#6 UT Lady Vols at #11 Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 7 PM EST

I won’t complain if we see it again, but I’m hoping Taber Spani can contribute something. Absent Ariel, I’m a little concerned – but the Ladies have beaten better teams than Rutgers without a PG. Stricklen goes off in the second half; 78-63, but a lot of it comes late.

BassWatch: 6 minutes, first half.

- Rutgers doesn’t seem to get in foul trouble; I doubt we’ll see Oliver or Sykes get four.
- Rutgers doesn’t seem to be great on the offensive glass (season: average of 12.5 offensive boards against 34.5 misses, so 36%), which we should be able to handle.
- Sykes shoots a lot – 13 attempts per game so far. 13.9 PPG seems good but not great at that rate, most from beyond the arc.
- Once again, this can be the kind of game where Alicia Manning can wreak havoc; I have this feeling she’ll give Skyes headaches.

Revising prediction: 150-63.

If it does, UT will have to forfeit due to too many players with eye laser burns.

- Harrison’s vision to hit Spani as soon as she sprung free.
- Glory’s hustle play, which won’t go in the scoresheet but deserves a mention.

Drawing fouls: bonus!

Also, Oliver with two fouls = I’m glad I’m wrong.

/palpatine.jpg

See: half the benches in women’s basketball.

/up by 7.

At the rate I’m going, Glory’s gonna go for 25 in the first half.

No, please, forget to account for her in transition. Thanks!

That feels weird to type. Also, the Ladies have already shot more threes tonight than they did against DePaul.

I thought that was going nowhere.

timeout coming soon though

Burdick is surprisingly agile on defense.

Go with the hot hand.

just not scoring for the past few trips down

and have Taber back in with Strick and Meighann to fire the 3 for Golry and Baugh to clean up

Still, at least the Ladies only allowed them to 8. That could’ve been a lot worse.

be back for the second half

not recognizing the collapse to the paint and adjusting is a coaching error.

The committee approach does nothing for the theory that 3 heads are better than one
obviously I’m having trouble understanding the inability to adjust and substitution patterns.
but I don’t know jack

- FG% is a joke. Sheesh, but the Ladies are picking up 45% of their misses, plus or minus free throws. Rutgers is at 40%/
- The stuff aurabass said.
- Glory’s out of the game right now. That needs to change.
- There needs to be a solution to the collapsing 2-3; the corners should be open if Spani can get there. Not sure I trust Simmons to make that shot; she’s still playing at 1.25x speed.
- Rebounding looks good; I undersold Rutgers earlier. I’d be happy to walk out of Jersey …well, period, but with +5 or more in rebounding margin.
- For all our concern, the Ladies never trailed and basically kept Rutgers at bay. The problem is that’s sustainable, the way they did it.

UT should be waaay ahead but just isn’t.

and the staff doesn’t seem to be able to help them

This is a throwback.

and Glory should have given that last one back to Strick

Spani, Stricklen, Manning, Baugh, Harrison? I really don’t trust Glory or Simmons at all right now.

This is heart-ripping.

Three candidates:
- Stricklen, who’s got the numbers.
- Manning, who had the energy.
- Simmons, who had the daggers.

Who you got?

All those no-calls are now haunting them.

These refs are just showboating now.

Thanks.

but most were the front end of a 1-and-1, so we effectively missed 7 in a row.

Slows the drive down and doesn’t put her to the line.

COME AT US, STANFORD

They had a fair shot at beating Baylor at home, but struggled against Virginia and Rutgers on the road.

AND Kentucky/Notre Dame. Big lineup for a Sunday over break.

here.