Despite another second half surge, the Lady Bulldogs couldn’t get over a hump of poor offense in the first half against the No. 5 Lady Volunteers Sunday at Humphrey Coliseum as Tennessee moved to 22-0 with a 61-53 against Mississippi State.
Trailing by 15 with 5:21 to go, State went to an effective full court press that forced four turnovers and ignited a 13-2 run and a crowd of 2,813.
“We didn’t handle the press the way we should have,” said Shanna Zolman, who led the Lady Vols with 17 points off the bench.
Tasha Butts missed the front of a one-and-one and the Dawgs got the ball down 53-49 with 57 seconds left.
MSU tried to isolate for leading scorer Tan White, but UT didn’t allow an open look at the goal for the next 30 seconds and then iced the game with eight straight free throws.
White said the second half performance proved the Lady Dawgs can play with any team. She posted her 13th career double-double and led all scorers and rebounders with 25 points and 11 boards and became the all-time Lady Dawgs leader in steals (242).
“I see this team starting to find ways to be an effective team,” MSU head coach Sharon Fanning said. “We are working hard and playing more together.”
Lady Vols head coach Pat Head Summitt dubbed the game an “ugly win” but credited MSU’s ability to step into the passing lanes and swipe the ball.
“Our assist to turnover (2:5) ratio has to get better,” Summit said. “Our standard has got to be a lot higher if we want to compete for a conference or national title.”
UT led 15-14 with 7:24 remaining in the first half but closed the half with a 12-2 run despite making five turnovers.
The Lady Dawgs scored only four points off 13 first half turnovers. State squandered fast break opportunities in their worst offensive half of the season and shot 18 percent (6-32) in the first half, missing all nine three’s and eight lay-ups.
Fanning said coming back from such a tough start displayed toughness, but her team must carry that into the remaining games.
The good news for Fanning and the Lady Dawgs is they won’t face Tennessee or Georgia again this season and MSU’s next three games are against unranked foes.
State travels to Oxford Sunday to face the Lady Rebels before returning to host the Kentucky Wildcats Thursday.