Three concerns from Lady Vols basketball's 16-point road loss to Alabama
Not much went right for the Lady Vols in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Tennessee was doomed by its defense in the third quarter against the Crimson Tide, who built a 16-point lead going into the fourth. Lady Vols basketball didn't have the grit to complete that comeback and lost 72-56 to Alabama (19-6, 6-4 SEC) on Thursday at Coleman Coliseum.
Tennessee (14-8, 7-3) scored only 14 points in each quarter in the loss.
Here are three concerns from the loss on the road.
Tennessee's defense will continue to be an issue against top teams
On a slow performance offensively, the Lady Vols couldn't rely on their defense to keep them in the game.
Their defense has been a persistent weakness, but in most SEC games so far, they have been able to overcome it with offense. But Tennessee's defense hasn't improved enough, and it will continue to be an issue against top teams in the conference.
Alabama shot 84.6% from the field in its 28-point third quarter. Eight of those points were off Tennessee turnovers and nine came from 3-pointers.
"We didn't have a good shooting night, I thought we settled a lot, and on those nights, you've got to be able to stay strong defensively," Harper said. "We (did) for three quarters. In the third, we just couldn't get the stops. We left them open a couple times, they made a couple tough shots and gave up some easy ones."
Lady Vols can't overcome poor performances from star players
Both of Tennessee's leading scorers had poor performances against Alabama, and the Lady Vols didn't have the offensive firepower without them.
Star forward Rickea Jackson scored a team-high 13 points on 6-for-16 shooting and senior guard Jewel Spear scored only five points on 1-for-9 shooting. The pair combined for 11 rebounds and Spear added three assists.
In all three of the Lady Vols' losses on the road, Jackson has scored 15 or fewer points. If both of Tennessee's stars have sub-par performances, it doesn't have the depth to overcome it.
"We've got to be able to find ways in a game where you're not scoring like you normally do, for whatever reason, you've got to be able to find extra ways," Harper said.
Tennessee shot 35.3% from the field and 15.7% from 3-point range – both are its worst shooting percentages SEC play. Its 56 point tied a season-low, and it didn't make a single 3-pointer after halftime. The only player besides Jackson to score in double figures was Jasmine Powell (10 points).
Tennessee lacked the aggression, poise that led to its success in SEC
The Tennessee team that lost Thursday didn't look like the team that stacked up seven wins in conference play.
The Lady Vols weren't aggressive enough offensively and they went 12-23 on layups. They weren't poised enough to make plays down the stretch when they cut the lead to six points in the fourth quarter.
They got a steal but couldn't capitalize off it. They gave up an offensive rebound here, took an ill-advised shot there and gave Alabama an easy steal-and-score off a bad pass.
Four minutes later, Alabama was back up by double digits, and Tennessee had only managed to score two points.
"It was a settling, I think we had some overthinking," Harper said. "We had some plays that just weren't executed a few times. That's on us, we've got to get back and make sure we understand what the call is and what the emphasis is and where we're going with the ball in those moments ... You just got to get back to what made us good and try to correct the things we still need to work on."
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: Three concerns from Lady Vols basketball's 72-56 road loss to Alabama
