The Lady Vols’ first season under Kim Caldwell has come to a close.
After making its way to the Sweet 16 following an upset of 4-seed Ohio State, 5-seed Tennessee fell 67-59 to 1-seed Texas in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday.
This ended the Lady Vols’ (24-10) season just a game short of returning to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2016.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
In the loss to the Longhorns (34-3), Tennessee didn’t have enough in the tank to win the final frame. With both teams knotted up with the final 10 minutes to play, it was Texas who took an early lead that it held on to.
This marked the ninth single digit loss of the season for the Lady Vols in 10 total losses.
The biggest issue down the stretch was turnovers. Tennessee coughed it up nine times in the fourth quarter and 18 times in the game. This resulted in 19 points for the Longhorns.
Overall, Tennessee shot 37.9% from the field and 19.2% on 3-pointers. It was led by Ruby Whitehorn who produced 16 points. Zee Spearman and Samara Spencer also finished in double figures.
As a defense, the Lady Vols held Texas to 46.6% shooting from the field and 3-for-7 on 3-pointers. It turned it over 14 times.
The Lady Vols got out to a fine start. Tennessee took a five-point lead just under four minutes into the game.
With four and a half minutes remaining, the lead still sat at five. However, things dramatically turned from there. For the final stretch following this point, the Lady Vols did not score again and allowed Texas to score 13 unanswered points.
This created an eight-point lead for the Longhorns after the first quarter.
Tennessee didn’t blink, though. The Lady Vols fired back effectively in the second quarter with their offense picking back up. After Ruby Whitehorn buried a three, Tennessee tied the game up at 28 with two minutes until the halftime break.
Texas picked it back up from there, though, to take a four-point lead into the break. Whitehorn hit a shot at the buzzer to take a bit of momentum into the locker room.
Whitehorn was the scoring leader at the this point, as well, with nine points. While trailing 34-30, Tennessee shot 38.2% from the field and a poor 2-for-14 from range.
In the third quarter, the Lady Vols and Longhorns traded blows. This was until Tennessee jumped out to a 6-0 run to take its first lead since the first quarter. Texas responded with a three to take a one-point lead before Whitehorn hit a free throw to tie it.
This left the teams knotted at 50 with just 10 minutes to play.
At the media timeout with five minutes to go, the Lady Vols had slipped into a small hole. They trailed by three as the Longhorns attempted to create separation.
With one minute and 47 seconds to play, Texas called timeout. At this point, the Longhorns had built a four-point lead they looked to cling on to.
Tennessee wasn’t able to scratch back, not scoring for the final three minutes and 43 seconds of the game. This resulted in an eight-point loss.
Now, Caldwell will have to turn the page to her second season as the Lady Vols’ head coach.
She will lose seniors Jewel Spear, Samara Spencer, Tess Darby, Jillian Hollingshead and Sara Puckett to a lack of eligibility. However, players such as Whitehorn, Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman, Kaniya Boyd and Alyssa Latham are able to return.
Tennessee brings in five freshmen, Mia and Mya Pauldo, Lauren Hurst, Deniya Prawl and Jaida Civil.
