John Adams: Tennessee's best players too good for Flyers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –  Dayton’s best players were no match for Tennessee’s best players. UT’s 66-57 victory in the first round of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament was as simple as that Saturday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center.

Lady Vols leading scorer Diamond DeShields had 24 points, more than Dayton’s three leading scorers for the season combined, and 6-foot-6 center Mercedes Russell had 14 points and 10 rebounds while holding Dayton’s 6-5 Saicha Grant-Allen to six points and one rebound.

The Flyers’ guards had as much trouble on the perimeter as Grant-Allen did inside.

Second-leading scorer Jenna Burdette made only three of 15 field-goal attempts and finished with seven points, five below her average.

“Oh my God,” she exclaimed after missing a fourth-quarter layup attempt. At least, that one came close. Two other Burdette drives ended with the ball caroming off the bottom of the backboard.

Fellow guard Kelley Austria, Dayton's leading scorer, was only slightly more effective (4-for-11) against UT’s more athletic guards.

“It was just one of those games,” Dayton coach Shauna Green said. “You shoot 20 percent (4-for-20) from 3s. That’s not us.

“We shot the ball extremely well here (Friday) and in shoot-around. If you're a scorer and shoot like we shoot, you keep shooting.”

Dayton kept shooting. And kept missing, often badly.

Despite Green's assessment, you shouldn’t ignore the impact of UT’s defense, which clearly took Dayton out of its comfort zone from the outset.

“We were just pressuring them,” DeShields said. “I’m sure it was like nothing they had seen all season. The majority of time, we were in their space.”

Tennessee coach Holly Warlick also thought Tennessee’s defense had an impact on Dayton’s 32.3 percent overall shooting.

“I think we made them work to get good looks,” she said. “And I think the pace of the game wore them down a little bit.”

Given how overmatched the Flyers’ most productive players were, it’s a wonder they were able to forge a 29-29 tie at halftime after trailing by 14 points in the first quarter. Dayton even managed several two-point leads early in the third quarter, but Russell and DeShields responded.

Russell scored on three consecutive possessions to start the second half. DeShields took it from there, as Tennessee opened up a nine-point lead by the end of the third quarter. She hit three jump shots off the dribble despite being closely guarded.

“I thought we played good defense," Green said. "But you’ve got to credit her. She rises up so high (on her jump shot).”

Scoring accounted for just part of DeShields’ sterling performance. She had five assists, five rebounds, two steals and only one turnover while making eight of her 14 field-goal attempts.

Midway through the fourth quarter, DeShields left for the locker room but quickly returned to the bench. Afterward, she was asked if she were injured.

“I had to handle a situation,” she said with a smile. “I’m all good now.”

In fact, she was all good all afternoon.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: Twitter.com/johnadamskns.