By Jay King
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 11 Lady Vols lost a tough one to the Georgia Bulldogs on senior night today at the Food City Center.
This game was a tale of two halves; in the second, they played very well, but the rough first half made it almost impossible to win this game.
The Lady Vols were outscored 39-26 at the end of the first half, including their largest deficit being down 23 at 5:45 in the second quarter. It also took them over six minutes to score their first basket of the game.
This was an off day for shooting, as the Lady Vols shot 6-28 from three, including 3-19 in the first half alone, and 21-62 from the field in total.
The Bulldogs shot way more efficiently, as they went 7-12 from three and 25-54 from the field, which seemed to be the difference.
The positives about this game were that the second half was much better when it came to scoring, as they ended up outsourcing the Bulldogs, 43-33, and even taking the lead late in the fourth quarter. They also played solid defense as they won the turnover battle, 15-21.
Another positive today was while being honored, Senior Guard Jewel Spear had a great game, scoring 21 points, grabbing five rebounds, and tallying four assists. She ended up leading the team in all three of those stats.
Lastly, a rough blow to the Lady Vols today as Star Guard Talaysia Cooper came down with an injury and had to be carried off into the locker room. It looked as if she rolled her ankle. There are no updates about her availability yet.
The Lady Vols will travel to Greenville, S.C., later this week for the SEC tournament. This tourney has major implications for the Lady Vols, as they are trying to fight for a top-four seed to potentially host the first two rounds in March Madness.