Lady Vols fall to NC State 80-77 in season opener

The 8th-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols dropped the season opener against No. 9 North Carolina State 80-77 in Greensboro, North Carolina Tuesday night. 

Tennessee had the lead at 77-76 with 54 seconds left, but NC State regained the lead with 46 seconds left. Talaysia Cooper couldn’t get a jumper to fall and the Lady Wolfpack closed it out at the free throw line.

“There’s a lot to take from this game,” head coach Kim Caldwell said. “Our box-outs were really bad and that’s something we knew was going to hurt us coming into the game. Our fouls were really bad and that’s something we knew would hurt us. We made a lot of first game mistakes. We made a lot of new player mistakes and freshman mistakes. We have to continue to figure some things out.”

The Lady Vols shot 39% from the floor and were 9 of 33 from beyond the arc. They also were only 8 of 14 at the free throw line. Of the 30 made field goals, less than half (14) were assisted buckets.

“I don’t think we meshed very well at all today,” Caldwell said of her offense. “And that’s something we have to go back to the drawing board, watch the film and fix it. Again, our shot selection looked selfish. I don’t know that it was coming from a selfish place other than we didn’t know what else to do. You can’t have that. You have to share the ball and you have to be able to lean on more than just one person. I think we put a lot of the load on Coop tonight. We need some other people to step up.”

Cooper led the way with 23 points on 9 of 17 shooting. She was just 2 of 5 in the second half. To go with her team high 23 points, they was the leading rebounder with 11 and had 7 of the team’s 14 assist. She had a team high 3 steals and only had one turnover. 

“I thought she played well,” Caldwell said. “This is a good start for her. I think she could still play a little bit better. I want her to be more of a leader.” 

Janiah Barker (15), Mia Pauldo (10) and Jaida Civil (13) all scored in double figures. But Tennessee was called for 23 fouls to NC State’s 10 and the Lady Vols only forced 10 turnovers. 

Friday night the Lady Vols return to action as they host ETSU in their home opener at 6:30 and for Caldwell there’s plenty to work on and plenty of areas she is looking for improvement. 

“I think we need a little more patience on offense,” Caldwell offered. “if we don’t get something early. Transition defense and rebounding. I thought we did a pretty good job taking care of the ball.”

Following Friday night’s opener it’s a quick turnaround as the Lady Vols play Sunday in Martin, Tennessee against UT-Martin in the Pat Summitt Heritage Classic.