Tennessee Lady Vols defense stands up to threat from Ole Miss

A hot shooter and foul trouble conspired against Tennessee on Thursday night.

The Lady Vols survived the dual threat for a 75-66 SEC women's basketball victory over Ole Miss before a crowd of 9,016 at Thompson-Boling Arena. The turnout included the 10,000,000th fan to attend a Lady Vols game.

Freshman Rennia Davis matched her season high with 18 points to lead No. 10 Tennessee (17-3, 5-2 SEC), which had four double-figure scorers and led by as many as 19 points down the stretch. She shot 6 for 8 from the floor, going exclusively to the rim.

"I didn't take any jump shots the whole game," Davis said. "My teammates were able to find me on all the back-door cuts."   

Anastasia Hayes scored 16, including Tennessee's first two 3-pointers in nine quarters, a drought that spanned three games. Jaime Nared had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. 

Madinah Muhammad scored a career-high 31 points to lead Ole Miss (11-9, 1-6). Her scoring recalled the 21 she had last season in the Rebels' upset victory over UT in Oxford, Miss.

UT held Ole Miss to 28 points in the second half, utilizing a zone defense in the third quarter to help save a first-half defensive performance that Davis said was "basically, you know, horrible."

"We just spread our zone out," UT coach Holly Warlick said. "We communicated. We located shooters. At times, to me, it looked like a sagging man.

"At times we were not very good (defensively). When we needed to, we were very good."

The nature of the game resulted in seniors Mercedes Russell and Nared playing 37 and 36 minutes respectively.

The Lady Vols utilized more players early, going deep into their reserves. Freshman center Kasi Kushkituah, who hadn't played since the SEC opener against Kentucky on Dec. 31, was the second substitute off the bench following Hayes.

More:Holly Warlick on Lady Vols: 'This team is special. We're going to get back on track'

Before the first quarter ended, fellow reserves Cheridene Green and Kortney Dunbar had checked in as well.

Initially, the deployment was something of a luxury, courtesy of an early double-figure lead. Later, it became more of a necessity because of foul trouble. Hayes and starters Davis and Evina Westbrook all were bound to bench with two fouls apiece. Westbrook, UT's starting point guard, was limited to eight minutes before halftime.

The foul trouble deprived Tennessee of a true point guard and it showed. The Lady Vols went the final 6 minutes, 10 seconds of the half without scoring and committed six turnovers.

Muhammad, a 33 percent 3-point shooter for the season, set a new career high for treys by halftime with six. Her scoring led a 14-point Rebels run that whittled a 16-point Tennessee lead to 40-38 at the break.

"I wish more people would talk about her," Ole Miss coach Matt Insell said of Muhammad. "I'll continue to talk about her. .. She sliced up Tennessee about as well as any as guard has in the league."

UT's fouls continued to mount in the second half. Ole Miss attacked off the dribble and was in the bonus within the first five minutes. The Rebels pulled even at 49 before the third quarter's end.

"We just had to be smarter with our defense and how we were picking up fouls," Davis said.

Warlick endorsed that sort of thinking.

"You have to understand how the game is being officiated," she said. "I think we got a little timid when we got in foul trouble." 

Up Next 

After two home games, Tennessee goes back on the road, playing at LSU on Sunday.

The Tigers, who are coached by former Lady Vols player and assistant Nikki Fargas, beat UT on its last visit to Baton Rouge, La., 57-56 in 2016.