TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Tennessee found its lost scoring touch Thursday night.
The Lady Vols put some distance between themselves and Monday’s program-worst 44 points against Notre Dame with an 86-56 SEC women’s basketball victory over Alabama before a crowd of 2,049 at Foster Auditorium.
Usual starter Shekinna Stricklen came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points, leading four double-figure scorers. Glory Johnson added 13 and eight rebounds as the Lady Vols pulled away in the second half.
Kamiko Williams and Isabelle Harrison each scored 10 for No. 7 Tennessee (15-5, 6-1 SEC).
Kyra Crosby scored 15 for Alabama (10-11, 0-7).
After shooting just 27.9 percent from the floor against Notre Dame, the Lady Vols hovered around 50 percent for most of the game against the Crimson Tide before leveling off at 45.1 percent (32 for 71). They also had 22 assists with freshman point guard Ariel Massengale recorded half of that total.
“We were happy with the pace we played,’’ UT associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “Obviously we wanted to score, but we wanted an untempo game.”
Tennessee also wanted a better start and shook up its lineup, giving Briana Bass and Cierra Burdick their first starts of the season. Stricklen’s streak of consecutive starts, which led the nation, ended at 121.
Warlick said that the coaching staff deliberated on its choices until right before the game.
“The ones who started we thought had a good practice after the Notre Dame game,’’ Warlick said.
Although Johnson held her place in the starting five, she got the message that the coaches were sending.
“Some of the starters that were starting before have to pick their game up, myself included,” she said.
The lineup worked because the Lady Vols no longer were facing Notre Dame’s defense and hit their first six shots. Furthermore, Johnson had nine points in the first four minutes.
The biggest problem for the Lady Vols against overmatched Alabama was one of their own doing. Johnson, Stricklen, Vicki Baugh and Meighan Simmons had two fouls apiece before the break. Collectively, the foursome played just 23 first-half minutes.
At times, the Lady Vols had three freshmen on the floor. While the defense suffered, they maintained their shooting accuracy and limited the turnovers to a manageable four. The tradeoff was a 47-32 halftime lead.
UT sacrificed defense and some rebounding for the sake of sharing the playing minutes. Burdick played the most with 31 and everyone had at least 13.
In her 15 minutes, Williams scored 10 points, dished out five assists and committed zero turnovers. It was her best game since returning Jan. 3 from offseason knee surgery.
“This is a game I was looking for,’’ she said. “It was good for my confidence, getting back in the flow of things. Hopefully I can build on it from here. I still have to get there. I have a lot of work to do.”
Stricklen departed after taking a blow to her sore right knee in the second half. Warlick said that she thought the senior forward was fine.
After playing Monday night, junior guard Taber Spani again sat out with a nagging bone bruise on her left knee.
Dan Fleser 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 » 41
VolinTally writes:
I have to say I was really impressed with Bass, Williams, and, suprisingly, Harrison. I saw a lot of grit in her that was unexpected, and that block into the Alabama bench . . . . Well, that's highlight reel material. The offense still seemed out of synch at times, but essentially, they won with bench players. Of course, with all the iced knees on the bench, they might see even more playing time.
butch31 writes:
Way to bounce back Lady Vols!!! 22 assists on 32 mad field goals and only 8 turnovers, while causing Alabama to turn it over 22 times. *AWESOME* performance. I definitely would like to personally thank the coaches in changing the starting line up. WE NEED THIS IN THE WORST WAY. Briana, Glory, Vicki, Cierra and Ariel looked phenomenal.
The bench finally looked alive, Meighan, Shekinna, Kamiko and Isabelle played much better tonight. I am not sure if Alicia is aware that this is her senior season or not, but she needs to step up.
Nine regular season games left and we have to get all nine. We need to make a statement, and an impression on the NCAA Committee.
