KNOXVILLE - A week after blowing a 23-point lead and losing at No. 5 Notre Dame, the Tennessee women's basketball team lost a 16-point lead Thursday night.
Only this time it was at home against Ole Miss, which is ranked 103rd in the Rating Percentage Index. And this time, Tennessee found a way to stop the bleeding.
The No. 10 Lady Volunteers turned their midgame misfortune around, went on a 25-6 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters and escaped with a 75-66 win in front of 9,016 at Thompson- Boling Arena.
There was little glamour in Tennessee's first game since going 1-3 in a four-game stretch against highly ranked foes. But the Lady Vols (17-3, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) found late success with a zone defense that finally slowed Madinah Muhammad and Alissa Alston, who combined to score 50 points for the Rebels (11-9, 1-6).
Tennessee guard Rennia Davis shoots against Mississippi during an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018, in Knoxville, Tenn. (Brianna Paciorka/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)
Tennessee guard Jaime Nared (31) squeezes between Mississippi forward Promise Taylor (55) and guard Madinah Muhammad (20) during an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018, in Knoxville, Tenn. (Brianna Paciorka/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)"We just extended our defense," Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said of the fourth-quarter adjustment. "When all five are talking and moving, we play great defense."
Tennessee countered the offense of Muhammad and Alston with big nights from freshmen Rennia Davis and Anastasia Hayes.
Hayes hit a 3-pointer from the wing with 9:12 left to extend Tennessee's lead to 60-51 and snap its streak of eight straight quarters without making a 3. Hayes' second 3-pointer with 3:53 left made it 71-55, and she followed with a fast-break layup to put the Lady Vols firmly in control.
"I thought Rennia and Annie were just awesome in the fourth quarter," Warlick said. "They didn't play like freshmen. They were poised and attacked. Just really proud of them to step up to the challenge."
Davis helped Tennessee build a 30-15 lead in the first quarter as the Lady Vols took advantage of transition opportunities and played through center Mercedes Russell when fast breaks were not available. Russell hit her first five shots. The first time she encountered a double-team, she dished to Davis for a baseline layup. Davis scored nine points in the first quarter and finished with a team-high 18 while also contributing eight rebounds.
It was when Davis, Hayes and point guard Evina Westbrook each had two fouls in the second quarter that Ole Miss started trimming a 40-24 deficit.
Muhammad was the only player on the court who scored in the final 4:52 of the first half, and her four consecutive 3-pointers against a man-to-man defense cut it to 40-38. All the while, Tennessee's offense struggled with senior wing Jaime Nared forced to play point guard because of the team's foul trouble.
"I would say the first half for us was borderline horrible," Davis said. "She (Muhammad) had like 20 points, and that's unacceptable. We knew she could score the ball well, but I don't think that we were finding her quick enough. She's a great shooter, as she showed, and I just think that communication in the first half, we just weren't playing our defensive game."
The third quarter began in a stalemate as cold-shooting Tennessee tried to figure out the Rebels' zone defense. Ole Miss tied it at 49 with 2:51 left in the quarter when Alston drove uncontested to the basket off a pick-and-roll for a layup.
That's when Tennessee flipped the switch. The Lady Vols closed the quarter on an 8-2 run, thanks in part to back-to-back layups from Davis.
"I didn't take any jump shots the whole game," Davis said. "My teammates were just able to find me. In practice we've been going over going backdoor more when teams are overplaying us. So my teammates were able to find me on all of those cuts."
Tennessee went to the zone defense in the fourth quarter and held Muhammad without a basket for a stretch of more than five minutes. Alston did not score in the fourth quarter until the game was out of reach with less than a minute remaining.
Warlick said she "always" wants to play man-to-man but added she'll play zone all 40 minutes if it's going to help the Lady Vols win.
"My biggest thing is just communicating and effort," she said. "We've got to get better on ball screens. We've worked on it, but we got a little hesitant and timid when we got in foul trouble, and we can't get ourselves in that situation."
The zone helped Tennessee put Ole Miss away, but a lackluster three quarters of man-to-man revealed plenty to work on ahead of the trip to play Sunday at LSU.
"We just have to do a better job of guarding their ball screens," Nared said. "I think they scored too easily on ball screens and drives. We've just got to go back to work, especially on guarding those."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.