Tennessee’s Glory Johnson did the math beforehand, figuring that she had to help cover for three missing teammates.
Afterward, the statisticians and record keepers were left to account for the Lady Vols’ junior forward, who did the work of three players and more in an 81-55 SEC women’s basketball victory over Mississippi State on Thursday night.
Johnson delighted a crowd of 11,148 at Thompson-Boling Arena by scoring a career-high 22 points and breaking new personal ground for assists (seven) and blocks (4), too. The 6-foot-3 junior’s 18 rebounds matched her career best.
Freshman guard Meighan Simmons summed up her teammate’s performance by saying “Glory’s a beast.”
As if for emphasis, Simmons added a “Glory B” as Johnson’s stat line was recounted in the interview room afterward.
“Just staying confident with my shot,’’ said Johnson, who was 8-for-14 from the field. “I know I harp on everyone else maintaining their confidence.”
Johnson’s sixth double-double of the season helped carry No. 5 Tennessee (20-2, 8-0 SEC), which was missing starting guard Angie Bjorklund (foot injury) and Kelley Cain (illness). Reserve guard Lauren Avant also missed the game because of illness.
All five Lady Vols in Tennessee’s revamped starting lineup scored in double figures. Taber Spani had 18 points and Simmons scored 12. Kamiko Williams and Shekinna Stricklen had 10 points apiece. Stricklen also had 10 rebounds to record her seventh double-double of the season.
Diamber Johnson scored 19 points to lead Mississippi State (8-11, 0-7)
The Lady Vols also had to cover for a misspent first half on defense. During the first 20 minutes, Mississippi State, which came into the game shooting 28 percent from long range and averaging five 3-pointers per game, made seven treys and shot 58.3 percent, leading by as many as eight points.
“We didn’t pick them up early; we were lazy,’’ UT coach Pat Summitt said. “That was a very immature team in the first half. They knew that Mississippi State hadn’t won a game in the conference this season and thought that this would be a cakewalk.
“… We took them lightly until halftime. And halftime wasn’t lightly.”
At halftime, Tennessee trailed for just the third time this season, 37-35. Lady Bulldogs Johnson, Mary Kathyrn Govero and Porsha Porter combined to match UT’s scoring, shooting a collective 14 for 29 from the floor.
Simmons said that the Lady Vols weren’t communicating on defense, which resulted in players getting caught on screens.
While Summitt was shaking the walls in the locker room, Spani recalled some words of advice from assistant coach Dean Lockwood: “We are the ones that dictate their shots.”
“We weren’t doing that at all in the first half,’’ Spani said. “That’s not who we are. That’s not who we pride ourselves on being. Thirty-seven points in a half for anyone against us is unacceptable.”
After the break, the Lady Vols located Mississippi State’s prime shooters early and stuck with them. On one possession, UT’s Johnson shadowed State’s Johnson all the way to the corner and blocked her shot.
The Lady Bulldogs, who had scoreless stretches of seven or more minutes in each of their last three games, went nearly six minutes without a point to start the second half. Simmons’ 3-pointer 13 seconds after the break erased the Lady Vols’ deficit and they eventually led by as many as 30 points.
“In the second half as they were trapping a little bit more, I didn’t feel like we attacked like we needed to,’’ Mississippi State coach Sharon Fanning Otis said. “We didn’t attack the paint and we were a little more passive.”
Couldn’t say that about UT’s Johnson.
“I don’t know what more I can say,’’ Summitt said. “If I could buy her dinner, I would. But I can’t.”
Dan Fleser covers Lady Vols basketball. He may be reached at 865-342-6288. Follow him at http://twitter.com/fleserKNS and http://blogs.knoxnews.com/fleser/
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Comments » 35
orangecountyvols writes:
Vols,
Something tells us at halftime, Pat said "girls, have a seat and let's have a little talk."
Hard to get up for someone who never beat you and the first half revealed that. However, the second half was Tennessee Lady Vols basketball.
maxvolfan#217855 writes:
Makes you wonder how good she would be if she plays a 33+ min game every night. Stay the course ladies SEC teams around you are faltering dont let up. I hope we rise to the top 4 soon.
kazoo writes:
No PT for Baugh? Good grief. She is not going to help this team, I'm afraid.
