Tennessee forward Bashaara Graves (12) battles Notre Dame guard Kayla McBride (21) for the ball in the first half of their game Monday in Knoxville.
Notre Dame guard Kayla McBride (21) drives against Tennessee guard Andraya Carter (14) in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Knoxville.KNOXVILLE – Tennessee still is trying to figure out how to put a complete game together.
For the first month of the season, the Lady Vols relied on second-half surges to help them bounce back from slow starts. Now their struggles are coming after halftime, a pattern that continued Monday when the 11th-ranked Lady Vols squandered a 12-point lead in an 86-70 loss to No. 2 Notre Dame.
“It feels like this team is very sensitive,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said. “We want it so much that it’s almost detrimental to us. We want it so badly. I would love to see how we’d play when everybody’s clicking on all cylinders. It would really be a lot of fun, but that’s up to me, to put them in positions and to get them ready for the next game.”
After racing to a 10-0 start this season, Tennessee (14-4) has split its last eight games. The Lady Vols have led at halftime in each of their last three losses.
Notre Dame (17-0) outscored the Lady Vols 45-24 in the second half Monday. Tennessee shot 8 of 32 and committed 12 turnovers after halftime.