Mike Siroky’s SEC Report: Down the Stretch
By Mike Siroky
Texas A&M and South Carolina are the only teams in the toughest conference in America – the Southeastern – who are on track to win 20 regular-season games, the annual mark of success.
Arkansas can do it in the post-season.
SC is also close to a second undefeated run through the conference, yet cannot lock down the title until the last game of the season, when it visits Texas A&M.
The Aggies have one conference loss and started the week accepting the cancellation of Vanderbilt. But for that, they’d already have 20 wins.
Georgia or Tennessee in the Covid-influenced world are obviously among the team leaders for NCAA inclusion. Scuttlebutt has the league getting a traditional seven accepted.
Good news for Arkansas, which will recover in the closing games of the season to be at least respectable in league standings, but likely will have 19 wins at season’s end.
Being ranked nationally helps, as does two marquee wins, over Baylor and UConn. Those are the biggest upsets among conference teams.
Kentucky, another under-performer with a new coach, has the tradition of making the eliminations.
An “It Doesn’t Matter Game,” Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss was canceled because of icy travel conditions.
A&M advised fans not to come to the Tennessee game for the same reason.
One thing athletic departments never address is how many classroom days are now skipped in the name of athletics.
All the games are money losers, but as for academics, who cares?
Mississippi State, which has fallen off the national list with less than good coaching, is a wild card with also-rans LSU and Alabama.
The league reputation could well drag them into the NCAAs. State has fine players with unfine coaching and results and is on a losing streak of six.
Several players made the latest Naismith watch list: Chelsea Dungee, Arkansas; Rhyne Howard, Kentucky; Rickea Jackson, Mississippi State; Aliyah Boston, South Carolina; Zia Cooke, South Carolina; Rennia Davis, Tennessee; and N’dea Jones, Texas A&M.
South Carolina: The challenge for South Carolina with only being No. 1 for eight hours – until the loss at UConn the same night – was also the normal one for taking a game outside of conference.
Even a win would have not affected the conference chase, an artificial high. So would the loss be an artificial low?
That was Dawn Staley’s challenge. For a half, they succumbed to the low.
“We'll learn from it,” Staley said. “ We told our players that everything we want is still in front of us.”
The No. 2 Gamecocks are destined to complete a second straight undefeated run through the SEC.
The last challenge is the last game of the season when Texas A&M, No. 5 in America, visits to try and tie for the title.
No doubt SC will be a top seed in the elimination tournament.
The Aggies could be a No. 1 and not in SC’s paper region at San Antonio. Neither will have to worry about a foreign campus, nor organizing one at home.
Back on track started 72 hours after UConn, with two very beatable teams, Missouri then LSU, two teams not moving on from anything more than a coaching change after the season ends.
Missouri is drifting through the motions for a third season.
SC allows 60 points per game while Mizzou averages 75.
Conversely SC scores 81 while the Tigers allow 67. Those crossroads met at the intersection of a 77-62 SC win.
As with most of the Gamecocks’ start, it was an even match for a few minutes, 4-4 after two minutes, plenty of misses to go around.
SC had five offensive rebounds at one point and was 3-of-11 from the field. Rebounds were working, 6-of-7 when it was 17-15 Missouri.
The advantage, of course, are more athletic Gamecocks, which translates to the long game giving them the advantage as the game wore on.
Missouri had the lead after one.
SC was still No. 1 but was trailing a cipher of a team, 18-6. Ladazhia Williams had seven for Mizzou, but also two fouls.
One difference into the second: The Tigers had four 3s to zero for SC.
Dawn Staley was visibly angry at her defense, discarding her notes courtside at one point.
Missouri had another, Aijah Blackwell, with two fouls, so two starters down. The game was at Missouri’s pace, 60 percent from the field and slow.
Staley was uncharacteristically stalking the sidelines, probably mentally composing a halftime tale to address the 8-of-15 layups.
SC got aggressive defensively on an 8-0 to take a four-point lead, solving the 1-3-1 zone in a 13-point swing. It helped that the two Missouri starters sitting out the quarter were not there.
SC was holding for the last shot in a tied game after a two-minute 0-fer.
Two misses left it 36-all.
Perhaps this was the dry heaves after the UConn game, where the play meant nothing in the league as well as ending a 12-game win streak.
LeLe Grisset brought seven off the bench, matching Alijah Boston, who had seven rebounds. SC was hitting 38 percent, Missouri 59 percent. Missouri had zero offensive rebounds.
Leading Missouri was Shug Dickson off the bench with 10.
