After a sloppy start and a halftime deficit, Tennessee beats LSU in its first game of the SEC Tournament. GREENVILLE, South Carolina — After a first-half scare, the Lady Vols pull through to win its first game of the SEC Tournament against No. 9 seed LSU, 69-66. Evina Westbrook and Rennia Davis led the way in scoring for the Lady Vols with 39 points combined. The very first possession for the Lady Vols was a microcosm of what was to come: a turnover less than five seconds into the action. Tennessee turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, LSU scored 11 points off of those turnovers. Tennessee trailed LSU 35-28 at the break. Evina Westbrook was the difference maker in the second half. She scored nine points in the third quarter as the Lady Vols slowly chipped away at the LSU lead. LSU and Tennessee went back and forth for much of the fourth quarter, but a combination of clutch scoring and good defense pushed the Lady Vols over the top. ESPN Bracketologist Charlie Creme had the Lady Vols as the last team in the NCAA field prior to this win over LSU. While the team’s spot may not be cemented in the Big Dance, this win will go a very long way.<doc-sep>The Tennessee Lady Vols (8th seed) are taking on LSU (9th seed) this afternoon at noon eastern time in the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament. The matchup features two teams squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble. The winner gets top-seeded Mississippi State tomorrow afternoon. Tennessee snapped a three game skid with a blowout win over Ole Miss on Sunday. SEC Network has the coverage. Update: The Lady Vols picked up at 69-66 win over LSU to advance. That win may have been enough to get them in the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee will play Mississippi State tomorrow at noon ET.<doc-sep>Evina Westbrook vs. LSU GREENVILLE, S.C. – Tennessee got the start it needed to open SEC tourney play with a 69-66 win over LSU and will now turn its attention to a rematch with Mississippi State on Friday. Tennessee, 19-11, trailed at halftime to LSU, 16-13, but a third quarter surge led by Evina Westbrook allowed the Lady Vols to get back on course. Rennia Davis sealed the win from the free throw line for the Lady Vols. “These two young ladies, they stepped up, made great plays,” Tennessee Coach Holly Warlick said about Westbrook and Davis, who attended the post-game presser. Davis continued her knack for draining a crucial three-pointer in the SEC tourney. As a freshman, she did so against Auburn. As a sophomore, she sliced the net against LSU. Tennessee trailed 49-47 to start the fourth quarter but took the lead, 55-53, when Davis found Mimi Collins in stride for a fast-break layup. The Lady Vols were clinging to a 59-57 lead with 3:47 left to play, and Davis, with one second on the shot clock, buried a deep three. The Lady Vols still had to fend off the Lady Tigers, who cut the lead to two points three times in the final 51 seconds. After Davis made one free throw to extend the lead to three points, 69-66, with 11 seconds left, LSU had a chance to tie the game on a three-pointer, but Jaelyn Richard-Harris’ shot was slightly offline. “Their go-to players stepped up and made big-time plays,” LSU Coach Nikki Fargas said. “The two young ladies up here next to me also played at an elite level.” Fargas, a former Lady Vol player and assistant, was referring to Khayla Pointer and Ayana Mitchell. Pointer led the Lady Tigers with 21 points, while Mitchell posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards. The matchup was a typical SEC postseason battle between the Lady Vols and Lady Tigers – physical, contested and coming down to the final seconds. “Everyone is trying to get a win,” Mitchell said. “They’re coming hard. They’re not stopping. They’re coming very aggressive.” The matchup also pitted close friends in Warlick and Fargas, and both coaches needed the win to boost NCAA tourney resumes. “We’re still hopeful,” Fargas said. “You just never know what the committee is looking at. Whatever our fate is, we’re going to take it, own it, and we’re going to move forward.” Warlick also didn’t shy away from the game’s importance. “We talked about it as a staff. We talked about it as a team,” Warlick said. “We didn’t say, ‘We have to win this game,' but we talked about how hard we need to play.” Tennessee and LSU drew the noon game at Bon Secours Arena, which has hockey ice under the court. With the bay doors also open as teams arrived and departed, including those who had morning practices before Friday’s games, cold air also blew into the venue. Tennessee started the game with two turnovers, recovered to take a 15-14 lead at the end of the first quarter but trailed by eight points, 35-28, at halftime. The Lady Vols committed 10 first-half turnovers but limited the miscues to seven in the second half. The Lady Vols also had some early foul trouble with Davis and Westbrook, but the sophomores bounced back in the second half. Warlick needed the bench in the second quarter and used all four freshmen in Rae Burrell, Mimi Collins, Zaay Green and Jazmine Massengill. “We had grit,” Warlick said. “We stayed focused. We got in foul trouble, things didn’t go well, but we stayed the course.” Collins has moved into the starting lineup the last two games because of her motor and willingness to compete. The freshman has been foul-prone and struggled with defense – very typical for a first-year player – but she sprints the floor and will battle inside. “I just go back and watch tape of when she was first here,” Warlick said. “She couldn’t guard me, and I’m slow. I used to be fast, but I’m slow. She made a commitment. She got in the gym and worked with our assistant coaches. I kept telling her, ‘Mimi, it’s not offense I’m worried about. You can score 10, but your player