Tennessee Lady Vols' issues only begin with missed layups

NASHVILLE - Tennessee's agenda for the next women's basketball tournament begins rather simply: make layups.

The Lady Vols missed 19 of those shots, which contributed to a season-low 26.7 percent field goal accuracy and a 73-62 loss to South Carolina Friday night in the SEC tournament quarterfinals at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.

"We attacked the basket," UT coach Holly Warlick said, "the shot just wouldn't go."

More:A'ja Wilson, South Carolina outshine Lady Vols in SEC tournament victory

More:Lady Vols had no shot against A'ja Wilson, South Carolina

As a result, the Lady Vols go home, likely no worse off regarding their NCAA tournament placement. They were a No. 12 national seed on Feb. 19 in the final reveal by the Division I Women's Basketball Committee and projected as a No. 3 seed in the Lexington, Ky., regional.

Charlie Creme, who projects the tournament bracket for ESPN, kept Tennessee (24-7) as a No. 3 seed in his latest bracket, which was released Saturday morning. But he put UT in the Spokane, Wash., regional.

The Lady Vols will leave their seeding and tournament placement to others. They'll concern themselves with the missed layups, among other things. Three topics already were being discussed on Friday night.

Get tougher

Senior forward Jaime Nared overcame a bruised hip to score 15 points and grab 13 rebounds. But she also shot 5-for-19 from the floor. Nared thought the problem with layups reflected a toughness issue.

"I think maybe we were shying away from contact, thinking the refs were going to call a foul for us and just not playing tough and going through the contact," she said.

From the other side of the locker room and a different end of the experience spectrum, freshman forward Rennia Davis expressed the same thought.

"We definitely have to get more physical as a team," she said.

Assistant coach Dean Lockwood summed up the sentiment in this manner: "We played hard but we didn't play tough."

"We didn't dip our shoulder and go into people and go through people," he said. "We kind of tried to go around them and try to finesse them versus sheer raw attacking."

Mind the scouting report

The Lady Vols got their first look this season at South Carolina's A'ja Wilson and the three-time SEC player of the year was an eyeful, scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

In assessing the damage, Nared also made the following observation:

"We knew in the scouting report she likes to go left and I think she went left most of the time when she scored," she said. "That was on us to really dial in and make her use her right hand."

Davis said similar oversights factored into Gamecocks forwards Alexis Jennings and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan combining for 34 points.

Overall, South Carolina scored 46 points from the foul lane area, 24 more than last Sunday's meeting in Knoxville, when Wilson was sidelined with vertigo.

"I think sometimes we weren't tuned in to what the game plan was," Davis said.

Slow down

The Lady Vols likely will downshift for a few days. The time off will afford Nared more treatment for her bruised hip. Guard Evina Westbrook was sporting an ice bag on her left knee Friday night as well.

When UT gears up for the next tournament, Anastasia Hayes hopes they do judiciously regarding their offense.

"We don't have to go as fast," the freshman guard said.

She advised "taking our time, staying together and just trusting each other in executing our plays."