Tennessee Lady Vols basketball hosted the Florida A&M Rattlers. The Lady Vols took the win in their only exhibition game of the year, and gave everyone a good look at the work they've put in since arriving in Knoxville.
Tennessee ran away with a 132-63 win, and eight players finished in double-digits. During the course of the game, I took a few takeaways. There were plenty of points to go around, and many contributions. It was nice to see each player get good work in on Tuesday night.
When Tennessee initially pressed, Florida A&M was able to get around it for a break into their half of the court, and to the basket. It took the Lady Vols a few minutes to really turn the heat up consistently with it and on defense.
When that happened, They went on a 21-0 run and ballooned their lead to 33-10 before the Rattlers answered. Tennessee forced 10 turnovers in the opening quarter, scoring 12 off of those opportunities. Kennedy Fauntleroy was opportunistic and quick with her hands to force three of those 10. For the game, the Lady Vols scored 45 points off 37 turnovers.
White not only can shoot the three, but she showed her ability to put the ball on the floor. White also has an eye for her open teammate, so the selflessness is clear.She defended well by getting back on defense and guarding the paint to prevent easy Florida A&M buckets, and pulled down rebounds. Even though Tennessee is far from SEC play, I can see her game translating to that level of competition. White finished with 16 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and four steals.
With the amount of turnovers and offensive rebounds that Lady Vols control, they will have plenty of opportunities at the rim. Tennessee did a good job of pushing the ball up the court and getting those looks. They finished with 74 points in the paint, 59 fastbreak points, and 42 second-chance points.
They just have to make sure and sharpen those up close chances up from the beginning. Early on there were a few misses, but they got better as the game went on. They finished 30-50 on layups. Some of those were heavily contested.
Minus does whatever is needed on the floor. The freshman was solid on the boards and great on second chance opportunities. Minus also guarded the in-bound well and made it tough on Florida A&M. I can see her being an immediate contributor this season when her number is called.She knows how to create her opportunities and take advantage. Minus put up 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting with seven rebounds. Excited to see what she does this season.
When the Lady Vols get to the line, they knock them down. If they keep that high efficiency throughout the season, those will definitely add up for the good. Tennessee finished 23 of 25 from the charity stripe for 92%.
Smikle is a scorer as we've seen in scrimmages and on Tuesday night. Smikle is that versatile player that will have success any way she can get it as well. That seems to be the identity of this team. Smikle however did register four fouls in her first 14 minutes of play. I am sure that is just a product of playing aggressive defense and having to be mindful. Smikle finished the game with a high of 19 points.
Tennessee was good in the rebound department. How that will translate for the rest of the season remains to be seen, but on Tuesday they attacked everything that was up for grabs. Fats Janneh was dominant in that department. She finished with a game-high of 13 rebounds. Tennessee outrebounded Florida A&M 58-25.
Send your questions, comments, and hot takes to our email tennesseeonsi@gmail.comfor the chance to be featured in an article!
Follow Our Social Media Accounts
Follow Vols on SI on X (Click
HERE
)
Follow Vols on SI on Facebook (Click
HERE
)
Follow Vols on SI on Instagram (Click
HERE
)
Subscribe to Vols on SI on YouTube (Click
HERE
)
Sign up for our newsletter to have articles sent straight to your email daily HERE .
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/tennessee as Takeaways from Tennessee Lady Vols exhibition vs. Florida A&M .
