Lady Vols Fall to Indiana in Second Loss of Young Season

Jack Foster | Nov 14, 2022

No. 11 Tennessee fell to No. 12 Indiana in the second home game of the season on Monday night.

The Lady Vols trailed throughout against the Hoosiers, never being able to take control of the game. The loss marks the second of the season for UT, with both coming to Top-15 teams.

Tennessee had a strong night from beyond the arc, shooting 9-24 as a team. Tess Darby and Jasmine Powell led the Lady Vols in the area, contributing 18 overall points from deep.

Despite the solid shooting, Tennessee struggled to slow down Indiana's attack. The Hoosiers were fairly efficient throughout the entirety of the game, excelling in mid-range shooting while providing various sparks from three.

Indiana's offense also played cleaner basketball than the Lady Vols on Monday, turning the ball over 10 times compared to Tennessee's 15.

The most significant factor of the Lady Vols' loss, though, was in the rebounding difference. The Hoosiers out-rebounded Tennessee 35 to 33. This game marks the second consecutive game Kellie Harper's Lady Vols have lost the board battle, which is an uncharacteristic occurrence for Lady Vol Basketball.

Tennessee's defense was terrific against Ohio State in the season opener until an inordinate amount of turnovers allowed the Buckeyes to dominate. And against UMass, Kellie Harper's defense played well.

However, against the Hoosiers, the Lady Vols were far from sufficient on the defensive side of the ball.

Indiana went on many runs in the game, including an 11-0 run in the first quarter that allowed the Hoosiers to play ahead for the remaining 34 minutes of the game.

The Hoosiers found a lot of success with mid-range shooting, and the Tennessee's fairly soft defensive showing led to five different Hoosiers finishing the night with double-digit point totals.

After the game. Lady Vols guard and point leader on the night Jasmine Powell attributed their inability to prevent Indiana's attack to lackluster transition defense.

Meanwhile Lady Vols head coach Kellie Harper attributed the poor defense, and the overall poor performance, to a "lack of toughness."

A specific example of Tennessee's lack of toughness came in the first half, when Indiana made three threes off of offensive boards.

Tennessee has a lot of problems currently, and there doesn't seem to be an easy fix.

But Kellie Harper affirmed that the team will improve.

"We will get better because we have to," Harper said.

Tennessee will have two practice days and an off-day before heading down to the Bahamas this weekend. The Lady Vols will take on Rutgers on Saturday at Noon ET.

Photo Credit: Tennessee Lady Vols Basketball Communications

Published Nov 14, 2022

JACK FOSTER

Jack is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville majoring in Journalism/Electronic Media. Jack grew up in Paris, Tennessee, but now spends the majority of his time in Knoxville doubling as a student and sports journalist for Volunteer Country. Jack has been a sports junkie since he was a young kid and always watched NFL football with his dad on Sundays. Jack still follows the NFL religiously, as he is an avid fantasy football player. Jack started with Volunteer Country in May of 2021 and has since helped provide full coverage of football, baseball and men's and women's basketball. Jack also works as a recurring member of WUTK's Rock Solid Sports show on Wednesdays and Fridays, and he also serves as head sports producer of The Volunteer Channel's Vol News, a student-run show at the University. When Jack is not watching or covering sports, find him on the golf course or back home spending time with his parents, younger sister and friends. Follow Jack on Twitter and Instagram by clicking "Twitter" and "Instagram" to see all of his work with Volunteer Country as well as student media.