In the third, the Tigers held on, up to six 3s and the SEC cheerleaders were in full volume for the team still trailing.
Obviously, they were manufacturing sound bites in case the upset happened. They actually said something about a player selling tickets in a year when attendance is limited.
SC was speeding up with five fast break points in the quarter. The announcers tried to assure us every game was supposed to be contentious. But who are you going to believe, the shouters or your lying eyes?
Destinee Henderson took a pass from Boston for her 10th point and an eight-point lead.
Brea Beal made it a 20-10 quarter and a 10-point edge. The depth of talent was showing.
Boston hit her double in the fourth, then forced a shot clock violation. For all the announcing hype, Missouri was gassed.
SC led by 14 with six minutes left.
Zia Cooke was up to a game-leading 16 points, the fourth SC starter in double figures.
The balance, of course, won out. Missouri was below .500, SC 16-2. The Gamecocks starters got rest at the 77-62 end, a 41-26 half.
“There was no fatigue.” Staley said. “we weren’t disruptive defensibly in the first half, couldn’t make layups.
“We are evolving as a team, a work in progress. Still learning. That’s a good thing.
“We got that disruptive defense in the second half.”
Henderson said they merely came out searching for ways to score and finish the game. “Adjusting to things we are not used to.”
Grisset had her first 3 of the season and said she always has the freedom to shoot it.
“I’m a ‘pass first’ player,” she said. “This game would have meant much more as a loss. “Locking down in defense is something we really need to take ownership of.”
SC had won 30 straight in conference.
“The SEC prepares you for the post-season,” Staley observed.
As for LSU, the SC story is much the same.
Coming in, SC’s points average, 80.8, is 30 more than LSU allows.
SC allowed 60, which is also LSU’s scoring average.
The trends did not look good for the Ben-Gals. The loss also sent LSU two games above .500 overall and .500 in the league, finally pushed back in the standings.
Senior guard Khayla Pointer averages the most minutes, 36. She’s the best scorer, 16.5, the only one in double figures.
At 5-7, she would be vertically challenged by SC.
SC used its size and strength to establish a 17-7 opening quarter, a lead that would stand the rest of the game in an uninspired win and allow Staley to experiment with lineups in a real game.
Pointer and Rakell Spencer scored the opening baskets for LSU.
Zia Cooke hit two free throws to get SC on the board.
Victaria Jackson grabbed a rebound for the Gamecocks and Cooke converted the possession with a jumper to tie it.
Henderson converted off an Aliyah Bostin rebound, the Gamecocks were ahead to stay, scoring eight straight.
There wasn’t much contention in the second quarter, a relatively quiet 17-15 advantage for SC. Same with the third, 20-18.
The 37-33 middle quarters showed who would win and who was in charge but it was not the usual dynamic domination with two weeks left in the regular season.
Boston had the expected double, 13 rebounds with 12 points, with six blocks. SC won rebounds by 16. Cooke had 13 points. Destinee Henderson led the home team with 19.
Pointer got injured inside the final two minutes, a buckled leg.
She only scored nine. Jailin Cherry scored 19 for LSU, her fourth straight double-figure game. Aifuwa had a surprising seven blocks
South Carolina had its 31st straight SEC win, 66-59, still undefeated this year in conference, despite allowing a 21-12 fourth. They play two ranked opponents this week.
“South Carolina is a team that when you plan your game you have to execute,” said LSU coach Nikki Fargas.
“They controlled the boards, which obviously controlled the game. We could not compete on the boards. Aliyah Boston went to work.
“It was 23-7 inside. That’s a huge deficit to overcome. It’s one thing to get offensive rebounds; it’s another thing to score it. We did not do a great job in that area.
“If we score, it allows us to set our press. When we didn’t score, we can’t set our defense. It’s four quarters. You can’t have off quarters. This is a physical league.”
Patterson said SC was comfortable the entire game. She said of the 20 turnovers, “A lot of time we can be careless, We have to preserve the all. The second half, it was not the same. We have to do a better job. People have to be in game situations and learn from it.”
Cooke said they needed to start and end each possession with control of the ball, concentrating on eliminating turnovers.
“We just had a long conversation about controlling the ball,” she said.
She and Henderson have exchanged roles as point guard. “It’s a beautiful thing to see. Coach was just talking about that in the locker room. We have to get comfortable in our roles.”
The 12-0 run in the first quarter was important, using all the normal starters. Then Staley could experiment with lineups.
“We wanted that fast start,” said Staley. ‘We wanted the ball out of Pointer’s hands.
“For the game plan, having Zia hawk the ball made a difference.
