Why Kim Caldwell thinks Lady Vols have 'a high ceiling' even at

NEW YORK – Talaysia Cooper stayed low in her stance and waited for Lucy Olsen to make her move on the final play of the third quarter.

Cooper had just put Lady Vols basketball up by three. She didn’t even let Iowa pick up the bill. Cooper kept Olsen in front of him and out of the field, forcing Iowa’s leading scorer to make a contested jump.

Olsen missed the shot. Tennessee took the lead in the fourth quarter of a game where every possession counted.

The Lady Vols (7-0) leaned on their defense to secure their first ranked win of the season, defeating No. 20 Iowa 78-68 on Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was the first ranking victory for new coach Kim Caldwell in Tennessee.

“It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t our best game,” she said. “But I think that can be turned into a positive, that we can get a lot better and have a high ceiling.”

It was a tough win for the Lady Vols in the Women’s Champions Classic on their biggest stage so far this season. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but they found a way to use their defense to win when things didn’t go according to plan – like being outrebounded 48-33.

But at this point in the season, these games are a lesson.

“You want to be able to deal with it now so you can fix it now,” she said. “So when you start SEC play, you’ve got all of those issues fixed. So games like this are huge for us.”

Tennessee forced 30 turnovers – 18 of which were steals – while scoring 42 points. The win ended with a 14-1 run in the final four minutes when Iowa (8-1) didn’t hit a single shot.

Many sales were produced by the full press. But there were several in the halfcourt where Tennessee’s defense was weakest.

But the high-pressure defense got to Iowa at the crucial time. The Lady Vols forced the Hawkeyes into three consecutive turnovers in the halfcourt – the game turned from a one-point Iowa lead with 3:04 remaining to an eight-point Tennessee lead with 1:23 remaining.

It helped that Cooper scored at will between Iowa turnovers. The redshirt sophomore guard scored eight points in the final four minutes and finished the game with a team-high 23 points.

“I think we finally did it,” Caldwell said of the final minutes. “They looked like a different team in the last two and a half minutes.”

Caldwell said she believes the halfcourt defense actually took a step, even if there were “some glaring mistakes” that allowed Iowa to drive in runs that needed to be cleaned up.

“But I think we were flying around, I think we were combative,” Caldwell said. “I think we had active hands, that’s all we talked about and that’s what we wanted.”

“WE ARE A FEW DOGS”:Lady Vols show off their skills with a narrow win over Florida State

Caldwell isn’t surprised the Lady Vols have adapted to their style of play so quickly. The trust is there now.

Cooper also sees it coming together. The pressure and tempo eased on the Hawkeyes to secure the win.

“I’m not shocked,” Cooper said. “That may sound arrogant. But things only get better from here on out. Like Coach said, keep working hard and just trust the process and things will get better.”

Related Posts

The best Cyber ​​Monday streaming deals of 2024

UFC Hall of Famer Cub Swanson announces retirement despite miraculous knockout at UFC Tampa

City of Chicago budget vote: Council approves Mayor Brandon Johnson’s latest budget proposal with no property tax increase

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The best Cyber Monday streaming deals of 2024