Kellie Harper says Lady Vols basketball 'just too nice' after coming up short vs Indiana

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Playing without the best player isn't an easy challenge for a team to overcome. But the absence of star player Rickea Jackson doesn't account for everything in Lady Vols basketball's worst performance of the season Thursday.

No. 21 Tennessee lost its second ranked matchup of the season 71-57 to No. 19 Indiana at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. The Lady Vols (3-2) never led in the loss, and the Hoosiers (4-1) were only slowed down by Tennessee's defense in the first quarter – they shot 50% or more the rest of the way. The Lady Vols couldn't gain an advantage on the boards to come back, and got outrebounded 42-39.

When Indiana got more physical in the second half and officials didn't give Tennessee any breaks, the Lady Vols couldn't overcome it to chip away at 12-point lead Indiana built in the first half. Tennessee coach Kellie Harper was disappointed in her team's play and didn't think they handled the physicality well.

"I still think we're just too nice," Harper said. "We're just a group of nice, young women, and when you step out on the court you can't have that mentality. You can't have that personality, that persona. So we've got to find that, and understand it's going to be a physical game. You have to expect it and I don't think we handled that very well."

While handling physicality was an issue, that doesn't account for everything. Harper came up short in another ranked matchup – and she barely took questions afterwards from the assembled media. Harper is now 11-30 against ranked opponents in five seasons at UT.

On Thursday, against an Indiana team that had yet to impress this season, the Hoosiers had an answer for every defense the Lady Vols threw at them, and Harper's rotations often didn't provide any answers, either.

Tennessee was led by junior forwards Karoline Striplin and Sara Puckett, who scored 13 points each, and it didn't get enough from its guards against the Hoosiers.

Senior point guard Jasmine Powell, who scored 12 points in her return, didn't log a single assist. Senior point guard Destinee Wells only had three assists, and all Tennessee's guards shot poorly from the field except Powell, who shot 50%. But Wells, senior guard Jewel Spear and senior guard Tess Darby went 5-for-25 from the field, and shot selection and lack of offensive rhythm killed Tennessee's scoring.

Spear hasn't scored in double figures the last two games after averaging 19 points in Tennessee's first three games. She only shot three 3-pointers and the team struggled to get her good looks from deep.

In a game that was a defensive battle from the start, junior guard Kaiya Wynn, one of Tennessee's best on-ball defenders, played only 13 minutes. Every other guard, besides walk-on Edie Darby, played at least 25 minutes.

Indiana exploited Tennessee's weaknesses on the perimeter and got a number of wide open shots with its ball movement. The Hoosiers shot 10-for-22 from 3-point range, the second-highest an opponent has made against Tennessee this season. Florida State went 13-for-22 against the Lady Vols, a loss Wynn saw only three minutes in.

Harper said guarding Yarden Garzon, Sara Scalia and Sydney Parrish as 3-point shooters was a focus going into the game, and she was disappointed they combined to shoot 9-for-16 from deep. Harper wouldn't say if Wynn's defense would earn her more minutes, and said that "everybody that was out there had breakdowns defensively."

"Obviously we tried a lot of different combinations to try to figure things out," Harper said. "It's not the want to – they want to do it – but our awareness, we're still one step behind defensively. And until our awareness becomes better, our anticipation on the defensive end becomes better, we're going to struggle on that side."

RICKEA JACKSON: Lady Vols basketball star Rickea Jackson out for Indiana matchup, misses third game with injury

Tennessee's remedy to many of its issues lies in Jackson's return, but what was originally labeled as a day-to-day injury has stretched into a two-week absence. Jackson missed her third straight game Thursday with a lower leg injury and still wore a boot on her right foot. Harper declined to put a timeline on her return.

"For her, well for honestly any injury, you just can't really put a timetable on it," Harper said. "It's just how she responds, how her body responds. So we'll let the athletic trainers and doctors guide us as we go. Obviously we miss her, but in the meantime, the team on the court has got to get better."

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Breaking down Lady Vols basketball's second ranked loss of season