UT Athletics Department
Notre Dame, IN – Despite a strong start, No. 13/15 Tennessee could not keep pace with hot-shooting No. 3/3 Notre Dame on Monday night, falling to the Fighting Irish, 79-66, at Purcell Pavilion.
Diamond DeShields paced the Lady Vols (11-6) with 17 points pm 7-of-13 shooting. Bashaara Graves posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jaime Nared added 11 points.
Tennessee committed 20 turnovers in the loss, marking the fourth-straight game the Lady Vols have had 19 or more miscues. UT outrebounded Notre Dame (17-1), 36-32. The Fighting Irish were 19-of-25 from the free-throw line and the Lady Vols were 8-of-14.
ND had six players in double figures with Turner and Arike Ogunbowale tying for the team lead at 14 points each.
The Lady Vols drew to within five points in the third quarter when Graves made a layup with 6:28 on the clock. Notre Dame closed the third quarter with a 13-2 run, building an 18-point lead at 57-39.
The Fighting Irish had a 36-29 halftime lead. DeShields had nine points and five rebounds and UT had a 20-17 rebounding edge at the break. Marina Mabrey and Ogunbowale led Notre Dame with nine points each in the first half. Notre Dame scored 12 points off of Tennessee’s 10 first-half turnovers.
Notre Dame seized control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Vols, 21-11. Down 25-21 with 5:44 remaining in the first half, the Fighting Irish went on a 9-0 run to take the lead with Ogunbowale accounting for five of those points.
Tennessee led 18-15 after the first quarter. Early turnovers proved costly for the Lady Vols as Notre Dame climbed out to a 15-9 lead. UT rallied back with a 9-0 run over the final two minutes of the quarter with Jordan Reynolds knocking down a pair of jumpers to spark the Lady Vols’ offense.
“I thought it was a hard-fought game. Notre Dame was solid. I’m really proud of our young ladies. We have had a hard time giving up and not fighting. I thought they battled, and obviously we continued to turn the ball over, and that’s not been a good thing for us. I was proud of our effort and we just have to get some things straightened out for us,” stated Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick.
Series vs. Notre Dame
Tennessee is 20-6 all-time against Notre Dame and 8-3 against the Fighting Irish at Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame has won the last six games in the series.
Monday’s game marked the fourth time that UT had faced a Notre Dame squad ranked in the top 3. The Lady Vols are 0-4 in those games.
Bashaara Graves Moves Up Career Lists
Bashaara Graves scored 13 points, passing Alexis Hornbuckle (1,333 career points) for 26th place on Tennessee’s all-time scoring list. Graves currently has 1,344 career points. Graves also grabbed 10 boards, passing Shekinna Stricklen (905 career rebounds) for 11th place in Lady Vol history. Graves has 910 career rebounds.
Graves notched her fifth double-double of the season. She ranks second in the SEC among active players with 26 career double-doubles.
Miscellaneous Notes
Notre Dame notched 18 assists in the game, the most by any UT opponent this season.
Jordan Reynolds set new season highs with nine points and seven assists against Notre Dame. Reynolds had eight points against Oregon State and recorded five assists versus Auburn to register her previous season bests.
Jaime Nared finished with 11 points, it is the fifth time in eight games that she has reached double figures.
Tennessee-Notre Dame Postgame
Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick post game press conference.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcxeAXP9qts[/youtube]
Up Next
The Lady Vols next play Vanderbilt on Thursday, January 21st, at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:00pm ET/6:00pm CT on SEC Network.
Tennessee is 65-9 all-time against Vanderbilt. The Lady Vols are 30-0 against the Commodores in Knoxville, TN. The Lady Vols have won the last three games of the series and six of the last seven.
