KNOXVILLE - Not all was bad for first-year Tennessee basketball coach Kellie Harper in her team's loss to Texas on Sunday.
Sure, it really was the first time that the Lady Volunteers had been tested this season - a test they ultimately failed, falling 66-60 to the Longhorns at Thompson-Boling Arena for their first loss under Harper. Sure, it was their worst shooting performance of the year, and they struggled to score inside on a Texas team that could match the interior size of Tennessee, something they hadn't experienced yet.
But in the grand scheme of things, there was plenty to be positive about. The Lady Vols, who host Colorado State Wednesday night at 7, were able to control the boards, holding a 54-42 advantage. There were 16 assists on 22 made baskets, so the ball was moving. They had 28 points in the paint, and there were performances from players such as freshman center Tamari Key (nine points, seven rebounds) that should be encouraging.
"Tamari is a phenomenal post player," sophomore guard Jazmine Massengill said Sunday. "We try to get the ball to her the best we can. Every game we try to do a better job of giving the post the ball and doing a better job of getting in position. It's a learning tool for both of us. I definitely think Tamari held her own. Freshmen through seniors, we expect everyone to perform the way they know how. I feel like she did that today."
Tennessee also received a solid performance inside from junior Kasiyahna Kushkituah (seven points, nine rebounds), who continued her solid play to start the year. Kushkituah is averaging 9.1 points and 6.1 rebounds through eight games and has improved her field-goal percentage and free-throw percentages.
Tennessee's roster is what it is. It's a group of three guards, three wings and five forwards. The early-season schedule provided a lot of feel-good, especially the road victory at Notre Dame, but considering the Lady Irish were replacing all five starters from last season - all top-20 picks in the most recent WNBA draft - that team was a shell of the one that won a national championship in 2018 and reached last season's Final Four.
It still will be a while before Tennessee becomes exactly what it's going to be this season. Games like Sunday's will help the team reach that sooner.
"That was a great game for us. We needed this," said Harper, who took over in April. "I don't want to say we needed the loss - that's hard to say - but we needed that game. That was one reason I've been looking forward to this game, because I knew we needed this. We needed to see where we were with a physical, athletic team with size. That's going to be what we see in the SEC, so we needed to have that to learn from and to grow from."
Tennessee (7-1), which fell to 23rd in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 poll, follows Wednesday's game against Colorado State (5-5) with a trip to the West Coast, where the Lady Vols will face top-ranked Stanford on Dec. 18 and Portland State on Dec. 21.
The tests will continue to come from here on out. It's up to the team to learn from each one - win or lose.
"Coach Kellie says that if a loss doesn't help us, then why did you lose?" said junior Rennia Davis, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds against the Longhorns. "We have to take some things we knew we had to work on; we were a little bit exposed because this team was bigger, stronger and more athletic than other teams we've faced this season.
"But we've got to keep working."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.