Vols T logoDean Lockwood knows what a “really good” women’s basketball team looks like come February. The Tennessee assistant coach was specific and thorough on Sunday with his rendering.
“They have a focus and it doesn’t matter who they’re playing,” he said. “There’s a business-like approach. They approach everything the same way. They prepare the same way. They thoroughly prepare. They dial up their intensity in practice as well as in games. That’s what we’re looking for.
Based on that profile, No. 8 Tennessee (19-4, 8-2 SEC) is playing catch-up with the calendar heading into an SEC showdown with No. 18 Vanderbilt (17-5, 6-3) tonight at Thompson-Boling Arena. Instead of turning the page on January in the past two games, the Lady Vols revisited some of the lax play and foul trouble that characterized their earlier play.
“We have been erratic; there’s no question,” Lockwood conceded.
Still, they have come a long way since squandering a 10-point second half lead in the first meeting with Vanderbilt and losing 74-63 in Nashville on Jan. 12. The Commodores shot 62.5 percent from the floor after halftime and scored 45 points in that half. Eight of their 15 second-half baskets were layups.