The Lady Vols started slowly on the evening, allowing Tech an early 6-2 lead before eventually taking the lead.  But once they got the lead, the Ladies never looked back, leading the game the rest of the way to what would eventually become a comfortable victory.  After building a 25-8 lead, Tennessee allowed Texas Tech to assemble some nice runs, closing the halftime deficit to 30-17.  During that first half, key Vols had a slow start: Angie Bjorklund went scoreless, and Cain was largely invisible in the interior.

But after halftime, the story changed:  the Lady Vols came out of the locker room on fire, running up a 32-4 run to build a 62-21 lead that would effectively stand for the rest of the game.  Cain found her shot, and Angie Bjorklund came alive - even creating a 7-point opportunity by hitting a three, then another three with a foul on an inbounds turnover.  The effort in the second half was clearly superior to the first, and was most likely a function of Pat Summitt's relentless motivational tactics.  (In fact, effort might have been in overabundance, as Glory Johnson fouled out midway through the second half.  But too much effort is far better than not enough.)

The season may be early, but one thing does appear to be clear: this year's edition of the Lady Vols works harder and plays better together than last year's edition, and the comparison may not even be close.  The hustle was evident all night long as the gals in orange won the stats that Summitt holds so dear:  44 to 27 on rebounds; 19 to 8 on assists; 8 to 6 on steals; 7 to 3 on blocks;  and only 13 turnovers to Tech's 17.  And despite the slow start in the first half, the shooting tally was excellent:  53% field goals, 47% from three-point land, though only 64% from the free throw line.  (Hey, they have to have something to work on.)

Freshman Taber Spani lead all Lady Vols with 18 points, but Glory Johnson earned player of the game honors (despite fouling out with 10 minutes to go) with 17 points and 7 rebounds.  Her hard work in the opening of the second half spurred the furious charge that ended the game, and she was a very deserving winner.  Angie Bjorklund found her groove from the perimeter, ending the night 4-6 from three-point land for 14 total points.

What a way to open the season!  Two of the youngest and most intriguing women's basketball teams in the nation matched up today in Knoxville as the Tennessee Lady Volunteers hosted the Baylor Lady Bears.  In a matchup of two highly talented and underclassmen-laden teams, the feature contest between young centers Kelley Cain and Brittney Griner did not disappoint.  Both teams fought hard, but the Lady Vols won the way that Pat Summitt teaches them to win - by outworking their opponent in steals, rebounds, and assists.

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The Tennessee Lady Vols open up tonight at home against the Baylor Lady Bears at 5 PM Eastern.  This game will be one of the biggest early attractions of the season, in part because it will be the debut of Baylor's 6'-8" freshman giantess Brittney Griner.  Her matchup against Tennessee's Kelley Cain will likely be the feature of the night.

Coverage:

• TV:  ESPN2
• Online:  ESPN360, Lady Vols Radio, GameTracker

	Position	Name	Experience	Height	PPG	RPG	APG
	G	Angie Bjorklund	Jr	6-0	12.3	3.0	2.6
	G	Taber Spani	Fr	6-1	-	-	-
	F	Glory Johnson	So	6-3	10.2	7.2	0.6
	G-F	Shekinna Stricklen	So	6-2	13.3	5.9	3.0
	C	Kelley Cain	So	6-6	8.2	5.3	0.6
	G	Kelli Griffin	Jr	5-8	6.9	3.1	3.5
	G	Melissa Jones	Jr	5-10	8.0	6.0	1.5
	F	Morghan Medlock	Jr	6-1	6.9	4.5	0.4
	P	Ashley Field	So	6-2	3.5	2.2	0.1
	P	Brittney Griner	Fr	6-8	-	-	-

This year's sophomore class of Lady Vols already owns one of the more notable positions in the history of Lady Vols basketball.  After the departure of the entire starting rotation of the back-to-back NCAA Tournament Champions to the WNBA draft in the spring of 2008, six freshmen entered the field in the fall of the same year.  These six freshmen were all highly regarded and selected to create a new nucleus of players for a future run at national titles.  With so much turnover, some growing pains were expected, but perhaps not so severe as this:

On the one hand, it's quite an accomplishment to say that your worst season in team history includes a #5 seed in the NCAA tournament and a first round upset.  On the other hand, it's still the worst season ever.  For a team that started the season rough-but scrappy, the apparent promise with a thrilling early-season loss to Virginia and equally thrilling midseason wins over Stanford and Rutgers slowly unraveled throughout SEC play.  Entering conference play at 13-2, the Lady Vols finished the regular season at 22-9.  The 2-2 SEC/NCAA tournament record left the Ladies with the first-ever 11-loss season in program history.

The unraveling first came through the immaturity of the team.  The rigors of the college season took the young girls by surprise and, having not prepared adequately for the strain, they began making mistakes.  Small flaws aggravated into larger problems, and no amount of corrective action by Summitt could reverse the course.  Despite losing iPods and their locker room, the Great Fizzle was in full swing.

What a season for Pat Summitt to get 1,000 wins.

But now, yesteryear's freshmen are sophomores.  With some valuable character-building experience and an offseason of training together, they are hungry to justify their presence inside Tennessee Orange and Powder Blue basketball jerseys.

