Tennessee Lady Vols lose second game of the season 79-67 to No. 11 Indiana
The Tennessee Lady Vols dropped their second game in the first week of the season to Indiana on Monday.
No. 4 Lady Vols (1-2) lost 79-67 to No. 11 Indiana (3-0) at Thompson-Boling Arena. Jasmine Powell had a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) and four assists, but Indiana scoring 22 points in both the first and fourth quarter was too much to overcome.
The Lady Vols were unable to stop Sharon, Tennessee, native Chloe Moore-McNeil, who scored 15 points and was 3-for-8 from behind the arc. Seniors Grace Berger and Mackenzie Holmes sealed the win with a combined 12 points in the fourth.
The Lady Vols struggled from the free throw line, shooting 14-for-22.
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Rebounding an issue again
Indiana out-worked Tennessee for rebounds in the first two quarters and went into halftime with 24 rebounds to the Lady Vols' 16 – and they only had five in the first quarter.
Nine of those were offensive rebounds, which the Hoosiers took advantage of for some quick threes. In the first two quarters, they had 17 second-chance points. Tennessee's bigs only combined for 12 rebounds.
Tennessee was able to close the gap in the second half, out-rebounding Indiana 17-11 and giving up only one offensive rebound and no second-chance points. The Lady Vols lost the battle on the glass by a slim margin of 35-33.
Tennessee struggles against Indiana's zone
Harper said Tennessee hadn't worked on its zone offense as much and it needed improvement. The Lady Vols will have more film to watch after they struggled against Indiana's zone offense Monday night.
Indiana protected the paint well with its zone, slowing down Tennessee's offense. The Lady Vols also got blocked five times and were outscored in the paint 12-10 by halftime.
They had trouble getting Tamari Key paint touches, and she was 2-for-2 from the field for seven points in 13 minutes in the first half. Key picked things up in the second half and ended with 14 points, three rebounds, and went 4-for-4 from the field.
When the Hoosiers were playing man-to-man, Tennessee had more success creating one-on-one situations and creating scoring opportunities. But not being able to get more touches for a 6-foot-7 center against a zone defense is concerning.
Tennessee able to contain Holmes, Berger until fourth quarter
The Lady Vols were able to somewhat contain Holmes and Berger until the fourth quarter.
The pair went 7-for-15 and only scored a combined 17 points in the first three quarters. But in the fourth, the duo helped seal the game for the Hoosiers, going 6-of-8 from the field.
Indiana is deep offensively and its three other starters combined for 35 points and Sydney Parrish had 13 off the bench.
Every time Tennessee gained a little offensive momentum, Indiana was able to answer. The Hoosiers put up 22 points in the first quarter and it was enough buffer to keep the lead the rest of the way.
Jordan Horston still day-to-day
Jordan Horston entered the court dressed in jeans and a Tennessee pullover. The senior starter suffered a left lower extremity injury in Thursday's win over UMass in the second quarter.
Horston did not play against Indiana and her status going into Monday's game was day-to-day.
Up next
Tennessee heads to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. The tournament field includes Texas, Louisville, UCLA, South Dakota State, Marquette, Gonzaga and Rutgers, which the Lady Vols will face first Saturday (Noon ET, FloHoops).
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee Lady Vols lose second game of week against Indiana 79-67