“Sometimes, when you take the ball out of the player’s hands who make them go becomes disruptive. I was pretty stubborn to close it out. I just chose to stay with it and coach them through it.”
She had chosen to sit her best offensive starters at the ending using the game as a teaching process.
“We actually practice it,” she said. “You have to make decisions in four seconds. To put people at ease.”
SC starts the week at Tennessee, welcomes in Kentucky, then eases out with the Mississippi sweep. The next two are very much in the NCAA placement hunt, even if SC still wins the conference again.
Texas A&M: The No. 5 Aggies mean to continue the success story of this season, blending in newcomers with a winning tradition and one SEC loss.
Accepting the cancellation against Vanderbilt – a guaranteed win – they instead focused on one game this week, the twice-delayed No. 17 Tennessee, another ranked team.
At home the Aggies are unbeaten and just one game behind South Carolina in the league.
Tennessee fell out of the second-place tie at No. 17 Kentucky and are now three back.
A&M has won three straight in this series while obviously comfortably defeating all the ranked SEC teams so far.
The Sunday surprise was the frigid weather, self-eliminating the crowd.
In what proved to be the league game of the week, A&M scored the first six, but shutting them off for five minutes, the Lady Vols scoring13 straight, 10 inside.
UT’s Rennia Davis was back from a one-game Covid elimination.
Kayla Wells broke UT’s streak with the 100th 3 of her career. Destiny Pitts tied it at 15 with another 3.
Jordan Horston had been shut out by A&M.
McKinzie Green made a layup. N’dea Jones and Cierra Johnson each hit layups, all for A&M.
Green had been designated as the show runner for A&M.
Johnson scored off another Green feed, then Green drove for a layup.
UT had kept pace, but A&M led by five when Tamari Key scored her eighth point.
The bugaboo for UT has been turnovers and they had six.
But, underneath, the taller team had 18 paint points to counter that, with Key and senior Kasiyahna Kushkituah dominating inside.
But leading score Rae Burrell had yet to arrive.
UT led rebounds by six.
Davis scored in transition to make it a two-point game.
Two struggling guards, Jordan Nixon for A&M and the injured Marta Suarez for UT, entered.
A&M had not scored for 2:30.
Burrell finally found an inside position. Suarez let it fly for 3. It was tied at 32 at the break.
No one had scored more than eight for Tennessee, though Kushkituah and Key each had five rebounds as UT led rebounds by seven.
Wells led A&M with nine points.
N’dea Jones had a very quiet A&M half, three rebounds.
The joy seems to have exited her game.
Which team could adjust better? The answer was neither.
It looked as if the home team just could not figure it out.
But no one seized control to start the final half.
A 19-17 third for A&M proved nothing.
So the struggle bus kept arriving for both sides.
Burrell was quietly up to 16 points.
Gary Blair finally discarded his suit jacket.
That used to be an SEC sign of involvement, starting with Pat Head and continuing through Vic Schaefer.
It was 63-60, A&M, with five minutes left, unchanged a minute later.
Davis had 16 points.
Pitts had brought a dozen off the bench for A&M.
The Aggies had shut down the middle, allowing just two center points. Texas A&M had 15 free throws, twice as many as the visitors.
And yet Tennessee failed to put in the “Don’t Foul” protocol down the stretch.
Five straight free throws positioned A&M at 75-70 inside of the final minute.
Two more made the difference an insurmountable seven, Nixon with four of them.
Blair looked confident.
An errant 3 gave him the ball back and more at the line.
They won 80-70, having won the quarter by nine.
A&M was already 5-1 in games of five points or less.
A&M has beaten more ranked teams, 8, than anyone else in the nation and 19 wins is the best overall.
It is hard to not consider them as the third top seed in the coming elimination games.
They have three more wins coming before the season-ender. Next in the final four stretch are two very beatable teams, Missouri at home then at Ole Miss.
Tennessee, three games back in the SEC, will not win conference.
They can right themselves against Mississippi State before South Carolina storms in.
Kentucky: The then-No. 20 Kats had taken a week off before resuming the border war with then-No. 16 Tennessee.
The Lady Vols had taken a week off for Covid considerations of one of their stars.
UT had won the first in this year’s series, by 17. This one was in Rupp Arena for its only game of the week.
Rhyne Howard has missed three games with injuries and nonetheless averages 38 minutes 20 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, one of three double-digit scorers.
They have four league losses in a 14-5 season, down a notch with a still-unsure new coach.
UT’s three-game win streak started against Kentucky and here were the Kats again.
UT came in No. 16, a coach Kellie Harper high, and left at No. 21.
