TEMPE, Ariz. – Tennessee’s Diamond DeShields and Mercedes Russell weren’t exactly in lock step with each other Sunday night.
The two Lady Vols were like-minded enough, however, to play key roles in a 75-64 NCAA women’s basketball tournament victory over Arizona State. Russell scored all 12 of her points in the first half. DeShields then tagged in, scoring 18 of her game-high 24 points after halftime.
Role playing of that nature essentially has been reserved for them since November. The challenge of doing so hasn’t been the sole reason for a season’s worth of struggles. But the two players were big reasons why UT didn’t look like a 13-loss No. 7 seed against the Sun Devils.