Sanning: Horston's poise in the biggest moment speaks to her character
Tennessee earned a third place finish in the SEC with a big win on the road against Auburn on Sunday, and this time, the headliner wasn't junior forward Rennia Davis.
Don't get me wrong, she still got hers.
22 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes is no joke, and Davis has been the driving force behind the Lady Vols all season. But the winning play did not come courtesy of No. 0 this time around.
That honor would be bestowed upon her young teammate.
Despite logging only six points and turning the ball over six times off the bench, it was freshman Jordan Horston whom would be called upon in the biggest moment.
Without hesitation, she delivered.
Receiving the inbounds pass from Jazmine Massengill with 3.8 seconds remaining in regulation, the freshman guard took one crossover dribble to her lift and glided past her defender, throwing up a runner with three defenders in her space.
Nothing but the bottom.
In what was perhaps one of her worst statistical games of the season, Horston did not let her early struggles define her, a quality you typically only see in seasoned veterans.
It's a quality that many players do not have, and a quality that head coach Kellie Harper has seemingly embraced.
Despite Davis - one of the conference's best scorers and clutch shot-makers - being on the floor, it was Harper and Horston that combined for a signature moment.
No other Lady Vol aside from Davis reached double figures in scoring, but on this night it didn't matter.
Sometimes it's the "nitty gritty" plays that can springboard a player into future success, and Horston proved that in the biggest of moments, she can be relied upon with the ball in her hands.
You typically don't see that from freshman, particularly freshman that share the same court with a player of Davis' caliber.
I know what you're thinking...how can I be so sure?
If there is one thing that I've learned in my four years covering college basketball, it is that big shot-makers usually aren't one-hit wonders.
Just ask Lamonte Turner.
Turner was 0-of-14 from three-point range against Kentucky last year, but with everything on the line - on a primetime stage in the SEC Tournament - it was No. 1 who made the winning shot.
While this was no primetime stage - the Lady Vols will get that opportunity soon - it was a start, and everybody needs that initial opportunity to prove themselves.
In an up-and-down year that has saw Tennessee rise in the AP Top 25 after winning six out of seven games to losing five straight and dropping out of it completely, UT's perseverance has not wavered.
Neither has Horston's confidence.
It's the good moments that outweigh the bad ones, and despite having gone through the typical high school-to-college adjustment that plagues many underclassmen, No. 25 stood tall with the game on the line.
As a coach, teammate and competitor, you simply can't ask for more than that.
Photo/video courtesy of Tennessee Athletics