Even when both were much better, this was a rivalry game.
Former UT coach Pat Head always considered UK a prime program, a focus every season no matter the discrepancies of the moment.
Former UK coach Matthew Mitchell learned under her as an assistant.
The current coach was a UT All-American, even if the team has underperformed in her first season of adjustment.
Rennia Davis did not play as UT hid her Covid disqualification until gametime.
That was likely the difference in the game and illustrated who was responsible for the two-game skip by the team.
Horston and Marta Suarez were available, though Horston got the start based on expected offense. The play showed it was the right decisions. Suarez is not ready.
As might be expected, the game started tight, only Chasity Patterson, with five points among the UK starters.
UK already used five reserves when it was 10-6 in the first.
Tennessee was just as stalled, Rae Burrell with four. UK was winning, 13-11, at the quarter, easing out to 47-26 at the half.
Rhyne Howard had one basket, though five reserves had scored, led by Robyn Benton’s eight. UK had four 3s, twice as many as the Lady Vols.
UT buckled down and tied it at 36. It was a 21-9 Lady Vol quarter.
Then UK righted itself with a 22-9 fourth and a 71-56 wipeout. Patterson finished with 21.
Howard was well below expectations with eight. UK hit all five 3s it attempted in the fourth.
Burrell was the first to score, hitting a layup in the opening seconds to set off a back-and-forth that would feature three lead changes and a tie before the media timeout, at which point UT was up 6-5.
The Kats took the lead off a 3 by Blair Green following the break.
Olivia Owens stretched their lead to four with a jumper a minute later.
Burrell ended the UK run with a layup, but the Kats were back up by five less than a minute later.
Freshman Destiny Salary narrowed the gap by converting on a three-point play to end the quarter with UT trailing 13-11.
Kentucky opened the second period with a 7-2 run to lead by seven a minute in, but Horston and Burrell combined to cut it to back to two by the 7:36 mark.
Tatyana Wyatt knocked down a 3-pointer on the next possession, and Tamari Key responded with a layup before UK said enough and went on a 12-0 spree spanning three and a half minutes to lead 35-20 with just under two and a half minutes left in the half.
Burrell and Tess Darby accounted for six straight points to cut the deficit to single digits, but Patterson knocked down a jumper for Kentucky to send the home team into the locker at halftime with a 37-26 lead.
Kasiyahna Kushkituah scored just 12 seconds into the second half, and Key followed it up less than a minute later to cut the Kats' lead to seven.
Howard ended the UK drought with a fast-break layup, but Burrell answered with a 3 on the other end to make the score 39-33 with 7:48 left in the quarter.
Horston added a pair of free throws 30 seconds later, and Burrell and Key each hit layups to stretch UT's run to 9-0 and tie the score at 39-all by the 5:54 mark.
Following a Kentucky timeout, Kushkituah hit a pair of free throws to give UT its first lead since midway through the first quarter at 41-39.
On the next possession, Burrell nailed a 3 to put UT up by six.
Key knocked down the second of a pair of free throws to extend UT's run to 15-0 before Massengill hit a 3 to end the UK slump and cut the gap to 45-42 with just under three minutes left in the quarter.
Kentucky outscored UT by two in the final minutes of the period, narrowing the Lady Vols' lead to one at 47-46.
The Kats reclaimed the lead at the outset of the fourth off a Wyatt jumper, setting off a 7-0 run that spanned almost three minutes and left the Wildcats up 53-47 with 7:07 to go.
Kushkituah ended the skid with a layup, and Horston added a jumper less than a minute later to cut it to two by the 5:51 mark.
The teams traded buckets on the next two possessions, but Patterson and Massengill then combined for five straight points that gave Kentucky a seven-point advantage with four minutes to go in the game
Horston hit one of a set of free throws to cut it down to six, but that's as close as the Lady Vols would get. The Kats were hot from the floor, closing out the game with three straight 3s to seal the 71-56 victory.
UT, now at two losses in a conference it cannot win, was back to the pack.
Burrell scored the game high, 22. Horston scored 11. Trying to take up the Davis slack, junior Jordan Walker grabbed a season-high nine rebounds. But the Lady Vols had 17 turnovers.
Patterson led UK with 21 points.
New starter Massengill scored 11 against her former team.
UK has won four of the past five against UT.
UK coach Kyra Elzy said: “You know, so proud of Jazmine. One of the things that she and I talked about is she had to be a threat offensively. She had to see herself as a scorer. Even though she’s a facilitator, she’s an unbelievable passer, she pushes the tempo but she had to see herself scoring.
