Several Lady Vol stars were on hand to honor Pat Summitt.
Photo by Reed Carringer

KNOXVILLE—Over 13,000 people were on hand to witness a banner honoring Pat Summitt raised to the rafters, including former Lady Vol stars Candace Parker, Tamika Catchings, and Chamique Holdsclaw. Summitt’s name will forever adorn a banner in Thompson-Boling Arena, and though the Lady Vols lost tonight, they turned in an effort that would make the nation’s winningest coach proud.

Spani (12 points) has scored in double figures
7 of her last 8 games.Photo by Reed Carringer

The Lady Vols trailed for the vast majority of the game, but never stopped fighting. At the half, Notre Dame led 33-29. That wasn’t the only bad news for Holly Warlick’s squad. Sophomore forward Isabelle Harrison suffered an knee injury at the 5:07 mark of the first half and didn’t return. Harrison was cleared for play just before tip due to a meniscus injury and returned to the bench in the second half with ice on her left knee. Tennessee shot just 28.6% in the first half, to Notre Dame’s 35%.

The Irish jumped out to a big lead in the second half and led by 19 points (62-43) with 9:52 to play…but the Lady Vols weren’t about to quit on such a momentous night. Tennessee used a smothering defense to go on a 21-7 run and cut the lead to 69-64. Unfortunately for Tennessee, it wasn’t enough to overcome a career-high 33 points from Notre Dame guard Skylar Diggins, and the Irish left Knoxville with a 77-67 victory.

Offense: Bashaara Graves continues to play like a veteran. She recorded her eighth double-double of the year with a team-high 19 points and 13 rebounds. Without Harrison, Graves was the only true post player in the game for Tennessee, and she repeatedly saw double and triple teams. Warlick wasn’t pleased with the contact Graves took in the paint, but the star freshman didn’t let Notre Dame’s physicality deter her aggressiveness down low. Simmons had a bit of an off night, scoring just 11 points on 4-11 shooting. Taber Spani scored 12 points on 3-10 shooting.

As a team, the Lady Vols shot 33.3% from the field.

Defense: Notre Dame guard Skylar Diggins scored a career-high 33 points and the Lady Vols simply didn’t have an answer for her. She beat the Lady Vols off the dribble, from beyond the arc, and at the free throw line. Diggins dished out five assists and nabbed four steals on the night. The Irish shot 46.7% from 3 as a team (7-15) and got good looks most of the night.

Final Take: You have to be proud of Tennessee’s effort. The Lady Vols were missing three players with starts on the year (Carter, Burdick, and Harrison), yet mounted a furious second-half comeback to make the Irish work hard for the win.

Coach Warlick was proud of her team’s effort, but wants them to play with tenacity for 40 minutes.

“After the game, I didn’t talk to the team. Tamika Catchings talked to them and gave some pretty solid advice,” Warlick said.  We’ll see if her advice can propel the Lady Vols to wins over Mississippi State (Thursday 7 p.m.) and Missouri (Sunday 2 p.m.) this week.