SoddyVol writes:
This game shows what a 28% from 3 team can do when given open shots. Let any team shoot over 58% from 3 against you like MS did against the LVols in the first half and they can end up beating you. Fortunately the LVols showed some of their strength in the second half. It was a solid 26 point win with the bench getting to play towards the end.
1volk-nowi-tall writes:
Pat needs to get a technical foul and perhaps was trying to do so tonight. These officials are so inadaquate. Glory did all of this while taking a severe beating all night long. The LV's scored with 1.8 seconds or so left in the game. I believe that was their response to the physical beating they were getting and I hope it will spur this team on to get just as physical. We get called for touches anyway so why not get called for slaps, pushes and a few maulings as well? What is up with allowing every team the LV's play to continue to beat our young ladies and get away with it. I know it is a physical game but there are still rules against fouling. I think the thing that made be proudest of this group tonight is they may have finally said,"Enough is Enough" and decided to fight back.
CoachFulmerFan writes:
The officiating was horrible and so one-sided, especially in the first half. I don't blame CPS for yelling her head off at the officials. Glory Johnson was basically getting mauled down low. The officials finally started calling them in the second half, but still there was no excuse for it. This has to be addressed because come tourny time, bad calls can cost the Lady Vols big time, especially against the more elite teams
Vicki Baugh didn't play because of a sore knee according to the ESPN recap just to let everyone know..
Hounddog writes:
Second half was some of the best play from the Lady Vols I can remember for a while. Great Job, since Lady Hounddog went to Mississippi State! Hounddog.
PINK_CHAMPAGNE writes:
Throw out the first half! The second half was great basketball! I sure hope this Glory is here to stay. Performances like that are really appreciated. Keep it coming Glory!
xvolx writes:
Defense in first half was everyother posession. When they did play good defense, MS was shooting good. I believe that I called Spani yesterday. Simmons is a great talent and I am one of her biggest fans; but Pat should reel her in a little. Doesn't look like Williams is going to play intense defense. That's what drives Pat up the wall about her. Right now; we look like the first #2 seed. Better hope Duke loses.
maxvolfan#217855 writes:
I dont see Duke losing. Im putting my chips on Uconn losing to Duke and maybe one more loss to get us in if we win out.
tonyvick#213307 writes:
If we don't get a top seed will we not open in Knoxville? That is the only reason I see if it matters. Because either we are a top #2 seed or one of the teams ahead of us right now will be and we have to play them before the final four regardless and Pat constantly states that the goal is the final four regardless of who we play. Glory if you play like that the rest of the season I think we make it to the final four. Go ladies!
TennVol01 writes:
Johnson makes Cain look like a turtle with concrete shoes. When I heard that Cain would not play, I told my buddies that it could be a good thing. It meant that Johnson would get more playing time and she would shine. Johnson is faster, more athletic, and can jump higher. She did not disappoint. Great job!!
Not saying that Cain is not useful. Her height makes other teams nervous.
xvolx writes:
Don't see Duke beating UConn. I do see someone in ACC beating Duke. Either reg. season or ACC tourn. The Georgetown loss beginning to look big. We were the #3, #1 seed last year and got the #1, #2 seed in Baylor. The committee always finds a way to stick it to Summitt.
dead_vol_foul (Inactive) writes:
Total BS 'we dictate other team's shots'...
really? Like we did with Georgetown, Baylor, or even Stanford??
Face it, MSU could not handle their first-half success. I'm not really buying the pat-screaming-at-halftime thing, either. Players aren't stupid, she could have been quiet as a mouse and they would still have played harder.
Pat really nailed it, but Lockwood isn't on the same page (nor is spani):
(Pat): "We didn’t pick them up early; we were lazy"
(Spani): "Thirty-seven points in a half for anyone against us is unacceptable."
(Lockwood): "We are the ones that dictate their shots"
Pat is saying: 'we are not good enough to just go throught eh motions, we need to work!'; Lockwood and Spani are saying 'oh, we are better than them we just need to play harder'.
