ANN ARBOR, Michigan (TVC) – The No. 10-seeded Tennessee Lady Vols are set to take on No. 7-seeded N.C. State Wolfpack in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday night.
The Lady Vols are out for revenge from a regular season loss to the Wolfpack and an overall change in pace.
It’s not an understatement to say they’ve been in a slump, losing ten of their last twelve games. However, Head Coach Kim Caldwell says she hopes the tournament will provide a change in pace for her team.
“I think any time you get into March and in March Madness, it’s definitely a different buzz, a different vibe around it, there’s some excitement…some juice,” Caldwell said. “We have a significant chunk of time where we can practice and kind of have a fresh start there where you have time to put things together.”
The Wolfpack is not a team that Tennessee is unfamiliar with. The Lady Vols played them in the first game of the season, losing a nail-biter by a slim three points.
“I think that we have watched our film from the last time we played them and know where we need to get better and know that they’re a different team and we’re a different team going into it,” Caldwell said. “I think we have some good juice going into this game.”
Lady Vol players echoed their coach’s sentiment. The last time the two teams played each other was over four months ago, and some players have shown drastic improvement.
After the selection show, Caldwell told the media she believed the most improved player on the team was Nya Robertson since that game. Robertson agreed.
“I just feel like during that time I didn’t think I was being who I could be,” Robertson said. It was the first game with a new system, so after playing in her system for a while, I picked it up.”
The Lady Vols have not touched a court competitively in over two weeks. However, confidence in their abilities has not wavered.
Forward Janiah Barker said it was about recharging, then finding ways to improve in practice.
“I think we got some days off just to, of course, relax, get our own time to ourselves, have a little break before we get into March,” Barker said. “Then we definitely did a lot of work on ourselves, which consisted of transition defense, transition offense, being more sharp in the press, making sure we’re rotating the way we need to do.”
As for Caldwell, she’s been in her players’ ears all week. Not just with one message, but multiple.
“I think basketball-wise it’s been effort, and it’s been rebounding, and I think general-wise we need to be happy to be here,” Caldwell said. “We need to have some excitement, we need to again, appreciate the moment.”
