GREENVILLE, S.C. — Although Lady Vols basketball ended its SEC Tournament campaign in heartbreak, there is still more basketball to be played.
Next for Tennessee (19-12) is the NCAA Tournament, with first-round play beginning on March 22. The Lady Vols will have more than a week off to recover for the first time since December.
Tennessee plans to take full advantage of this time both to recover physically and emotionally from the conference tournament.
“I have not looked at the schedule yet,” Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper said. “But we’ll get them some time off this week and get them ready to go.”
The Lady Vols will have to be ready to go for their NCAA Tournament campaign. They are currently projected by ESPN’s Charlie Creme to be a No. 7 seed and head to Los Angeles. In his projected bracket, they would need to beat Marquette before a matchup with JuJu Watkins and USC.
Regardless of where Tennessee plays, it will have to win two tough matchups if it wants to advance to the second weekend for the third consecutive year. Unlike the past two Sweet 16 trips, the Lady Vols likely will not host, meaning they will have to play their first game on a neutral floor and their second against a hostile crowd.
Tennessee has found some success on the road, finishing the regular season with a 5-5 record. It has not been able to record a signature road win this season, even when given some opportunities to do so. The best road win of the season for the Lady Vols came at Vanderbilt in February.
The results may not show it, but Tennessee feels they have some positive momentum. The Lady Vols are 7-5 since the start of February, but four of those losses came to top-10 opponents. The efforts still resulted in losses, but they allowed the Lady Vols to feel confident.
At this point, the Lady Vols feel they are just one or two plays away from a win.
“Just continuing to do the little things,” Tennessee forward Rickea Jackson said. “I felt like we really focused in on our defense.”
Tennessee’s defensive effort lacked in key moments against South Carolina, but it was good overall. The Lady Vols held the Gamecocks to 74 points, South Carolina’s lowest output in its last five games.
The performance wasn’t enough, though. Tennessee got into a deep hole, going down 23 points in the first half. That was too much for the Lady Vols to overcome, as they let the Gamecocks have an opportunity at a buzzer-beater, which was successful.
Tennessee played a good second half, but it wasn’t enough. Out-scoring the Gamecocks by 12 in the second half just cut the deficit to one. There is still momentum to be taken from the effort into the NCAA Tournament.
No matter who the Lady Vols face, they feel they are playing their best basketball, despite the tough end to the SEC Tournament.
“I feel like our chemistry is just getting better and better,” Jackson said. “We’re peaking at the right time. I feel like the confidence that my coaches and teammates give me put me in those moments to want to make those plays.”