To the Lady Vol Haters...I told u so....LOL
coffy73 writes:
Alabama is 0-7 in the SEC and just an overall terrible, unranked team. I wouldn't necessarily take too much away from this game against basically a practice squad. It's not about "haters" so much as it's about getting this type of production against a great, top-ranked team. Of course the starting lineup was gonna be different, they could afford to do it, but this would never be the lineup against a much better team. They need to play like this when it really counts.
oldster writes:
Next game's starting lineup: Massengale, Williams, Stricklen, Baugh, and Johnson. Burdick would be first off bench. After her would come Manning, Bass, Harrison, and Simmons, in order. This is all presupposing that Spani is not ready to return. If she is, put her in before Manning and push everybody else back one.
gerryblack writes:
I agree and Alabama couldn't beat a real good high school team. Time will tell.
reg_mza#219136 writes:
Forget Alabama and how good or bad they are. Things to look are are hustle, effort, fight, determination, the intangibles that win games beyond points scored. Harrison, Williams, Burdick, Bass, and of course Glory brought a lot of grit and energy tonight while I'm still awaiting on the rest.
carmine writes:
I was fairly pleased with the performance of our team during this game, but their opponent should have been beaten by about 50 points. The bench players who played the majority of the game should be startng more often, and one of the post players who thinks she is a guard needs to be benched everytime she messes up and laughs about it. A mistake is not funny this late in the season, that attitude is disrespectful to the team and is indicative she is not taking the games seriously enough, therefore, is probably not playing that hard, either.That makes that player a liability and the player needs to be benched. nuff said.
richvol writes:
Exactly...beating the worst team in the SEC means nothing at this point. Do this against a really good team and then it means something. That's one in a row now...wow.
maxvolfan#217855 writes:
If everything plays out for the Lady Vols , who would you rather play to get to the final 4? And why?
Baylor
Stanford
Uconn
ND
Pick your poison
MrBamSeydu writes:
Lady Vols back to playing teams they can beat by 30 points again....
Sounds like Spani and Stricklen need to toughen up. Especially Spani.
MrBamSeydu writes:
They won't make it to the Final Four, so it's irrelevant.
butch31 writes:
Well Alabama played like they were Kentucky tonight...a teams record don't matter when they're looking for a win. We have tons of haters *(UCONN )* fans on here who are not friendly at all, I will assume ur one of them. In case u haven't noticed Tennessee has played the toughest schedule in the nation, *(Miami, Rutgers, Baylor, Virginia, Stanford, Pepperdine, Ucla, Texas, Notre Dame, Depaul, Mtsu)* they haven't dodged anyone, so I'm not understanding ur statement of production against a great top ranked team. Ur so lame, obviously ur from UConn. A Lad Vol could never have so much hate.
VAvolfanRON writes:
and, there you have it.....negative post, it didnt take long
way to go gals!!keep it up. we are proud of you
VAvolfanRON writes:
these ladies will take everyone of you to school!!!
horrible..horrible fans....im ashamed to be affliated.
get your butt out there and do better
rocky_topper writes:
Way to bounce back against a team that has no defense and get that scoring touch again. Sweet 16 and done! Book it!
rocky_topper writes:
wow! just wow!
xvolx writes:
Drill a 0-6 team and declare yourself fixed. I predicted this Wed.. They showed some effort but they are just not an upper tier team. Since some starters did not start, what was the punishment for the way Warlick and Demoss coached against Notre Dame. The day Warlick takes over this team is the first day of decline.
xvolx writes:
Double wow!
Noogaorange writes:
Don't forget to tell Pat. GBO
frblalack writes:
Hello? Spani is INJURED...did you not get the memo? Until she completely recovers, she doesn't need to be playing.
I agree with Oldster; Kamiko Williams definitely has earned an opportunity to start. It was good to see the Lady Vols playing with some intensity.
Until she can play all-out, it is better to have Stricklen coming in as the sixth man. She is multi-talented, but still not 100%.
