Storylines From The Lady Vols Win Over Texas and What They Mean
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– On Sunday, The Tennessee Lady Vols hosted the Texas Longhorns in Thompson-Boling Arena that turned into the most thrilling game the arena has witnessed this season from the men or the women.
Tennessee bested Texas 74-70 at the end of overtime, as the battle of UT's was knotted up at the end of regulation.
The Lady Vols trailed by double digits at one point in the fourth quarter and eventually outscored the Longhorns 20-10 in the final frame to send it to extra minutes. This season, the comeback makes three wins in that fashion for Tennessee, as UCF is the only team the Lady Vols have not taken down to the wire.
A pair of juniors was monumental in Tennessee's win, as Jordan Horston and Tamari Key are why this team can win without star forward Rae Burrell.
Below are four storylines from Tennessee's biggest win of the season and what they mean going forward.
Storylines:
–Tamari Key becomes the first Lady Vol in history to record multiple triple-doubles- TK was sensational against Texas. As soon as the 6'6" center laid foot on the court, she met the Longhorns with force in the post.
TK fouled out in overtime, but Key had already done all she needed to help her team win their second straight game against a Top 25 team. Key ended her afternoon with a staggering 18 rebounds and 10 blocks with 10 points. Key became the fourth Lady Vol to record a triple-double when she did it against Florida last season, but she now becomes the first player in Lady Vol history to record multiple.
Horston has been the force on offense for Tennessee, but TK has kept the team in games, and her minutes on the court are more valuable than anyone else's.
Kellie Harper knows the significance of having Key on the court as much as possible, as the junior center played 39 out of 45 minutes against the Longhorns and would have played more if she did not foul out.
Harper touched on Key during the post-game press conference.
"Right now, Tamari is playing with a toughness that's just different," Harper said. "We talk about toughness; it's not always physicality. Toughness is making the right play mentally. She's able to stay in the game give us long minutes. She wants the ball, she's doing a great job defensively, and just really proud of her and how she's playing right now. She's just continuing to grow."
Harper also noted that the game plan is dependent on whether or not Key is on the floor.
"Our game plan has to change if she's not on the court. We have to do things differently if she's not out there. We expect her to be out there a high number of minutes and our game plan is built around her to be honest with you. Still think that there are things that we can do better with her, for sure. Getting these wins, her playing a lot of minutes, it's a start."
Key's defensive play allows the Lady Vol offense to work through early-season kinks, and with the hustle Tennessee's offense shows to get offensive boards, the Lady Vols will find points more efficiently moving forward.
–Jordan Horston sets career highs in points and rebounds- Although Tamari Key may have stolen the show on Sunday afternoon, Jordan Horston ensured the Lady Vol offense kept up with the Longhorns. Horston was responsible for a whopping 28 points in the win, along with her 15 rebounds. She shot 50% from the field and drilled one of two attempted triples, and the three could not have come at a better time.
Horston has been the hero of the Lady Vol offense every game she has played, as the junior was absent in the season opener. Losing Rae Burrell is tough for Tennessee, but Horston is making the loss have less impact than most thought.
Horston's 15 rebounds show what kind of basketball Kellie Harper aims to coach, as she shed light on the importance of rebounding in post-game availability.
"Rebounding is important. I've talked about that quite a bit. It's always going to be an emphasis, it's always been an emphasis of mine as a coach, and I do think a lot of that had to do with my time at Tennessee. It's always been a big deal at this program. I thought we gave up too many offensive boards tonight, but down the stretch, we got the defensive boards when we needed them. And for us, crashing the boards offensively, we're a problem for a lot of teams with our board play. You know that's an area of pride for us, and we want to continue to emphasize it and obviously understand that it's going to be game plan. Our opponents, that's going to be one of their number one game plan items. They want to check that one off."
–Despite being under the weather, Jordan Walker delivered- Senior guard Jordan Walker was brilliant in The Lady Vols' season opener but has not had as significant an impact since. A lot can be attributed to Jordan Horston stepping up on offense, but Walker was fighting an illness against USF and was not 100% going into Texas. However, the Michigan native stepped up for her team early, preventing another slow start for The Lady Vols.
Walker ended the day with 13 points, five boards and five assists. Walker was also responsible for two threes made.
With Key playing excellent on defense and Horston being the leader on offense, Walker will serve as a much-needed third woman in The Lady Vols' big three. Her experience and accurate shooting ability make her a great safety blanket for Kellie Harper. Additionally, Walker played that well and logged 36 minutes while dealing with a nagging illness speaks volumes to the type of player she is.
–Freshmen continue to get valuable minutes- Brooklynn Miles has logged a lot of minutes over the past couple of games in the absence of Rae Burrell, precisely 30 in a thriller with USF.
While Miles did not reach that mark against Texas, another freshman did in Sara Puckett, continuing the theme that Kellie Harper has the utmost confidence in her young players.
Puckett logged 34 minutes at forward in The Lady Vols' most crucial game of the year, and Harper's decision to play the freshman paid off when the Muscle Shoals native hit a Sara Puckett bucket at a vital moment in the game.
Puckett's triple ignited Tennessee's comeback in the fourth quarter, and Harper knew that the shot was significant during the game.
"Sara's really talented. I thought her three in the second half was huge for us. I don't know when it came, I don't know what the score was, I just remember thinking, 'oh, we needed that bad.' She made another big-time play, just making a nice pass inside. She's growing up pretty quickly. This is a freshman who is playing with a lot of poise. She has a great frame, great strength and a very high skill set."
As for Miles, the freshman point guard was still able to log 18 minutes, continuing to serve as a solid option off of the bench to energize the offense.
The Lady Vols are 4-0 with back-to-back wins over Top 25 opponents, and they have done it without Rae Burrell. Something about the fourth quarter lights a fire inside Kellie Harper's players, and up next for the resilient squad is a date with Kansas in Las Vegas the day after Thanksgiving.
Everything Kellie Harper said after the win can be read here.
Kellie Harper's full post-game availability is above.
Jordan Walker, Jordan Horston and Tamari Key's post-game availability can be watched here.
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