KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee women have been in need of the sorts of basketball wins that could bolster their postseason chances.
They got one of those Sunday - and relied on their youth to do it.
Their 62-60 win at Missouri improved the Lady Volunteers to 17-8 for the season and 6-6 in the Southeastern Conference, but more importantly it was a resume builder and another step in the right direction of what has been a tumultuous season. There was the six-game losing streak midway through the season, but since then Tennessee has won four of its five games, including against Auburn and Missouri - NCAA tournament bubble teams.
Against Missouri's Tigers, who had upset fifth-ranked Mississippi State last week, the Lady Vols relied heavily on their freshmen and sophomores, who scored all but 10 of the team's 62 points. The freshmen, led by Mimi Collins, made big plays, none bigger than her 3-pointer with 3:12 remaining that gave Tennessee a 58-56 lead. Although there would be ties at 58 and 60 down the stretch, Tennessee did not fall behind, and a pair of free throws by sophomore Rennia Davis with 52 seconds to play proved to be the difference.
"This was a big win," Davis said. "At this point of the season, all the wins are going to be big for us. Today was a start; it showed us how tough we can be. A win is a win no matter how many points we win by.
"It showed our toughness."
But while the youth was big down the stretch, it was even more important in the second quarter, when the team played with nothing but first- or second-year players. That group limited Missouri (19-8, 8-5) to 10 second-quarter points while scoring eight, six coming by Collins.
"They grew up," Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said on the Vol Network. "Missouri is a high-powered team; we had to hunker down and play some defense, and they were a big part of it. They didn't do everything right, but they played solid, and all I can ask of them is to keep growing up."
The next two games come against ranked teams: at 21st-ranked Texas A&M on Thursday and at home against 13th-ranked South Carolina on Sunday. After that come contests at home against Vanderbilt and at Ole Miss before the all-important SEC tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.
"If we have the focus we had in shootaround today, we'll be good," Warlick said. "The focus was phenomenal; we had great focus, great effort, great energy. This is the Tennessee team we need to see all the time. We can't falter, can't sway in any way.
"We've got to build on this game right here."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.