Starting lineup and playing time HAS to be EARNED in PRACTICE! Impressed by the effort from Burdick & Harrison, but the shining star in the Bama game was Kamiko Williams. Of course Brianna and Ariel bring badly needed energy to the floor.
wigmeister writes:
You can't win two in a row if you haven't won the first. They played better, albeit against a weak team. Won and loss totals are what they look at first, then RPI. Thought Kamiko played great. Hope Stricklen is OK. Bass played well. Simmons actually played well on D. With her small size and quickness, she could give opponents fits on D. The team did look better. Hope the intensity shown continues. Once we are healthy as a team, and clicking on all cylinders, if we can keep the mental game where it should be, we could do some serious damage going forward. Even foul shooting looked better. Only one game, but looking better.
SummittsCourt writes:
Nice to know you got everything figured out. I'm sure Pat will follow this to the tee once she reads this.
Can you figure out how to balance the budget for America too?
thomasdoyle#228348 writes:
Very positive outing and training game for needed player time and development down the bench and stretch. BAMA is better than their record and played admirable defense with speed and tenacity as much as we had them on the run with crisp passing allowing momentarily clear shots being contested nearly every possession. Loved seeing the team bring full-court pressure but breakdowns in defense far and near the basket are more about balance and teamwork on LV part. Defensive players have to react to each other to hold position and work the trap more than advance ball pressure disproportionally as BAMA escaped by dribble too many times. Players have to use their feet to be in the right positions, doubleteam, and to take charges proactively not reactively. Too many times the girls are playing defense from behind the ball not in front by anticipating moves and others not stepping in to help, perhaps more communication is needed. Traps by Kamiko and Cierra led to turnovers and hustle by Glory the same but with LV length and benefits of conditioning and player development, I would like to see more press while we have opportunity. I like the energy, passing, and shooting touch of Bass, Williams, and Burdick to have them get more playing time. Passing was impressive by nearly all showing the quality of strength training and coaching, just need to look before you throw at times. Shots fell as easily in this game as they didn’t against ND which I think is more in the head than body. Find your confidence, defend and attack as a unit not individuals, go all out to increase condition and work the bench, to show that nothing falls off no matter who plays like last night. Great beginning with BAMA last night, lets continue with Georgia all the way through the SEC Tournament Championship, greater things will come when you play and pray as One.
oldster writes:
Yep. Cut spending and cut taxes. Studies have been done to prove it to be the only way to cut deficits and has always worked. Unfortunately, neither politicians or coaches listen to studies or me.
underthehill writes:
Burdick is fast becoming a go to player..Harrison appears to have what it takes to be there soon..bama has less talent but they played hard for 25-30 minutes..I could not believe how few fans attended..brings into focus even more what Pat has done for UT Lady Vols basketball.
underthehill writes:
we're all coaches in our own minds and your starting lineup ain't bad..but I like Burdick starting and Bass brings a lot of needed energy to open the game..Burdick appears to me to be on her way to being a complete player..
volboy81 writes:
it will be a tough road to the Final Four. The Lady Vols can do it, but theyll have to improve greatly between now and March....by the way, what high school gym was that we played in last night???
SummerfieldVol writes:
See how much better it is when you are putting the ball in the basket. When you are scoring at a 45% rate you can stay with any team in the country and you don't have to depend on defense only. Just keep going to the basket.
Mrlogic writes:
I will give my opinion after the Georgia game. I will say this I saw some bright spots that I have not seen before. We will see if those spots get brighter or dim out.
RLL59 writes:
GA lost by 20 points last night to Vandy. But it'll be a better test than Alabama. The Lady Vols did look better passing against the zone, and they reduced the number of turnovers. I just wish someone would stop the pattern of overplaying against quicker opponents. If AL can constantly drive to the basket for easy shots, what are the good teams going to do against a Lady Vol defense that has never helped out well?
