Tennessee freshman Jazmine Massengill, a former Hamilton Heights standout, shoots over ETSU's Micah Scheetz during the first half of their Dec. 21 game in Knoxville. Massengill scored four points and had nine rebounds and five blocks as the ninth-ranked Lady Vols won 80-61.KNOXVILLE - Led by sophomore Rennia Davis and senior Meme Jackson, who combined for 50 points, Tennessee earned a women's basketball road win Thursday at Auburn.
But when they were needed the most, the freshman guards had their moments as well.
With sophomore point guard Evina Westbrook sidelined with an injury, freshmen Zaay Green and Jazmine Massengill played some key minutes in the Lady Vols' 78-69 win over the Tigers at Auburn Arena.
The win in their Southeastern Conference opener improved the 10th-ranked Lady Vols to 12-1 for the season. They host Missouri (12-3, 1-0) this afternoon at 2 at Thompson-Boling Arena, and Kentucky visits Knoxville on Thursday.
"They're growing up," Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said Saturday morning of her first-year players. "Every game I think they grow up, and I've played them a lot early for that particular reason. They're going to have to come in. Someone is going to get in foul trouble or something is going to happen, and I thought Jaz came in and did a great job for Evina. And Evina has done a great job of helping Jaz get to that point and have a great prep.
"I was really proud of Jaz. That's a tough environment to be in against a pressing team, and I thought she handled it very well."
Westbrook went out with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter and the Lady Vols clinging to a 49-47 lead. With Auburn's pressing style of defense, Massengill and Green became two of the primary ball-handlers - a challenging assignment on the road in an SEC opener for anybody, especially a pair of true freshmen.
The pair combined for 13 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. In one instance of their impact, the Lady Vols had a four-point lead when Green rebounded a Massengill 3-point attempt and passed to Jackson, who knocked down a 3 to give Tennessee some breathing room.
"Those contributions were big," Jackson said after the win. "It goes to show how big it is for our freshmen to come in. They were comfortable, they were poised, they were patient, and that's what we need. We need anybody to step up at any given time, and I felt like Jaz and Zaay did a great job of that."
Warlick spoke before Thursday's game about hoping the team was prepared for the physical nature of the SEC slate. There are 16 tests, and the Lady Vols passed the first one on the road.
"This league is all about toughness," Davis said. "Every night you're going to face a tough team, and for us that means every night we get to prove to ourselves how tough we are.
"Tonight was the first step, and we got our first win."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.