Do you not see Pat's message, or get it?? If we want a shot at a title, we had better learn 'blue collar' ways, and play with the attitude the other team is much, much better than we are.
Maybe even Pat's staff is not 'getting it'.
adimatteo#261830 writes:
excellent ladies.
And Glory, what a show. Teams live to beat the Lady Vols, and as hard as all these players work and demands, I truly cant imagine how they do get up for every game, every minute.That in and of itself is amazing, and a tribute to all our athletes, but enough soapbox.
Great job, stay healthy, and keep it going, lots of teams, lots of good players, etc but only a couple will get to the final, win or lose, go lady Vols, you always give us something to be proud of, all the time now for many many years.
KCHS63 writes:
Good grief!
richvol writes:
You and FulmerFan beat me to it...the officials were letting MSU maul Glory every time she touched the ball. I swear I don't know how she and Cain can keep from punching someone out sometimes as they get beat up every game while they have touch fouls called on them when playing defense. I worried that Glory was going to get hurt it was so bad.
I hate it when the officials take over a game with silly touch fouls but last night was ridiculous. One sequence where Glory got three consecutive rebounds and put the ball back up I counted six times that three different defenders grabbed her or slapped her...no foul though. Pat needs to send film of Cain and Glory being mauled to the league office.
madrigal writes:
The other night I watched the NC State-Duke game. NC State led at the half by 14 points! They ended up losing because Duke finally figured out their defense and State lost their aim. But for probably two-thirds of the game, State played better than they really are (a tribute to coach Kellie Harper). The difference is that the Lady Vols sometimes do not play as good as they are, especially in the first half and especially if they know their opponents are traditionally not that good. Fortunately that usually changes come tournament time when they face unfamiliar opponents! Of course, it could have had something to do with adjusting to an unusual lineup.
martinvol34 writes:
The second half of that game was the Holdsclaw, Catchings, and Randall kind of ball with Williams, Manning, Stricklen and Johnson. OMG I had shills and reminders of glory days past. That was Lady Vol Basketball the way it's supposed to be. Awesome ladies. Awesome.
YankeeVol writes:
Geno would have bought Glory dinner...
RLL59 writes:
We all see what we want as far as officiating goes, and women's basketball has bad referees in general, and there's no doubt that Glory was getting fouled. But she shot 11 free throws, and the Lady Vols shot 20 in total. Miss. St. shot 3 free throws all game, none in the first half. The Lady Vols were called for 7 fouls; Miss. St. was called for 19.
Anyway, it was a good second half, and it was refrshing to see 4 of the starters logging 32 or more minutes (Kamiko played 28 minutes). I don't like the fact that the extra playing time was due to injuries, but consistency and fluidity is gained by the same group playing together over time. Hope the significance of that isn't lost going forward.
SoddyVol writes:
"dead_vol_foul wrote: Do you not see Pat's
message, or get it?? If we want a shot at a
title, we had better learn 'blue collar'
ways, and play with the attitude the other
team is much, much better than we are."
Agree. . About Glory, the second half she WAS a great 'blue collar' player while taking the roughness from MS without letting it get to her. She got mauled all night with no help from Refs but played a clean game herself. I'm biased but trying hard to see why they let the game be so rough.
dead_vol_foul (Inactive) writes:
we are sort of on the same page.
Madrigal, the rest of this post isn't really addressed to you, okay??
From what I see, Pat wants them balls to the wall form minute 1, to eliminate any chances of a team hanging around and getting confidence.
Maybe some of you don't like my sentiment of delivery, but whatever. Our competition is those top 8 teams in the NCAAW. If we don't get good at D from minute 20:00 to minute 0:00, we will be sitting at home (again) on Championship night.
Pat has said it, and basically just a rehash: you must bring it every day, every game.
My other point is this: we don't have Candace. Or Anosike. We don't have anyone can just dominate a game against one of the top 8.
Gripe all you want: this was a bad win against a bad team.
98reax writes:
dead_vol_foul writes: Gripe all you want: this was a bad win against a bad team. ]]]
Right, dvf. No doubt about it. Playing 20 bad & 20 ok won't win a championship this season. The top seeds are talented, mostly veterans and well coached. It will take 40 minutes of 100% effort to take the 10/11 NC trophy.
