Turnovers plague Lady Vols in top-20 loss to Ohio State

Following a brutal collapse to fall to Notre Dame, Tennessee hosted Ohio State for another top-20 tilt.

This time, the No. 20 Lady Vols (4-4) couldn't get out to the same hot start it did against the Fight Irish. This led to a 78-58 defeat to the No. 16 Buckeyes (6-1) in Knoxville.

This completed a four-game stretch against ranked opponents. Tennessee finished the set 1-3 with a win over Oklahoma and losses to Ohio State, Notre Dame and Indiana.

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The difference in the game was the press that Ohio State employed. The aggressive defense caused the Lady Vols to make errors throughout the game leading to easy buckets for the Buckeyes.

Tennessee would turn the ball over 20 times in the match. Ohio State capitalized on these errors for 28 points.

This combined with the Lady Vols' 35.1% shooting from the field, they were left in the dust. Only two scorers hit the double-digit mark with Destinee Wells reaching 11 and Sara Puckett scoring 10.

For the Buckeyes, five players reached the double-digit mark.

Tennessee didn't get out to a hot start like it did against Notre Dame. Instead, it fell into a 20-7 hole after allowing 11 unanswered points to the Buckeyes.

However, the Lady Vols were able to scratch back before the end of the quarter. While going on an 8-0 run, they trailed by just five heading into the second.

The second quarter quickly swung back in the favor of Ohio State, though. It outscored Tennessee by 10 in the frame while shooting 41.2% from the field.

At halftime, the score sat at 43-28. Tennessee had turned the ball over 10 times and shot just 32.1% from the field. Leading the way for the Lady Vols in scoring were Tess Darby and Puckett with six each. Tamari Key also contributed five.

On the other side, Buckeye's Cotie McMahon produced 19 points in the first half alone.

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In the third quarter, Tennessee came out with energy. It went on a 6-0 run midway through the frame to cut the lead to 14. However, Ohio State quickly responded. The defense tightened up and the lead was pushed back to 19 heading into the fourth.

The fourth quarter was more of the same as the Buckeyes led by one in the frame. Both teams slowed down with little time remaining, though, as the final minutes felt like a formality.

Turnovers were the biggest issue on Sunday.

The Lady Vols turned it over 20 times and forced just 12 while on defense. This led to 28 points off turnovers for Ohio State and just nine for Tennessee.

This means that 19 of the points in the 20-point defeat were the differential from turnovers.

Next, Tennessee's schedule will begin to cool down. On Wednesday, it'll travel to Huntsville, Ala. to play in a neutral site game against a solid MTSU squad. It'll air at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

Then, the Lady Vols will play a stretch against EKU, Wofford and Liberty before beginning SEC play.

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