“She stepped up and nailed some of the shots she has been practicing so super proud of her. And as far as how we finished the game, Tennessee made an unbelievable run.
We talked in the huddle, do not panic. Let’s don’t settle for quick outside shots, let’s move the basketball, either get a layup or wide open shots and we hit them.”
So the difference between this and the previous loss against UT: “I would just say mentality. We came into the game, our bigs were very disappointed, along with the whole team, but they really took it personal.
“They were reminded very often about the 42 paint points (in the first game) and their bigs having their way pretty much every day after that.
“They stepped up to the challenge. They came, they were intense, they were intentional on the double and the committed to getting a box out when the shot went up.
“Yeah, I made a decision to start Jazmine. We have several players on this team that could start. So that’s one of the things that we talk about, it’s bigger than any one and I have to make decisions for the whole.
“And, decided to start Jaz to get us settled in offensively. She understand what I’m looking for but also, a big key to that is trying to get Chasity to play more free.
“One things that she can undeniably do is put the ball in the basket. But when the ball is in her hands for 40 minutes and she’s having to think, it slows her from scoring.
“And tonight, with Jazmine on the floor, it freed her up and Chasity put 21 points on the board.
“Well, when Tennessee made a run, we knew that was going to happen. The game is a game of runs. So we had to answer the run. But I didn’t want us to panic offensively, which we have done plenty before, we start quick shooting the ball, you want to make something happen.
“So, we just talked about in the huddle, unless you have a wide open layup, let’s make four or five passes and we take rhythm shots. Still make the defense work. The shots that we were taking were good shots and they would go in, we just couldn’t panic. But I thought we answered the run, remained composed, which is a step forward in our offense.
“You know, all credit to the players. They stepped up to the challenge. Very disappointing day in Knoxville and they wanted to come back and prove themselves.
“But, night in and night out, this league is just so tough. But what I was super proud of was the intensity with which we played. I thought we played team basketball on both sides. But I like the energy and I like our focus so that makes me proud as a coach.”
Patterson said of the fourth-quarter difference , “Well, it was just intensity for us. We were trying to get the ball, we were trying to get the rebound and push. So, I think us pushing the ball and get those transition points was big for us. The post did a phenomenal job of boxing out and trying to get the pass and get the ball up early, so I feel like that as the main thing. It was just energy.”
Massengill heard about her start on game day.
“She just kind of announced it in shootaround. So, it was just as shocking to me as it was to the team. I was grateful that I had a coach that trusted me enough to start me. I was stunned, but I was very grateful.
“Basketball is a game of runs. Tennessee is a great team, so they’re going to go on their run. It’s just how we respond and how we bounce back.
“We can’t hang out heads because that’s when great teams like Tennessee take off. So, we just rallied around each other, took it one procession at a time. That’s how we really kind of picked it up at the end.”
Kentucky has defeated Tennessee four times in a span of five meetings for the first time in program history.
Kentucky has defeated Tennessee three times in a span of four home games for the first time.
Now No. 17 UK will visit unranked Florida on Monday, which made an expected step up for the third straight season. They have a real chance to finish with 50 percent more wins.
Then it is LSU as a potential trap game. The dreaded trip to South Carolina looms.
Arkansas: Started what could be five games to reset the season, the Mississippi State this week then at Ole Miss next week.
No. 18 Arkansas moved to 16-7, 10-1 at home, 86-80. Twenty-three games is the most anyone has played in America this season. But they will not win 20 in season.
Under the previous coach, State had won 10 straight in this series.
Dungee scored but four against that coach’s defensive scheme. Jessika Carter scored 21 then, Aliyah Matharu 18. They have now lost six straight.
The irrepressible Chelsea Dungee is the league’s most reliable player. She averages 21.9, one of four in double figures. She hits 80 percent from the line, among the nation’s best ,She’d be a shoo-in for conference player of the year if only the team was performing better.
They have six league losses (two wins make them 6-6)
State, as we have chronicled, is officially the worst it has been in a decade.
Amber Ramirez hits 85 percent of her free throws and 45 percent of her 3s. In this one, She scored 12, 5-of-7 from the floor including 2-of-2 3s..
Arkansas led by 10 at the quarter. Dungee was surprisingly silent with five points. Destiny Slocum had 10 The Razorbacks shot 58 percent from the field with only two 3s. She exited to have her wrist taped
It was 48-35 at the half, Slocum 7-of-9 from the field with a 3 and 2-of-2 at the line, 17 points. Arkansas with hitting 53 percent from the field, 9-of-9 free throws. 13 turnovers, but only had three 3s; State had 7 Junior Myah Taylor had 11 for State.
