Passive third quarter costs Tennessee Lady Vols in season-opening loss to Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio — It appeared the Tennessee Lady Vols were catching a break going into halftime of their women's basketball season opener on Tuesday night.
No. 15 Ohio State was hammering the No. 4 Tennessee with its full court press, forcing turnovers left and right. Tennessee was clinging to a lead built from a 22-point first quarter. Halftime was a welcome pause on the momentum the Buckeyes were starting to build — there was time to recover from the 12 first-half turnovers.
But the third quarter only got worse.
In 10 minutes of play, Tennessee went from an eight-point lead to trailing by nine. Ohio State scored 30 points in the third quarter, only three points shy of its first-half total. Tennessee committed 11 turnovers in that quarter alone and only scored 13 points. It was the stretch that turned the tide in Ohio State's favor in the 87-75 upset.
"Especially in the third quarter, we became really passive," Tennessee coach Kellie Harper said. "The more passive we became, the more aggressive Ohio State became, and we just couldn't get that back. … Also in that moment, we lost some loose balls, gave up an offense board, that all led to points. We just couldn't get things going in our favor in the third."
Tennessee senior guard Jordan Horston said they knew Ohio State would press the whole game, but they just couldn't execute against the pressure. By the end of the game, Tennessee turned the ball over 29 times.
"You never know how aggressive the press is until you actually are playing against it," said Horston. "I just feel like they got that first hit and we just didn't bounce back from it. But, you know, I'm not rattled. We're not worried at all. It's the first game. It was great for us, because now we see what we need to work on to get better from here."
Tennessee had only 10 assists on 28 field goals. Horston and Jasmine Powell led the team in scoring with 20 and 19 points, respectively, but many of those opportunities were created on their own.
Horston said Tennessee appeared a bit rattled offensively and struggled to get into their sets because of the pace of the game. It didn't help that guards became more fatigued against the press due to foul trouble — six Lady Vols were called for three or more fouls.
"A lot of that had to do with Ohio State's press," Harper said. "And then almost a sigh of relief when you get it across the half court. We've got to be able to go from a press break into an offensive set. In the first half we attacked. Second half, we were really slow to get in a set and did not execute — and we can do a better much better job executing."
There's a quick turnaround ahead of Tennessee and very few breaks in their nonconference schedule. Regardless if the Lady Vols needed a wake-up call or not, they got one on Tuesday.
Harper said it was good for Tennessee to play one of the best offensive teams in the country.
"I think what we needed was to play a tough team," Harper said. "I really do, I believe we needed that ... If we do a little bit better job taking care of the basketball for a small stretch, then this could have been a different outcome. I think that's where we have to understand the details. Hopefully this will create a little bit more sense of urgency for our basketball team with those details."