By Tyson Belton
The regular season is now over, and this game most definitely was one special one on senior night, for all the wrong reasons.
The Tennessee Lady Volunteers dropped their sixth consecutive game Sunday, falling to the ranked Vanderbilt Commodores 87-77 at Food City Center.
The loss extends a bad streak that began after a dominant home victory over Missouri on Feb. 12. Since Jan. 18, nine of Tennessee’s 13 games have been against ranked opponents.
Vanderbilt set the tone early by thriving in transition, finishing the game with 27 fast-break points that proved to be one of the defining factors in the outcome, especially in the first half.
The starting guards, Aubrey Galvan and Mikayla Blakes, were the driving force behind Vanderbilt’s attack, each playing all 40 minutes without leaving the floor.
Galvan finished with 24 points, five assists, and four rebounds, consistently breaking down Tennessee’s press defense by attacking the rim, threading long skip passes, and knocking down big 3-pointers.
Blakes the leading scorer, put up 34 points and shot a scorching 6-of-9 from 3-point range, including 15 points in the third quarter as Vanderbilt’s 30-15 run in the quarter proved to be the turning point of the game.
“When she’s going, they’re all going,” said Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell on Blakes.
The nine lead changes throughout the contest showed how competitive the game was early, but a Vanderbilt lead as large as 15 in the second half made the outcome difficult to argue.
“We’ve got to be able to defend, rebound, and execute… Take it possession by possession,” said Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph.
The three-point shooting was the difference. Vanderbilt shot 50 percent from deep on 11-of-22 attempts while Tennessee barely managed 29 percent, going 6-of-21 from beyond the arc.
Tennessee’s Talaysia Cooper led the Lady Volunteers with 23 points on 50 percent shooting, while the bench contributed 31 points, though it was not enough to overcome Vanderbilt’s intensity and perimeter shooting.
Caldwell expressed that the Lady Vols are going to just “take it game by game” heading into the SEC tournament.
The win clinched the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament for Vanderbilt, while Tennessee’s seeding will be determined by the results of remaining regular-season games around the conference.