaches consider this lineup !CAIN,BAUGH AT POSTS STRICT AND JOHNSON ON THE WINGS AND SIMMONS (WILLIAMS) AT POINT . Height, quickness and speed. Great defense and rebounding ! ! ! !
BBhoops writes:
JUSTHOOPIN, Are you jealous or what?
BBhoops writes:
Got to be jealous.Get over it!!!!
stratocaster54 writes:
The scoreboard showed it as a romp, but I wasn't impressed with the way the LV played. I thought they lacked concentration, made poor decisions and won just based on their overwhelming size and athleticism. I’ve also noticed that a lot of the team (counting only those past their 1st semester) didn’t have the torch. In the past, all Pat’s players had good grades. I don’t know if there is a correlation or not, but they need to learn to play at a high level every play and all game.
bsimpg3 writes:
Does anyone think Coach Summit renews the UT/UCONN series? I'd love to see it, especially with the men playing UCONN this year. Personally, I don't think it happens, at least until Maya Moore graduates.
ps11824 writes:
JUSTHOOPIN writes: ....It's a shame though that still to this day Pat is playing towards the political aspect of the game. If this doesn't change, I don't think we will be ready for the challenges that lie ahead during the NCAA tournament.]]
I don't like your tone. You constantly dis Coach. If you don't like her, what makes you think your comments have any validity? Your bias is all that one can glean from your comments.
I'm not sure what 'the political aspect of the game' is... maybe you could explain sans the anti-Pat flavor.
"....I've been saying this from day one. Pat needs to stop the craziness and let the young lady play. As you can see, the team plays so much better when Kamiko is at the point and she definitely finds the open man with no issues.]]]
Kamiko has some turnover issues too. Yes, she runs a good offense at times and she has a decent pull-up jumper, but she's not the savior either.
mad_poly_uct writes:
No.
PINK_CHAMPAGNE writes:
It will take a team effort to win games. It will take players playing in the right positions, to run a good offense. It will take players committed to defense, to stop opposing teams offense. It will take players who aren't afraid of the big moment, to win games. It will take players who play hard, every play, regardless of mistakes made.
Simmons has had her success, and I hope she continues. Angie has had her success, and I hope she finds her game again, soon. I hope Stricklen can thrive playing in her new role. I hope Glory continues to improve her scoring, and continues to rebound like crazy. I hope the post players can get healthy, and receive more playing time,and make a difference when they are on the court.
I don't think any of the players are jealous of Simmons success. They have said that they like the way she plays. Kamiko is a fine talent, and she makes a difference when she is on the court. There is no conspiracy theory to keep the ball from Angie, by Simmons or Pat. Simmons just happens to be a multi-talented player. Angie just happens to be a spot up shooter, and a good one. But Angies's skills are limited. Angie needs to add to her game, something other than just the three. Or she can just settle for being the role player that she is. It is up to Angie, to refine her game. No one can make her. But at the same time,as fans,don't be jealous of the other players because they have a better skill set. No player is equal in skills. Angie is the best at shooting three's. Simmons just happens to be good at doing it all. Both are fine players to have on the team, and so is Kamiko. There is enough room for playing time, for those who will earn it.
PINK_CHAMPAGNE writes:
I am also curious to know what the political aspect of the game is!
ps11824 writes:
Anyone who thinks Pat and conspiracy in the same context is really from another planet.
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