KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee women's basketball team picked up a big win Sunday at home against LSU, outlasting the Tigers 63-58 to improve to 16-4 for the season and 6-1 in the Southeastern Conference.
The Lady Volunteers are on the road for their next two games, with trips to Vanderbilt and South Carolina.
Here are three next-day observations from the win:
1. Horston not efficient but vital: A quick glance at Tennessee freshman Jordan Horston's stat line doesn't read pretty. She was just 2-for-11 from the field, turned the ball over four times and was just 1-for-2 at the free-throw line. But overall it was a good day for the 6-foot-2 freshman guard, who had nine assists, a block and a steal and was a plus-10 in 33 minutes. She is very much an extreme-high, extreme-low sort of player, but it was little things, such as her defensive intensity and affecting LSU's offense that proved huge in Sunday's win.
Tennessee guard/forward Rennia Davis (0) is guarded by LSU guard/forward Mercedes Brooks (12) during an NCAA college basketball game in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. (Saul Young/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)
2. McCoy minutes: On the subject of key contributions, what about Jaiden McCoy? The 6-3 junior had maybe her most productive game of the season, scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds in 21 minutes, the most she's played since a 21-minute outing against East Tennessee State in the season opener. LSU's physical style suits McCoy's style perfectly, which made games like Sunday's a good matchup for her. To that point, McCoy was a team-best plus-12 in her time on the court, and she'll be needed more down the road.
Tennessee basketball coach Kellie Harper reacts to a call by officials during an NCAA college basketball game against LSU in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. (Saul Young/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)
3. A necessary win: Sunday's game was a microcosm of Tennessee's season. Nothing about the win was pretty except for the final result. The Lady Vols were carried for much of the game by Rennia Davis, who scored all but two of her 30 points in the first three quarters, then got the contributions they needed from her teammates to pull away for the win. Tennessee is 16-4 overall and 6-1 in the SEC going into yet another important week of games and has a chance to solidify itself as a top-level league team with games Thursday against the Commodores and Saturday against the top-ranked Gamecocks.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.