can’t score 20.” Collins did indeed score 10 points with three rebounds and a block. She also battled to keep boards alive – all three rebounds were on the offensive end – and gave her team extra possessions. “To admit that you need to work on it, then get in the gym and work on it, it’s awesome,” Warlick said. It’s also not common for a freshman to take action within the season. Usually, that effort requires an offseason of work; instead, Collins went to work as a newcomer. The effort paid off with the freshman moving into the starting lineup. Collins was one of three Lady Vols in double digits. Westbrook led Tennessee with 20 points, while Davis notched 19 points. Jackson added nine points and seven boards, while fellow senior Cheridene Green posted seven points and nine boards. Tennessee shot 49.1 percent (28-57) overall, 40 percent (4-10) from the arc and 75 percent (9-12) from the line. The Lady Vols had 10 assists – six came in the second half – 17 turnovers, three steals and two blocks. Tennessee nipped the Lady Tigers on the glass, 31-28, and tallied 16 points off turnovers. LSU shot 47.4 percent (27-57) overall, 27.3 percent (3-11) from the arc and 64.3 percent (9-14) from the line. The Lady Tigers had 13 assists, 14 turnovers, six steals and two blocks. LSU scored 21 points off Tennessee’s turnovers. Faustine Aifuwa joined Mitchell and Pointer in double digits with 16 points for LSU. Both teams posted 14 points apiece on second-chance points and matched each other with 14 offensive rebounds. “We allowed some offensive rebounds that led to not necessarily offensive put-backs but to kick-outs for a jumper to another reset of the possession,” Fargas said. “Those are all energy plays when you’re able to get offensive boards.” #LadyVols win! ! Tennessee will take on Mississippi State tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. ET in round 3 of the #SECWBB. pic.twitter.com/modWNBf22B — Lady Vol Basketball (@LadyVol_Hoops) March 7, 2019 After the game, the Lady Vols celebrated the win in the locker room and realized the next challenge – No. 1 seed Mississippi State at noon Friday (TV: SEC Network). Westbrook missed the game in Starkville for a minor violation of team rules – she was late to a class and missed it – and while Massengill filled in admirably at point guard, Tennessee needs Westbrook on the floor as demonstrated Thursday in Greenville. “She took over the game at one point,” Warlick said. The Bulldogs won the SEC title and earned the advantage of a double bye. “You’re playing the No. 1 seed in the conference,” Warlick said. “It is what it is. Our kids have just got to step up to the challenge.” BOX SCORE HIGHLIGHTS POST-GAME PRESSER LOCKER ROOM INTERVIEWS Coach Holly Warlick Assistant Coach Bridgette Gordon Rennia Davis and Evina Westbrook Mimi Collins Cheridene Green Meme Jackson Kamera Harris Kasiyahna Kushkituah Rae Burrell Zaay Green Jazmine Massengill<doc-sep>
CLEVELAND - APRIL 01: Fans of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers support their tema against the North Carolina Tar Heels during their National Semifinal game of the 2007 NCAA Women's Final Four at the Quicken Loans Arena on April 1, 2007 in Cleveland, Ohio. Tennessee won 56-50. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) The Tennessee Lady Vols held off the LSU Tigers Thursday. Here are three takeaways from the Volunteers’ women’s basketball SEC Tourney victory. With their prospects of reaching the NCAA Tournament in significant danger for the first time ever, the Tennessee Lady Vols stayed alive in that race Thursday. The No. 8 seed in the SEC Tournament opened up the event with a win over the No. 9 seed LSU Tigers. With Holly Warlick’s seat hotter than ever, her team came back from a 35-28 halftime deficit to win the game 69-66. Rennia Davis then made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 20 seconds for them to hold onto the victory. At 19-11 now, UT is still firmly on the bubble. They will face the No. 1 seed Mississippi State Bulldogs at noon Friday, looking to avenge a 28-point road loss from earlier in the season. Winning that would work wonders for the program. However, before we get there, here are three takeaways from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ Thursday win. 1. The best players played like it. Tennessee relies on a one-two punch of Rennia Davis and Evina Westbrook to win games. They got that on Thursday with 20 points from Westbrook and 19 from Davis, as the two went a combined 15-of-25 from the field and 3-of-5 from the three-point line. This was the key in the game. Davis and Westbrook were their best players to start the year entering their sophomore seasons, and they are superstars. The postseason was the time for them to act like it. In at least one game, they have done just that. 2. Mental toughness survived a tough run. We’ve said all year that the Tennessee Lady Vols have a problem with just bad quarters. They had that again on Thursday, letting LSU outscore the 21-13 in the second. As a result, their largest deficit in the game was at halftime, when they were down 35-28. But given all the criticism surrounding this team, they kept their composure, and in the second half, they managed to consistently control the game. That’s a big deal, and maybe it’ll lead to something more. 3. Ball movement has to improve. Tennessee would have dominated this game if they had not had some of the worst passing all season. Even Westbrook, who scored 20 points and shot the ball well, struggled as the distributor. She finished the game with only 1 assist. The team as a whole only had 10. Meanwhile, they had 17 turnovers. That was far too sloppy for a group that was solid in every other part of the game, and they have to fix that before facing Mississippi State if they want any chance at not being blown out.