Tennessee Lady Vols unable to complete comeback against Stanford, take first loss of season
The Tennessee Lady Vols had their work cut out for them after trailing by 20 points against Stanford, but for the first time this season they were unable to complete a comeback.
No. 3 Stanford (9-2), the defending national champions, handed Tennessee its first loss of the season 74-63 on Saturday at Thompson-Boling Arena.
No. 9 Tennessee (9-1) worked its magic with a comeback in the third quarter, but it wasn't enough. Ashten Prechtel gave Stanford a lift in the fourth quarter after Cameron Brink fouled out, hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 12 points.
Tennessee's free-throw shooting finally came back to bite them, going 16-of-29. Stanford made 9-of-10 in the fourth, while Tennessee missed all three. The difference of center Tamari Key was tangible, and the Lady Vols were a different team without her. Key played just 15 minutes, scored one point and fouled out in the fourth.
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Alexus Dye sparks comeback in third
Tennessee outscored Stanford 20-9 in the third quarter, coming back from a halftime deficit of 43-26. Alexus Dye had 10 points in the third, making huge plays to give Tennessee momentum, including stealing the ball from Haley Jones that led to a Jordan Walker layup.
Tennessee gave itself a chance in the third, bringing the score within three at the end of the quarter. But the third quarter comeback wasn't enough, and Stanford would not be held to that little offensive production two quarters in a row. Stanford outscored Tennessee 22-17 in the fourth.
Dye finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
Beat at the boards to start
Stanford came out swinging and out-rebounded the Lady Vols 24-14 in the first half, which took away a large part of Tennessee's scoring in second chance points. Part of this was due to Key sitting the bench for all but four minutes in the first two quarters with two fouls.
The Lady Vols opened the third quarter with eight rebounds, and Key playing eight minutes. Brink picked up her third foul early in and Key dominated the paint.
Stanford is the only team to out-rebound Tennessee all season, 52-43.
Up next
Tennessee faces East Tennessee State at home on Monday (6:30 p.m.).
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women's athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee Lady Vols basketball lose to Stanford: first season loss