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More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

Tennessee women's college basketball coach Pat Summitt will field one of the youngest teams in the NCAA this year, with zero seniors and three juniors. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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The second Tennessee Lady Vols exhibition game is tonight at 7 PM EST against Delta State, and the schedule begins in earnest on Sunday as the Ladies host Baylor in what will be a huge game right out of the gate.  So as the real season approaches, let's take a look through the roster and see what Pat Summitt will have at her disposal.  (Aside:  the game tonight will be available via free online video; you can access it at the link above.  Dan Fleser has some interesting history on Delta State in his GVX article as well.)

One notable difference with this team should be an increased intensity on the court - particularly on the defensive end.  Last year's squad was notorious for playing below their potential and allowing other teams to outwork them.  Comprised of a bunch of young players who had spent their lives out-talenting their pre-college competition, the Lady Vols had some hard lessons to learn about hustle and commitment.  As a result, the Lady Vols still do not have their traditional locker room in TBA until such time as Summitt believes they have earned the right to inhabit the same space as Candace Parker's and Chamique Holdsclaw's used socks.

This post will double as the live thread for the exhibition game tonight.  Last game, the team played full-court press for much of the night to devastating effect.  However, they struggled at times in the transition game, with fast break passes often sailing out of control.  Look for more high-tempo play as Pat Summitt sees how far this team can be pushed.

JUNIORS

Without any seniors on this team, the look at the roster first begins with the juniors.  Out of 13 total players, only three are upperclassmen, and these three should be the core of the leadership for the Lady Vols as they look to erase the memories of last season's grand fizzle.  Unlike most years, there is no group of seniors who see the season as their last opportunity, so leadership will have to come from raw competitiveness and determination.  This is where the juniors must step forward.

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More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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Lady Vols basketball is back!

Tonight will be an exhibition game against the relatively local Carson-Newman Lady Eagles  We'll start talking more about the Lady Vols as the beginning of the actual season approaches, but here are a few bits of information for you.

Coverage

The game will start at 7  PM EST in TBA.  Live video will be broadcast over the internet, courtesy of CBSSports.com.  Here is the link, which should open in a new window.  (If that doesn't work, go here.  Also opens in a new window.)

Starting Lineup

The starters have been announced, and in true exhibition fashion, will give a chance for youth to learn first-hand alongside experience.  One interesting note here is that there are no seniors in the lineup whatsoever.  Get used to these names; they are going to be here for a while.

Trolling the news articles and postgame interviews after the Lady Vols loss to Ball State, a few gems turned out.  You have to give the coaching staff this much:  they don't shy away from sharing their thoughts with the fans, which is greatly appreciated.

Dean Lockwood

One of the assistant coaches - Dean Lockwood - drew the short straw and gave a postgame interview with Mickey Dearstone after the game.  (Link:  pops up in a new window.)  Some of his observations:

• "This is by far ... the most embarrassing loss in the history of the program." 
  
• "No discredit to Ball State. ... Ball State came out and played a heck of a basketball game."
• "We're not satisfied.  Our players better not be satisfied."
• "Our posts collectively were 9 for 25.  And ... Kelley was 5 of 7. ...   So now we're 4 of 18.  So again, bottom line is that the job isn't getting done."
• "I think they looked at this team and didn't feel the sense of being threatened like we felt: against a Vanderbilt; against a Florida; against an Auburn that we had in more recent games."
• ""I call it competitive immaturity. ... We're competitively immature at times.  And what happens is, in our competitive immaturity, we look at that and we say, "Oh, gosh.  They're not a Duke.  They're not a Florida.  They're not a Vanderbilt.  So consequently, maybe we can get by with a little less effort."
• "When you compromise effort and toughness, that's your first sign of destruction."

Pat Summitt

(In the immediate postgame comments.)

• "Gotta give Ball State credit.  They were a lot tougher physically - just more aggressive, made shots.  We didn't come ready to play."
• "We had a lot of people that didn't defend, and particularly in the one-on-ones."
  
• "One of the toughest losses I've ever had to deal with at Tennessee."

Angie Bjorklund

(Who played all 40 minutes and scored 14 points.)

• "If no one is motivated right now then they need to leave."

Kelley Cain

(Who left in the first half after aggravating her right knee.  She, by the way, had 10 points and 8 rebounds in 14 minutes.)

• "It's one of the hardest things I've had to do.  My heart said one thing but my body told me no."

First, there must be some applause.  Pat Summitt made the second weekend of NCAA play for every single weekend up until now.  That's a mark of such significant proportions that nobody can belittle it just because of one upset.

This is a team that has clearly been the victim of history and expectation.  If you really want to rattle off the accomplishments of the Lady Vols throughout history (not including this year), the includes more than just these few bullet points:

• Second round of NCAA tournament for every year of its existence (27-year streak)
  
• Nearly half of all games played against ranked teams
• 8 National Championships
• 18 Final Four appearances
• 13 SEC Tournament Championships
• 14 SEC Regular Season Championships
• The greatest NCAA tournament upset run ever:  (1997)
• 983 wins to a mere 182 losses (0.843 winning percentage)

Beyond UT, Pat Summitt has been the ambassador of women's basketball.  One of the programs that beat UT this year owes its very existence to Pat Summitt.  In the early '90s, when Oklahoma was considering folding their women's program, Pat helped provide the motivation necessary to keep it in existence.  She's also a large part of the reason for UConn's success; had she not been willing to take them on, they might never have reached the notoriety and had the subsequent recruiting success this decade.

So it's no wonder that a pack of freshmen might collapse under the weight of such history.

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