State rallied in the second half. Once gain it was game on for Dungee including a coast-to-coast run after. But she acquired three fouls and sat down.
They maintained the lead. The quarter ended with Arkansas ahead, 62-58 after a 23-14 State quarter.
State had four in double figures. Arkansas had a 12-1 home free throw advantage.
Slocum hit her 21st on a fadeaway off the glass. It was 71-69 when Dungee drove and was fouled.
She scored again a little later to surpass 2,000 for her career. Inside of three minutes, each side scored twice. With two minutes left, despite hitting 58 percent from the floor, Arkansas led by three.
Slocum drove scored and took a hit, center Carter’s fifth. Slocum had a season-best 24, 10-of-13 from the field, 3-of-4 from the line.
Slocum scored but then fouled.
Matharu hit both from the line for her 18th point, 83-80. Slocum missed.
State time out with 25 seconds left.
Arkansas had led after the first two minutes in the game.
A wild shot fell to Dungee. She was immediately fouled and hit both free throws, then she stole he ball and was fouled. She made one and Arkansas won by six, 86-80.
Arkansas is finally in the magic seventh league slot, passing State and Alabama with this one. Fifth is within reach.
“Well, I had never beaten them,” Dungee said
“We got in their passing lanes, shot the ball well. It was a big game.”
The magic number is apparently 76 Arkansas points. Four of their SEC losses have been by scoring less than 76. All of their SEC wins have come with at least 76 points.
Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said. “I thought our kids’ poise was big. We hung in and played defense like we hadn’t played all year. We are not gonna blow people out. That’s the culture of our team. Now our seniors can say they beat every other team in the league. I thought our defense tonight was important. I thought their rest turned to rust.”
Georgia: Them ’Dawgs beat Auburn and then Missouri.
Auburn is the only team in America who are below a team that quit playing early, Vanderbilt.
At No. 22, they have Que Morrison as the floor leader, the senior who is the league Player of the week, averaging 28 minutes and 10.9 points per game.
Fellow-senior Jen Staiti averages 14.3 and 7.6 rebounds per game. How she performs dictates the success. Gabby Connally is another guard also averages 10.6 points. They are 14-4 with four conference losses.
In defeating Auburn, 74-54, it made it seven of the past eight in the series. The points came on 20 assists and a season-best 10 3s.
Georgia had four in double digits. But they also had 28 turnovers.
Maya Caldwell earned her first career double, 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Caldwell also had a season-high six assists.
Caldwell said, “It feels great. To me it means, to give it a word, I would call it an ice-breaker, a break-through, whatever you want to call it. Just a reminder almost of what I’m capable of and what I’ve been striving for and working for these last couple of years at Georgia.”
Coach Joni Taylor said of Caldwell: “Maya has length, she rebounds the basketball, and can score on all three levels. Maya is someone who just continues to stay consistent. We know she hasn’t had a consistent string of games. She’s had flashes against Tennessee and flashes against Oklahoma where she’s done some things, but she’s always stayed the course.
“She’s always in the gym, and she knows that her time is coming. I believe the basketball gods are going to bless you when you do it the right way, and she has. So, for her to come out and put two games together, she’s been that way in practice since coming off the Alabama game as well, so it hasn’t stopped.
“I’m just happy for her that the lid is off the rim and she’s seeing it go in the hole because she’s worked so hard. She’s so happy for everyone else’s success and our team’s success. I’m happy that she’s able to go out there and contribute the way she has been.”
Georgia had five 3s in the first half. Usual leader Que Morrison scored 10in the half but had seven turnovers and only scored four in the second half
Maybe Staiti is wearing down. She only scored seven, all in the first half.
“Yeah, there’s a stomach bug going around the team,” said Taylor. “We hadn’t seen Jenna since Sunday, so she showed up (Thursday) and put her hard hat on and gave us what she could. Maya (Caldwell) didn’t practice. Chloe wasn’t here tonight. We’re just all taking turns.
“Again, the resilience they have shown for them to be able to come out there, not feel their best, and still complete and play. So, we’re just passing a little bit of a stomach bug around. We’re glad it’s not anything more serious.
“There are some creative things we can do (about turnovers). We can bring in a rack of balls to practice, and every time they turn it over, we take a ball off the rack, and when there’s no more balls, we run them. There are some things we can do.
“We’re going to have to do something to get their attention. I was scratching my head like ‘What are we doing?’ It made no sense how we were turning the ball over and not valuing the basketball, and it’s going to get us in trouble. It’s already gotten us in trouble this year in games that we’ve lost because of our turnovers.
