Kellie Harper has seen plenty of good out of her Tennessee team through four games in SEC play, but the Lady Vols' head coach would like to see more consistency on the defensive end.
Tennessee (12-6, 4-0 SEC) is fourth in the league in points per game at 79.5, field goal percentage at 45.9% and assists at 16. The Lady Vols have scored 80 points or more in their last three games, and forward Rickea Jackson — as well as guard Jordan Horston and Tess Darby — have been consistent scorers and ball sharers.
Among the most impressive attributes of this Tennessee team in recent games has been their ability to overcome runs from opposing teams and close out strong — something they struggled to do in the first half of the season.
As the Lady Vols prepare to play their second straight road game at Texas A&M (5-9, 0-4) on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on the SEC Network, they’ll be trying to put together a better overall defensive performance.
"We talked, not specifically about (slowing down opposing team's three-point shooters), but just our awareness and our urgency and intensity on the defensive end," Harper said on Wednesday. "We've had some good moments, we've had some good possessions and we've had some good halves, but we've also put together some quarters that were very lacking on the defensive end. You know, it's just the challenge we've added to our team. We talked about where we needed to be better, we talked about how we need to get there and try to go out and do those things defensively.
"We've gotten better but we're not anywhere near where we need to be. … It's got to be every single possession and we're not there yet."
Harper shared Tennessee's conference stats with the team on Tuesday, emphasizing the disparity between the Lady Vols' No. 1 scoring offense and its No. 11 scoring defense in conference play.
For now, Tennessee has managed to overcome the fact that its defense isn't transitioning to more points, but the coaching staff has continued to stress that approach isn't sustainable.
"We were just talking very honestly about where we are and where need to be," Harper said. "We've got to grow and just try to instill the urgency. The other thing we've tried to say is learn from it after a win. Don't wait until a loss. That's what we're trying to make sure that we do, because it will. You can't continue to win at that level."
A matchup against a Texas A&M team that is winless in the conference to this point and missing several key players affords the opportunity to remedy those issues.
The Aggies are averaging less than 43 points per game in the midst of a four-game losing streak and were unable to reach 40 points in each of their last two games against LSU and Ole Miss.
Injuries in head coach Joni Taylor's first season haven't helped those struggles. Texas A&M hasn't played more than eight players more than a month.
"(Texas A&M) is athletic. They've got good size. They're going to be aggressive on both ends of the court," Harper said. "Obviously, they're down numbers in terms of their roster. I think part of the challenge is, again, just not overlooking someone. I think there's a lot of human nature in that, but I think as athletes, as a team that's trying to be the best that we can be, you can't do that because as soon as you relax, they get hot, they get happy and they find a win. They're going to play hard. They're going to be motivated. They're physical. We have to be ready. We have to be ready to guard 1-on-1, we have to be ready to guard in the paint.
"We have to be ready to do the job that we need to do on the board. In every aspect, I expected to go to Texas A&M and be sharp because we need to be sharp."
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