Tennessee Lady Vols blow big lead, lose big at Notre Dame
Dan Fleser
SOUTH BEND — Tennessee landed a savage first punch Thursday night but still suffered a stunning women's basketball knockout at the hands of Notre Dame.
The Lady Vols collapsed under the weight of their 28 turnovers and a 34-point scoring surge by the Fighting Irish in the fourth quarter. The combination turned a 23-point Lady Vols lead in the first half into an 84-70 loss before a crowd of 8,733 at Purcell Pavilion.
Among the crowd was a UT contingent that included Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport and athletic director Phillip Fulmer.
"This is going to sting," said UT coach Holly Warlick, who seem befuddled by the whiplash-inducing turn of events.
More:Lady Vols' Meme Jackson trying to be better about consistency
The game recalled one of the low points of last season, when Tennessee followed up a rousing upset of Notre Dame by squandering a 17-point lead at Auburn and falling behind by 23 before losing 79-61.
Arike Ogunbowale scored 27 points to lead four double-figure scorers for No. 5 Notre Dame (17-2). She also led a 12-point scoring run midway through the fourth quarter that erased the remnants of UT's lead.
"After awhile, you've just to say 'we can't give this up anymore,'" Warlick said, "and we didn't do that."
Tennessee's turnovers, which matched a season high, corresponded with 28 Notre Dame points. They also robbed No. 7 Tennessee (16-2) of scoring chances. The Lady Vols had five double-figure scorers and shot better than 50 percent throughout the game, finishing at 56.9 (29 for 51).
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Meme Jackson led UT with 18 points.
At halftime, the Division I Women's Basketball Committee Thursday released its first of three reveals of the top-16 seeds in advance of the NCAA tournament. Tennessee was seeded fifth, one spot ahead of Notre Dame.
By then, Tennessee had submitted one entry regarding its tournament worthiness and began work on the counter proposal.
More:Lady Vols' trip to Notre Dame is another chance to gauge team's progress
The Lady Vols began like a championship contender, dominating virtually all phases of game in bolting to a 27-10 lead after one quarter. The lead grew to 23 points (37-14) after Jaime Nared converted a conventional 3-point play courtesy of a difficult driving, leaning shot with 7 minutes, 3 seconds left in the first half.
But UT made only more basket before halftime as Notre Dame tightened up its interior defense and cut its deficit to 39-27 at halftime.
"I think once we got a few (defensive) stops and started scoring, we were motivated to get a few more stops," Notre Dame guard Marina Mabrey said.
The mistakes, on the other hand, had the opposite effect on the Lady Vols, causing them to begin unraveling. Nine of the Fighting Irish's 17 second-quarter points corresponded with UT's turnovers.
"I think a lot of times we were trying to make a home run play," Nared said, who committed a team-high seven turnovers. "or make passes that weren't there."
The Fighting Irish were the ones hitting homers, scoring 57 points in the second half.
"We've been pretty gritty and we've been pretty tough," Warlick said. "I just didn't think we were very gritty and tough overall."
Said Nared: "We have to want to play defense. We're not in the beginning of the season. We don't really have young players anymore. We have to pick things up."
Up Next
Tennessee returns home to face No. 3 Mississippi State (19-0) on Sunday. The Bulldogs, who have been off since last Sunday, are one of three undefeated teams left in Division I.
Sunday's game will be Tennessee's "We Back Pat" game to bring awareness to the Pat Summitt Foundation and the fight against Alzheimer's disease.
The game will the first of two consecutive home games for the Lady Vols. Ole Miss visits next Thursday.
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