In this March 9, 2014, file photo, Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick yells from the bench in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Kentucky in the finals of the Southeastern Conference women’s tournament in Duluth, Ga.KNOXVILLE — Tennessee coach Holly Warlick realized the 11th-ranked Lady Volunteers would have their hands full against Wichita State.
Warlick knows Wichita State’s coaches too well to have expected anything else.
Tennessee squandered most of a 10-point, second-half lead Tuesday before escaping with a 54-51 victory over a Wichita State team whose coaching staff features former Lady Vols Jody Adams and Bridgette Gordon.
“Both of them are very competitive, so I knew what was coming,” Warlick said.
Adams, now Wichita State’s head coach, was a point guard on Tennessee’s 1991 national championship team. Gordon, one of Adams’ assistants, played on Tennessee’s 1987 and 1989 championship teams and remains the Lady Vols’ second-leading career scorer. Gordon’s No. 30 jersey hangs from the Thompson-Boling Arena rafters.