Tennessee Lady Vols must move on from loss to face South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Tennessee’s preparations for South Carolina began not long after its SEC women’s basketball loss at Texas A&M on Thursday ended. The first order of business was damage control.

“They’re hurting; they’re disappointed obviously,” UT coach Holly Warlick said afterward in a radio interview on the Lady Vols network. “But I told them ‘look, you’ve got to keep your head up.' ”

The first loss for No. 6 Tennessee (15-1, 3-1 SEC) was agonizing in nature. The Lady Vols overcame a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter, only to squander a four-point lead inside the final two minutes of overtime and fall, 79-76. Texas A&M won despite a string of 20 consecutive possessions spanning the fourth quarter and overtime in which the Aggies managed just one point.

More:Tennessee Lady Vols fall in overtime at Texas A&M, their first loss of the season

“If somebody is going to beat us,” Warlick said, “let them beat us without our help.”

The No. 8 Gamecocks (14-2, 3-1) are enough incentive for the Lady Vols to refocus quickly in advance of their meeting on Sunday at Colonial Life Arena.  (TV: ESPN2, 1 p.m.). But the foremost reason, forward A'ja Wilson, is questionable after suffering a sprained right ankle in the final seconds of Thursday's 71-63 victory over Auburn.

Wilson, the two-time SEC player of the year, did not practice on Friday. The 6-foot-5 senior forward later attended a jersey-retiring ceremony at her high school wearing a boot with her right foot propped on a scooter. Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley told reporters on Friday that Wilson's availability and effectiveness will depend on her pain tolerance. Wilson leads the league in scoring, averaging 23.2 points per game.  

For Tennessee, meanwhile, its second order of business after Thursday's loss was getting home. The team stayed in Nashville overnight after the team’s charter flight was diverted there because of fog in Knoxville. The team bussed home on Friday.

The Lady Vols’ review of their loss centered on a lack of aggressiveness and sharpness on their part. Center Mercedes Russell used the word “passive.”

The effect was apparent in several ways. To begin with, the Lady Vols trailed after the first quarter (21-20) for just the second time this season and trailed by as many as eight points in the second quarter.

“The fourth quarter we finally pushed the ball and attacked,” Warlick said. “I wanted to do that the whole game but we didn’t do that.”

The Lady Vols’ attacking style typically results in free throws, as evidenced by their 413-211 advantage in attempts and their 298-138 edge in points. The Aggies flipped that script, converting 26 attempts into 21 points to cover for their spotty shooting. Tennessee, conversely, was 9-for-11 at the line.

“We let them get to the free throw line too many times,” Russell said. “That was kind of on our part.”

The Aggies also were just the second team to outrebound UT this season, albeit by a scant 45-44 margin. But their 18-14 edge in second chance points factored into the outcome.

"It doesn't take much to get beat," UT assistant coach Dean Lockwood said. "The margin for error is small."

Not Enough Russell?

While Russell scored a team-high 21 points, she had just six points and four shot attempts after the first half. She maneuvered around multiple defenders for a difficult bank shot to give UT its final lead, 76-74 with 19 seconds left in overtime.

“They keyed on her,” Warlick said. “They got a little bit more physical. I’ve been saying that game is physical and they got physical with her. I thought she worked. I liked her effort. After a while, they’re going to double down and we have to make outside shots.”