“We cannot be the team that we want to be and continue to grow while turning the basketball at that high of a clip.”
Zoesha Smith said she is gaining confidence.
“I just feel like I’m more comfortable on the court now. At first, I was a little nervous, you know, coming in as a freshman and getting some playing time.
“ But, after a couple months, obviously, I got into the groove of things and I just feel more comfortable playing.
“Something I’ve learned (from teammates) is that no matter how you’re feeling, you’ve got to give it your all every time you step on the court. I just feel like as I took that in watching them from the bench, that I’ve got to apply it to my game in order to be out there with them.”
Against Missouri, the Bulldogs held the Tigers scoreless for the final 4:18 of the opening quarter, basically winning the game then and playing a few points better in other quarters.
"Once we started communicating and protecting the 3-point line, we were able to make a run," Taylor said. "Gabby said it, you can't trade 3s for twos with them and that's what we let them do in the first quarter. Once we took away the 3-point line, we were able to fight our way back into the game.
Missouri is a team that plays really well, they've had a lot of close games and they came and played their hearts out."
Getting off to a slow start in the first half, Jordan Isaacs scored the opening point at the 7:24 mark while the Lady Bulldogs held the Tigers to a scoring drought for three minutes. Missouri edged to 19-13 at the end of the first.
The Lady Bulldogs started the turnaround in the second, Staiti, Connally and Morrison leading a 9-0 scoring run . Georgia took the lead at 35-33. Missouri’s Haley Troup hit a buzzer-beater to head into the locker room tied at 35.
Georgia picked up the pace on offense and took the lead in the third, Staiti and Connally scoring a combined 14 points in the quarter.
Connally scored 14 points in the fourth. She matched her season high 29 points with a career-best six 3s. Fellow-seniors Morrison and Staiti closed the game with double-doubles. Staiti had 18 points and 11 rebounds while Morrison had 10 rebounds and 11 points. Morrison has scored in double figures in five straight games, a career first.
Javyn Nicholson came off the bench and hit five shots while Staiti added four then to put the final score at 82-64. It places them at 7-4 in a conference they will not win.
“Missouri does a really good job of spreading you out defensively,” Taylor said.
“The season low 10 turnovers (after 28 in the previous game). We did a really good job. We went small, with four guards’ It’s getting back to basics. We were passing up the shot to get a better one, to get the crowd to ooh-ah. It gets us in trouble.
“Our defense is really great. They believe in it. It’s gonna keep you in games until your offense come around.”
They accept the cancellation of Vanderbilt next.
Georgia has three must-wins to reach 19 at season’s end, the first two home games, Sunday against Tennessee and then Kentucky, teams ranked higher than themselves.
Tennessee: The two-game Covid separation allowed some healing time for UT’s Jordan Horston, limited time because of nagging injuries and freshman point guard Marta Suarez, with a left ankle injury. She had already missed two games and started in every game before that.
It gave Harper an opportunity to start both her centers, a true experiment that was hard to scout. Senior Kasiyahna Kushkituah is the backup.
But Horston was back and Suarez was still hobbled.
Harper used the two-game Covid break to reassess.
"This pause felt a little different because of the timing,” she said. “Our first one was coming back from Christmas. We'd been off for Christmas break and then came back and had a pause, so it felt very different.
“Conditioning was a huge priority for us (then). We're in a different space now, so in terms of getting them in shape, we just wanted to maintain. We were also able to do some different workouts.
“We have very specific protocols when we're working out with some of our quarantined athletes, so when I say working out, we're basically observing from the upper deck. So, we can't get hands-on with every athlete, but we had a small group who were still able to get some practice in. We really didn't take the court until our first real practice.
"Sometimes it's a guess. The biggest thing for us was going out and letting our team get up and down, practicing, seeing where we are offensively. Where are we defensively? Where is our focus, our energy? I thought we had a pretty good practice considering everything. I thought we played hard. I thought they, for the most part, were pretty locked in.
“I didn't have to do a whole lot of a review session. So, we'll see
"Structurally, we did some of the same things. We liked how our quarantined athletes were able to get through a workout back early in January, so we did those very similarly. But again, the timing just makes this one look different, and our goals during this week were different than our goals in January because we're in a different space.
“We hate the pause, obviously. We feel good, you're in rhythm, you want to play basketball, you want to keep playing and just unfortunately, we weren't able to do that. But hopefully, our team will be read.
“I think having plan A is great, but it's also having plan B and plan C and players being able to adjust to it on the fly.
