UT Lady Vols use toughness to topple Texas

As good as Tennessee’s victory over No. 4 Texas might look on its resume, the nature of Sunday afternoon’s victory might be even more significant.

Tennessee’s 82-75 win at Thompson-Boling Arena was more about toughness than talent. Not that either team is bereft of talent, though you sometimes couldn’t tell it at the offensive end.

More:UT Lady Vols, Jaime Nared hang on to win over Texas

You need both talent and toughness to negotiate an NCAA tournament bracket in postseason play. And this December game had a March feel to it.

“We knew Texas was a tough team, but we’re tough, too,” UT's Jaime Nared said. “We showed how gritty we were.”

The Lady Vols were gritty enough to maintain their grip after taking the lead in the opening minutes. Texas tied the score at 29 early in the third quarter but never led.

Anytime the Longhorns threatened to seize the momentum, Tennessee refused to yield.

Sometimes veterans like Nared or Mercedes Russell made pivotal plays. At other times, newcomers Evina Westbrook, Anastasia Hayes and Cheridene Green turned back Texas.

“This is the toughest team I’ve been with as a head coach,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said. “They don’t like to lose. They don’t appear to let things bother them.”

That might have been as significant as UT’s toughness. Recent, more-experienced Tennessee teams haven’t maintained their poise as well as this one when the game was hanging in the balance.

“We talked before the game about the pressure was on Texas,” Warlick said. “They’re two in the country (in AP poll). They’re a veteran group. I didn’t feel one bit of pressure from our kids.”

But don’t get the wrong idea. Even in an underdog's role, Tennessee had something to lose. Losing before a large, loud home crowd surely would have eroded some of the goodwill the 13th-ranked Lady Vols had built in a 9-0 start.

Instead, this victory might give Tennessee more reason to be optimistic about the rest of the season than any of its previous nine wins did.

“Tennessee looked like a hungry team, and a team that wanted to win badly on its home court,” Texas coach Karen Aston said.

Tennessee also looked like a unified team.

Last season, the Lady Vols too often didn’t look as though they even liked playing together. They were more apt to turn off their home crowd than rally its support.

The crowd was behind this team from the get-go, and you could tell how much it appreciated the effort. Tennessee committed 18 turnovers and made only 27.9 percent of its first-half field-goal attempts. But its intensity never waned.

“Anytime when teams are playing each other, it’s going to be intense,” Nared said. “We did a good job of playing together, not getting frustrated.”

The Lady Vols demonstrated their stamina, too. Warlick used only seven players, compared to Texas’ nine. Nared, who had a game-high 23 points, played the entire game, and Westbrook, who had 15 points, played 37 minutes.

Aston was referring to her team when she said, “Ultimately, if you’re trying to win championships, you will have games where the ball doesn’t go in the basket. If the shots don’t go in, we have to buckle down and do the dirty stuff.”

Tennessee did just that against the No. 4-ranked team in the country.

Reach John Adams at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @johnadamskns.