Lady Vols get past rout

By Dan Fleser
Published Saturday, November 7, 2009

Tennessee spent much of Friday's practice introducing a matchup zone defensive alignment.

The Lady Vols were moving on after allowing only 34 points in their women's basketball exhibition opener and with good reason.

Delta State is here Monday night for UT's final exhibition. The Lady Statesman are ranked third in Division II and are coming off their second consecutive 30-victory season.

Tennessee's season opener against No. 7 Baylor is looming on Nov. 15.

Therefore, the Lady Vols were looking past the one-sided nature of Thursday night's 124-34 rout of Carson-Newman College and training a critical eye on their performance.

Adding the zone as an option addressed UT's defense. There were other issues as well. Carson-Newman coach Dean Walsh said his team had many open shot attempts. UT coach Pat Summitt thought her defenders occasionally were too bunched up.

"We were all like ball magnets,'' she said. "We need to space out."

Freshman Taber Spani looked like a veteran on offense, scoring 17 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out two assists. That wasn't the case on defense, however.

"I'm embracing what the coaches want me to do,'' said Spani, who is playing some at forward. "I'm really trying to get the basic stuff on defense down so I won't have to think about it anymore."

Summitt's initial advice revolved around Spani's footwork.

"She got caught playing from behind a lot,'' Summitt said. "She's going to have to foot-fight and get out in front."

Along with implementing a zone, the Lady Vols spent time Friday practicing against the alignment. They'll see their share of zones after shooting 62.3 percent from the floor against C-N. Tennessee knocked down nine of 20 3-point attempts. Junior guard Angie Bjorklund shot 9-for-14 from the floor in scoring 21 points.

"I think that says a ton for how much we worked over the summer,'' Bjorklund said. "I know everyone has been getting into the gym even up until now. If we continue to do that, we'll see more numbers like that."

Summitt went so far as to praise the gym - Pratt Pavilion.

"It's a facility that we're glad to have,'' she said. "It's made a big difference in our ability to work on our skill set."

UT will try a different starting lineup Monday with sophomore Briana Bass starting at point guard. She'll be joined for the opening tip by center Kelley Cain, forwards Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen and Bjorklund.

Bass already was thinking about what might help the team move forward.

"Maybe getting our posts involved a little bit more,'' she said. "Kelley Cain (16 points) did awesome. I think that we should get her involved a little more. Then that will open up more outside for the guards."