Tennessee’s nine-game win streak finally came to an end Thursday night when the Lady Vols took on the University of Connecticut.
The Huskies took down Tennessee 84-67, improving to a 19-2 season record and handing Tennessee its first loss in nearly six weeks.
Thompson-Boling Arena welcomes near-record Lady Vol crowd
The NCAA women’s basketball world celebrated ESPN College GameDay on Thursday at none other than Knoxville’s very own Thompson-Boling Arena.
Taking place in front of a crowd of 13,804 screaming fans, the game marked the largest Lady Vols home-game attendance since 2015.
The night also marked an anticipated return of the Tennessee-UConn rivalry — the 26th faceoff between these teams in school history.
As such, the arena’s energy was electric.
First, the crowd came to life as fans welcomed Huskies head coach Gene Auriemma with collective boos.
Then as the game neared halftime, Tennessee began closing the gap with consecutive successful runs. The crowd’s enthusiasm had the arena feeling akin to Neyland Stadium.
One fan noted how he felt transported back to the heyday of Pat Summitt.
Tennessee comes up short against UConn
Ultimately, UConn lived up to its No. 5 reputation, handing the Lady Vols a 17-point home-court loss. That loss didn’t come without plenty of opposition on Tennessee’s part, though.
Tennessee struggled to gain its footing in the first quarter — an issue the team has dealt with off and on all year.
And although the Lady Vols have recovered from most first-quarter deficits this season, that wasn’t the case against a team as strong as UConn.
Senior Jordan Horston noted her team’s delay from the onset:
“I feel like they were two steps ahead of us. They started off strong, and we just had to settle in. I feel like we were a little nervous. Actually, I wouldn’t say nervous, because we wouldn’t be nervous to play them. Maybe it was just the atmosphere, it was a big crowd. The largest it’s been in 15 years. It was a great atmosphere – huge rivalry. We just started off a little slow.”
Horston contributed 27 points to the game, tying her previous season record. But that still wasn’t enough to turn the tides in Tennessee’s favor.
Sophomore forward Jillian Hollingshead contributed a game-high nine rebounds for the night in addition to her 11 points scored.
Meanwhile, guard Jordan Walker stepped up by taking two charges during the night.
Huskies halt Lady Vols
Lou Lopez Senchal and Aaliyah Edwards proved to be unstoppable forces, scoring 26 and 25 points respectively. Edwards also aided with seven rebounds and four assists.
UConn sprinted out of the gate with a 71.43% scoring average in the first quarter. Their struggles then came in quarter two, when Tennessee held them to a 27.27% success rate.
Come halftime, Tennessee trailed by only four points, leaving coach Auriemma fuming.
He revealed his feelings during a halftime interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, chalking Tennessee’s comeback up to bad officiating.
Auriemma was far from the only one disputing game calls, though. Lady Vol head coach Kellie Harper grew especially frustrated after a third-quarter call in favor of the Huskies.
UConn’s win situates them with a 17-9 overall record against the Lady Vols and a 19-2 season record going into Sunday’s matchup against No. 21 Villanova.
Lady Vols regroup for Monday’s bout in Baton Rouge
Although Tennessee holds onto its 8-0 SEC record, the team falls to a 16-7 season record after this loss.
Up next, the Lady Vols head to Louisiana this coming Monday to take on No. 4/3 LSU.
