Tennessee's 37th NCAA appearance begins with Liberty (Mar 14, 2018)
While Connecticut is the unquestioned power of women's basketball, not even the Huskies have accomplished what Tennessee has in terms of making the NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA has administered a women's basketball championship for 37 years and the Lady Vols have answered roll call for all of them. They put their hand in the air for this season's event Friday at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, where they host Big South Conference champion Liberty in the nightcap of a first-round doubleheader.
Third-seeded Tennessee (24-7) enters this tournament on more solid footing than last season's team. That squad became just the second in the NCAA era to get eliminated before the regional semifinals, losing to host Louisville in the second round.
This one won its first 15 games, including a stirring 82-75 decision over then-No. 2 Texas in December, before slippage occurred in Southeastern Conference play. Still, there is reason to believe this team is more equipped for success this March, even if its bracket suggests otherwise.
A possible second-round matchup with Oregon State or Western Kentucky on Sunday won't be a breeze. And a potential Sweet 16 game against Baylor is one where the Lady Vols would play an underdog role.
For Tennessee to make the kind of tournament run its tradition demands, it has to shoot more accurately. In its 73-62 loss on March 2 against a South Carolina team it routed the week before, it shot only 26.7 percent from the field, missing a whopping 19 layups.
"We attacked the basket," Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick said to the Knoxville News-Sentinel. "The shot just wouldn't go."
Not even from their best player, senior Jamie Nared, who averaged a team-high 17.1 points per game this season. Nared did manage 15 points and 13 rebounds against the Gamecocks but converted only 5 of 19 shots.
After the game, Nared hinted that a lack of toughness could have led to the inability to score around the hoop.
"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.
Mercedes Russell (15.3 ppg, 9.1 rebounds) and Rennia Davis (12 ppg, 7.4 rebounds) also score in double figures for Tennessee, which has made 68 more foul shots (505) than its opponents have tried (437).
Liberty (24-9) is a defensive-minded squad. Opponents shot just 37.4 percent from the field and averaged only 53.7 points per game.
A 60-42 win Sunday over UNC Asheville for the Big South title was a fitting way for Liberty to wrap up a tourney bid. The Flames limited the Bulldogs to 29.8 percent marksmanship from the field and dominated the glass 44-30.
Keyen Brown leads a balanced attack, averaging 13 points per game and shooting 60.4 percent from the field. KK Barbour was named Big South tournament most valuable player, contributing three 3-pointers in the title game, and is averaging 9.8 points per game.
"For us as a team, it's another game where we have to buy into each other, play defense, rebound," Barbour said to the Lynchburg (Va.) News & Advance.