98 says duke will not beat gino
huntined#565710 writes:
Don't know if this team is capable of winning a N.C. Most teams that win it has a dominate player that can just take over a game like Parker and M.M. at Uconn. We have had our share of them but we don't have one now. We could and should win the SEC every year with the talent we bring in but to win IT ALL you got to have that TOP player.
UTVOLSRROCKN writes:
IMHO from what I've seen so far this season, Glory is our TOP player. Maybe after this game, she will take over and be the vocal leader also.
PINK_CHAMPAGNE writes:
You can't get to the line shooting three pointers and jumpers all night. That is all Miss State did. They rarely tried to get to the basket, or get anything inside where they could draw a foul. Tennessee pounded the paint, hence the difference in foul calls, and free throw attempts!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
I think what Lockwood meant was something like, "They shoot the shots we LET them take." If the LVs don't like the shots the other team is taking and hitting, then play some defense on them. Those teams you mentioned got all those open looks because the LVs weren't defending them like they should.
CoachFulmerFan writes:
Glory should have shot twice as many free throws as she did. Your so right though, it seems like the Lady Vols get called for the pettiest phooey, for example, the Baylor game. I honestly believe the p is s poor officiating cost us the Baylor game. Cain would have her arms straight up on Griner and she would get called for a foul almost EVERY time she tried to guard Griner. I know, I know that we shot 20 free throws and MSU shot only 3, but we should have shot like 40. The only reason MSU only shot 3 foul shots was because they never really tried to drive to the basket or had much of a post game. OK, done with my rant lol
It was fun to watch Glory play last night. Just imagine if she wouldn't play out of control near as much as she does, how much better her game would be. She would probably be an All American.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Good point about NC State and Kellie Harper. The 'Pack had a bit of a drop-off in recruiting in the late Coach Yow's declining years. With the 'Pack's tradition and Kellie's own, I feel sure she will get them back on track pretty soon now.
CoachFulmerFan writes:
I like Williams, I think she has some talent. However, I don't think she is better than Simmons at point. She is much slower, doesn't play good defense (saw that last night), gets fatigued real easy and really doesn't know the offense well enough. Simmons has her issues too but I think they are minor and will eventually be corrected by CPS. She needs to work on her defense, she is about as bad at D as Williams is. I think Manning played real well too. She has a good dribble drive and is a beast on the boards. Her only drawback is her perimeter and three point shooting. If she would add 3 point shots to her game, wow, she would be that much more potent.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
The LVs may not have a player who can take over EVERY night, but they have several--such as Glory, Shekinna, and even Meighan--who can take over on a GIVEN night. The LVs--like several other teams, even some good ones--don't have to be the best EVERY game, they just have to be the best EACH game. UConn is probably the closest the game has seen in recent years to bringing it every night against everybody. No doubt that is what Pat aspires to, but it is rare to get it, even for the best in the business, which she still is.
RLL59 writes:
Of course, given the game Miss State played, one would expect they would get less free throw attempts than the Lady Vols. My point was that people shouldn't cry about the refs not calling fouls when you win by 25 points, and fans of the Lady Vols, a team that benefits by their size and physical play, should be pleased when the refs 'let them play', as they say. If every game is called the way this one was, the Lady Vols will win every time.
dead_vol_foul (Inactive) writes:
John, that is EXACTLY what Lockwood meant. I didn't like it because quite often, those other teams are earning their shots with hard work and good offense, not the LV's "letting" them have good shots.
I firmly believe in respecting your competition, in trying to get them into a game of YOUR choosing. I know that is what Lockwood meant, bu this insinuation is more like "we are the top dogs, they do what WE want".
dead_vol_foul (Inactive) writes:
great post...
what we have is a bunch of pieces to a puzzle who are flexible and can get a lot of things done.
I think we have players who can stay with Maya, and ones who are intelligent enough to beat a Stanford.
Question is, can we be clever enough to beat Baylor? Can we keep a girl between Griner and the basket, or Griner and our shooters??
But, yeah, no superstar. Just a bunch of possibilities, you know?
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