Tennessee Lady Vols Shock No. 4 Ranked South Carolina Gamecocks on the Road: 5 Takeaways
The Tennessee Lady Vols scored their biggest win in years. On the road, the women’s basketball Volunteers upset No. 4 ranked South Carolina 76-74.
Two weeks after upsetting the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Holly Warlick’s Tennessee Lady Vols delivered an encore with their biggest regular season win in a decade.
Tennessee upset the No. 4 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks 76-74 for their first road win over a Top Five team since 2007.
After going up by 11 with under five minutes to play, they did everything they could to lose the game, and South Carolina tied it up off a three-pointer with 15 seconds left.
But on the next possession, Jaime Nared drew a foul and made two free throws. Bianca Cuevas-Moore, who tied the game with a three-pointer, missed on a three-pointer to win the game.
With the victory, Tennessee moves to 14-7 with a 5-3 SEC record and has won its last three games. Meanwhile, South Carolina fell to 18-2 overall and 8-1 in the SEC.
Here are five takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ win.
1. This is the most inconsistent team ever.
Okay, let’s go ahead and get this out of the way. How do you upset the No. 6 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish and then get blown out by the Auburn Tigers later in the week? Then, how do you get back on track against the two worst SEC teams before shocking the best team you’ve faced all year in the No. 4 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks?
This all makes no sense. Holly Warlick has a completely different team showing up for her every night. They could easily lose their next game at home against the LSU Tigers, and nobody would be shocked. But that’s how this team goes. And honestly, one player is the reason for that.
2. Jaime Nared’s play always dictates which Tennessee Lady Vols team shows up.
You know that for the most part Diamond DeShields and Mercedes Russell are going to have big games, even if they are off on some nights. This year, the junior has nearly double her scoring average to 15 points a game.
Well, that average is based on wild inconsistencies. Her play is a direct reflection of the way the team has been. However, Nared stepped up in this huge moment with 27 points. She was only 1-of-3 from three, but she got to the free throw line 15 times and hit 12 of them. And that’s the story of the Tennessee Lady Vols. If Nared is aggressive and drives to the basket, they are a complete team. If she settles, they lose. She needs to drive more.
3. Mercedes Russell out-dueled A’ja Wilson
Now this is the story of the night. Mercedes Russell and A’ja Wilson were both Top 5 recruits with five-star ratings, but Wilson has been consistently considered the best forward in women’s basketball. Yet even with the dominant help of Alaina Coates down low, she got dominated Monday.
Russell was the star underneath the basket. She finished with only 16 points, but it was on 8-of-10 shooting. And she added 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, Wilson only had 14 points and four rebounds. So Russell, not Wilson, was the player underneath the basket Monday. But she nor Wilson, or even Nared, should be the main story of the night.
4. Diamond DeShields was the best all-around player on the court.
Holly Warlick has been turning to Diamond DeShields to do everything over the past few weeks. Once again, DeShields stepped up for her in that regard in this huge upset win.
For the Lady Vols, the junior guard had 21 points, five assists, and eight rebounds. She was not having her best shooting night, but she found ways to get Nared and Russell involved, and in the process, her team pulled off a huge victory. Still, turning to her and others so much can be a problem, and that takes us to our final point.
5. Lack of depth was even an issue in this upset.
The story now is clear. The Tennessee Lady Vols are as good as any team in the country with their starting five. But they have absolutely no bench, and it nearly cost them in this game. With an 11-point lead and under five minutes to go, they nearly blew it.
South Carolina is not a team built to come back in that quick amount of time, but they did it anyway. That’s a huge issue going forward still. They pulled out this amazing win with their talent. But it took a bit of luck in the end, and it shouldn’t have.
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