The Lady Vols were knocked out of the SEC Tournament on Friday in a 73-62 loss to no. 8 South Carolina.
Tennessee lost despite taking 30 more shots than South Carolina, making only 23 of 86 shots (26.7 percent). The Lady Vols had numerous extra possessions thanks to pulling down a season-high 27 offensive rebounds and South Carolina committing a season-high 27 turnovers (their previous high was 21, also against Tennessee), but continually missed close-range shots.
Redshirt senior Mercedes Russell shot just 5-of-15 from the field. Leading scorer Jaime Nared started despite leaving Thursday night's win over Auburn with a hip injury and contributed a double-double (15 points, 13 rebounds), shooting 5-of-19 (26 percent) from the floor.
Tennessee had beaten South Carolina in two regular season meetings but the Gamecocks were without SEC Player of the Year A'ja Wilson in both of those games.
Wilson played sporadically on Friday after returning from a bout with vertigo but was very effective, scoring 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting and grabbing 12 rebounds in 19 minutes.
The Lady Vols will have to wait until Monday, March 12 to find out their NCAA Tournament draw.