"I'll be honest with you, the (players) shoulders slumped a little bit more this time. It took me a little bit longer to get myself picked back up. I feel like that's human nature, and I admitted it to our team. I admitted it. I said, 'Listen, I've allowed myself to be down, but no more. Now, we've got to pick ourselves back up, and we've got to move forward.
“To say it wasn't tough would not be telling the truth. It was tough. It was another gut punch. But again, when I asked them, (the team) responded. They were able to turn their focus to something else. You know, like I said, we kept them active. We did get an extra day off for some people who probably needed a day off, so maybe there were some positives there."
Among the adjustments is this stretch is facing four teams that’s have been ranked in a row. Then again, that’s the SEC and how it keeps its reputation.
"We talked to our team about it.” Harper said, “First off, they wanted to get the game in. They were wanting to play all the games that are on our schedule, so they were excited about A&M.
“But I think they also understand that, yeah, this is a tough stretch. But I think they're excited about that. One thing that we have done all season is we have continued to talk to our team about how no matter what is thrown in front of us, we can handle this.
‘” One of our players walking down the hall just made a comment and said, 'We're built for this.' And I got cold chills, because that's exactly the mindset you want your team having. They can handle this. They can be resilient. We can get through anything.
"I think these games are big games on our schedule regardless of where they're placed. The placement of them, you've just got to get up every night.
“But that's the SEC. And hopefully the way we've prepared our team, we have to get up for everybody we play. It doesn't matter if they're ranked or not, because if you don't, you're not going to win, not in the SEC.
“And so, I'm hopeful that that preparation will give our players confidence as they step out on the court each and every night to be prepared and to be focused to play. I'll tell you this – the team is excited. The team is really excited about the challenges and understand that it's a challenge, but they're really excited about the opportunity.
"I know there have been some communications about the NCAA Tournament and about the SEC Tournament with our operations folks trying to go ahead and get some logistics prepared.
“ I think for us, the thing that gives me confidence about the SEC Tournament is how the SEC has handled our season.
“I think the protocols that our conference have put into place have been encouraging. They've given us a lot of confidence and even a little bit of security, knowing that we're going out and doing things and we're still getting to play basketball -- most of the time -- and as safely as possible.
“The SEC has done a terrific job. I've been so proud of our league and how we handled things, so I feel really good about that.
“I know the NCAA has taken a lot of time to make sure that the protocols that they're going to put into place are also very safe, and I think our team will feel comfortable with both tournaments and the things that need to be in place to play those games."
"I actually had mentioned that in passing to a couple of our players the other day. We were talking about things and I said, 'We're kind of in control here. We decide where we want to be. It's up to us.
“That's where we're at at this moment. We're in this position. I think for our team, they get it. They get the big picture. But at the same time, I don't think they're too far gone that they're looking at it as such an important stretch. I think they can dial it down and see that every game is important in itself. That's where I want them to be.
“You've got to finish strong. You've got to play well. We know that. We've had to do that all season, especially in SEC play. You've got to play well to get wins. Hopefully, we can continue to play well and put ourselves in position to compete for a win every night."
The Lady Vols play Mississippi State then it’s No. 2 South Carolina at home for another waxing after one day off. The third game of a tough week is at No. 21 Georgia.
State brings up another first meeting of two former UT All-Americans as coaches.
We’ve told you for weeks Mississippi State is way underperforming with a new coach who inherited good players and just drove into a ditch.
They now are out of the national rankings after being a consistent top 5 for years and have more SEC losses than they have had in more than a decade.
They may miss an invite to the national tournament, which is really off the cliff. They had been a 1 or 2 seed and won their way into back-to-back Final Fours and title games. The athletic director is already taking heat for the hire on fan boards.
The new coach is another former Pat Head All-American at Tennessee. This was the first competition between her and UT coach Kellie Harper, another UT legacy.
“We did not overlap (at UT),” Harper said.
“ She graduated, and I came in.
“However, I did play against her one time, because my freshman year our first game was against the USA National Team, which Nikki (McCray-Penson) was a part of.
“All I remember is Nikki guarded me. I held the ball, and she took it from me and went and got a layup.
“So, that was a ‘Welcome to college basketball at an elite level Kellie Jolly.’ Nikki was one of those players that I loved to watch. She played so hard. She had great effort.
“I know she was known for her defense, but I remember as a young high school kid thinking, ‘Gosh, look how much better that player had gotten.’ I thought she had improved during her tenure here. I had a lot of respect for not only her when she was a Lady Vol, but who she is as a person. “
posted by Mel Greenberg | 7:56 PM
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