Volinflan writes:
And the high School gym wasn't even full. I guess all the Alabama money is spent on Saban's boys.
KennyGVolsFan writes:
Anyone but ND!!!! We played with Baylor!! Stanford blew us out but I think the way Glory is playing now, that won't happen again. Uconn is a good pass team and play really good defense. They have a great post player. I think the best team is ND right now. I would like to see us match up with them for the Championship! They will have a chip on their shoulder and I think that could hurt them in the long run.
I would rather go against Baylor. They have two players Griner and Simms. We shut them down, we win!
Stanford is a good team in the O sisters and Kokenis. Our posts would have to have the best games of their lives to win this one.
I think we have a lot of work to do before we start thinking about the final four. Right now we are Sweet Sixteen material, if that!
Mrlogic writes:
Good Point. The National Championship teams that Pat had in the past would never let that happen.
Mrlogic writes:
You make a lot of good sense. You must have walked around the block a few times.
budd#207344 writes:
Wonderful, they beat up on a lousy team. But the four top players all have two fouls each before half.
Someone needs to get the point that they are not playing Tennessee basketball and start doing so. And not against the bottom feeders but the teams they will play in March.
coffy73 writes:
Negative? What's negative about being realistic? I've been a lady vol fan for over 20 years, but sorry, I'm not living in the clouds when it comes to my favorite teams. I guess it would make you feel better if I come on here and say "this team is amazing and after beating Bama, they're definitely gonna win that championship this year!?" Sorry, but I don't think I could find rose-tinted glasses thick enough to believe that. When one of my beloved teams is just not up to par, I like looking at it in real terms, not some over the rainbow fantasy way. Shame on fans like you who only want it one way and want to sugar coat everything, then jump on fans that choose to look at the real situation!
ladyvolsfan789 writes:
I'd say Stanford. I want to say that it's between them and UConn for who has the worst defense of the top 4 teams and I don't think Kokenis will get as hot as she did in that game. Glory's going to ensure that Nneka doesn't score 42 on us again. We also didn't have Kamiko who looks like she could be a big difference maker for us in the big games and Massengale wasn't at 100% for that game. The Pac 12 is really weak so Stanford will be relatively unchallenged. They good experience a bit of whiplash if Tennessee is one of the first good teams they play.
johnlg00 writes:
One more intangible--or even a tangible, given that they had 22 assists--was that the ball never got stuck in anyone's hands. Last night was some of the best ball movement I've seen out of the LVs in quite some time. The post players didn't try to do stupid things with the ball. The 3-point shooting and the free-throws were less impressive, but they got way more power layups and transition buckets than they have in awhile.
maxvolfan#217855 writes:
I just wonder how many of our players would be individual stars on any other top ten team?? Hmmm . Baugh would start, Glory, Strick, Ariel, maybe even Cierra would be starting anywhere. What is wrong with our team!!!
tovolny writes:
Several LadyVol players just play slowly. They are capable of quicker reactions, but choose to be nonchalant. Manning being the one most noticable. I like her spirit and her competetiveness, but she never hustles for rebounds or hustles getting to rebound positions. She is a wonderful young lady, no doubt, but seems a lot of players run around her and take the ball just as she reaches for it leaving her with that look of..."poof, where did it go?"...reaction. She could have moved faster, but didn't.
And, for the umpteenth time, do the lady Vols practice pull up, 10-foot jumpers, or full speed, contested (and uncontested) layups? We loose 8 to 10 points a game when the heat is on.
Come on LadyVols, kick it up a notch.
oldster writes:
Burdick is showing promise, but the number of air balls she threw up in the last game shows that she still lacks consistency and knowledge of what is and is not a good shot. Gee, I mean Simmons only threw up a couple of bad shots (in choice, I mean, not execution). Burdick threw up at least 3 or 4 when off balance, with a hand in her face and/or no one in rebounding position - and all relatively early in the shot clock. I.e. bad shots.
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