Tennessee Lady Vols continue to spiral in shocking upset vs. Georgia
The Tennessee Lady Volunteers’ recent slide could be a cause for concern in Knoxville.
After No. 15 Kentucky beat No. 11 Tennessee 82-58 this past Thursday, the Volunteers needed to rebound in Sunday’s home game against unranked Georgia (12-18, 4-12 SEC). Instead, they faltered, and the Bulldogs upset them 72-69.
Tennessee’s slow start against Georgia proved costly. The Volunteers didn’t score their first basket until junior forward Zee Spearman hit a layup with 3:24 left in the first quarter.
The Volunteers’ struggles from beyond the arc exacerbated their problems. Tennessee shot 6-of-28 from the three-point line.
Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell will likely be disappointed with her team’s performance. After the loss to Kentucky, Caldwell hinted that the matchup with Georgia would be a turning point.
“We have to grow up. We have to be resilient, and we have to be mentally tough,” Caldwell told the media. “We have to be able to handle failure in small doses because that’s what a game is and that’s what a game is about.”
With the loss to Georgia, Tennessee has finished the regular season 21-8 and 8-8 in conference play. They’ll likely be the No. 8 or No. 9 seed in the SEC Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina, which tips off Wednesday.
If the Volunteers don’t make a deep run in their conference tournament, they will probably not have home games in the first two rounds of March Madness, which starts March 19.
The top 16 teams in the women’s NCAA Tournament have home games in the first two rounds. In his latest bracket, ESPN’s Charlie Creme lists Tennessee as a No. 4 seed. That should change after the loss to Georgia.
