SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) – Tennessee is looking like, well, Tennessee again.
Mercedes Russell scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and the seventh-seeded Lady Vols continued their surprising run in the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 78-62 victory over Ohio State in a Sioux Falls Regional semifinal Friday night.
The surge comes after Tennessee’s worst regular season in program history. The Lady Vols (22-13) started the season ranked No. 4 in the country and ended up in seventh place in the SEC. Now they’re in a regional final for the fifth time in six years and will play Sunday against No. 4 Syracuse, which stunned top-seeded South Carolina 80-72 in the first semifinal.
“We talk a lot about this as a new season,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said. “These kids come to Tennessee because of our tradition, but they have to make their own legacy. So we talk a lot about not focusing on the past or what’s ahead of us in the future. Just stay in this moment, and I think that’s what they’ve done.