John Adams: Lady Vols' road magic runs out at worst time

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Tennessee couldn’t match its regular-season track record Monday night.

Twice during the regular season, UT was at its best on the road against nationally ranked teams. Not this time.

Louisville wouldn’t allow it.

Jaime Nared kept the Lady Vols in the second-round NCAA women’s basketball tournament game for three quarters. But when she cooled off, an otherwise stagnant Tennessee offense was doomed.

The Lady Vols made only three of 18 fourth-quarter field-goal attempts, and 12th-ranked Louisville pulled away down the stretch for a 75-64 victory. A noisy homecourt crowd roared its approval at the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals surged into the Sweet 16 in the Oklahoma City Regional.

UT had excelled under similar circumstances during the regular season when it upset top-10 teams South Carolina and Mississippi State on their home court. But in a higher-stakes game, the fifth-seeded Lady Vols faltered against fourth-seeded Louisville, which denied  UT’s bid for an eighth-straight trip to the Sweet 16.

“In the fourth quarter, we didn’t get it done,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said.

However, even before the Lady Vols unraveled, they repeatedly missed opportunities.

The quick, athletic Cardinals have played exceptional defense throughout the season. But UT also made the kind of errors you can ill afford in a game of this magnitude.

Tennessee committed unforced errors three times on inbounds passes beneath its goal. And it too often resorted to perimeter shots, most of which went awry.

Diamond DeShields, the Lady Vols' top scorer this season, had 15 points, but that was deceptive. She missed 9 of 12 field-goal tries and didn’t hit a jump shot until the fourth quarter.

“It wasn’t a typical night for Diamond DeShields,” Warlick said. “She’s a great player. Sometimes, I think in Diamond’s mind, she’s got to do everything. She didn’t have her best game.”

Nared provided an offensive option. She scored 23 of her game-high 28 points in the first three quarters.

Aside from her 9-for-18 shooting, UT was 11-for-42 from the field. And they couldn’t offset that wayward shooting by going inside to 6-foot-6 center Mercedes Russell, who had 11 points but got only nine shots.

“I think they were playing a packed-in defense,” Russell said. “It looked like they had five players in the paint and were making us take jump shots. It was tough to get me the ball early.”

Tennessee could have been more patient trying to go inside. But Russell also could have moved more to get open.

Despite its shortcomings, Tennessee managed a 47-46 lead through three quarters. Louisville’s poor shot selection helped at times, and the Cardinals sometimes seemed affected by Russell’s shot-blocking potential.

As good as Louisville was in the fourth quarter, it still had lapses, fouling and rushing shots when it should have been running clock. But Tennessee couldn’t capitalize.

So, a disappointing season, marked by extreme ups and downs, ended badly.

“It’s frustrating anytime you lose,” Nared said. “It’s the end of the season. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

Nor was there anything they could do about it in the fourth quarter.

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