Lady Vols basketball was dominating its exhibition against Carson-Newman in the first half.
And then Tennessee broke the game wide open, scoring 41 points in the third quarter. It scored 105 points in the first three quarters and ended the night with a 135-49 win in coach Kim Caldwell’s debut Thursday at Food City Center. UT tied the second-most points in an exhibition game in program history.
Caldwell said she didn’t like the team’s shot selection in the first half, and they played a bit rushed. But the Lady Vols made the adjustment at halftime and never looked back.
“We weren’t really sharing the ball the way we should, taking some bad shots,” Caldwell said. “We took a few bad shots in the second half, but it wasn’t nearly as noticeable, and so I thought they did a really good job of making that adjustment.”
Ruby Whitehorn dazzles in Tennessee debut
Offense looked easy for junior guard Ruby Whitehorn from the start. She knocked down a 3-pointer in transition on Tennessee’s second possession of the game, and by the end of the first quarter, she had 13 points.
Whitehorn wasn’t rushed and took smart shots. The Clemson transfer went 4-for-6 from 3-point range and scored at all three levels, logging 29 points in 18 minutes. She was efficient, shooting 11-for-15 from the field, and added five rebounds and four steals.
“She doesn’t see how good she can be yet,” Caldwell said. “And so we’re just gonna keep hounding and keep making sure she gets better, but I was really proud of her.”
Whitehorn said she was focused on being aggressive, confident and playing to her strengths. Caldwell said they had been on Whitehorn a bit to get in the gym, shoot more 3-pointers and work on counter moves.
“The things that I have added, like my counter moves and playing off of two feet, I feel like that’s really opened up my game,” Whitehorn said, “and allowed me to see not only the court and my teammates better, but see the rim better and see where I can attack and get more open shots.”
Talaysia Cooper fueled defense
Redshirt sophomore Talaysia Cooper snatched a game-high eight steals, many of them coming from the top of the full-court press. The 6-foot guard’s length was a problem all night, and Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey pointed Cooper’s defense out specifically postgame.
Cooper didn’t have the best start offensively, but she leaned into her defense to get herself going. She converted four steals for scores and ended up with 16 points on 8-for-15 shooting along with five rebounds and five assists.
But her defense didn’t just fuel her own offense, it fueled the entire team’s offense and defense, Caldwell said.
“To have someone at the top of your press that can guard like that, I don’t know that I’ve had a player of that caliber that can really just say, ‘Hey, I want to go get a steal whenever she wants,’ ” Caldwell said. “So that’s going to be fun.”
About that defense…
There was a lot to like about Tennessee’s defense, like forcing 43 turnovers. But there were areas to clean up.
Caldwell wasn’t happy with the 3-point percentage Tennessee allowed. Carson-Newman went 8-for-21 from deep.
“When I look at it, I see what we need to fix and I imagine that we’re playing for a national championship game,” Caldwell said. “And we can’t give up 38% from three. We can’t let them have that many threes. We got to fix our half court defense.”
Though Caldwell wasn’t satisfied with the overall defensive performance, she was most happy about the 30 steals on the night and the total turnovers, which resulted in 52 points. And the Lady Vols only had nine turnovers themselves.
Tennessee held Carson-Newman to fewer than 10 points in the first and fourth quarters and took 94 shots to the Eagles’ 54.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
