If ever the "beware the wounded animal" theme will be facing the top-ranked and 18-1 Irish women, it's tonight at Tennessee (12-6). The highly talented Volunteers have epitomized underachievement under head coach Holly Warlick — who is in the thankless position of succeeding the late Pat Summitt — the past several years.
Just two weeks ago Tennessee was ranked No. 10, but now has lost five straight with four of them by a total of nine points. The talent ranks with most anyone in the country again, led by sophomore Evina Westbrook, the No. 2-ranked player two years ago who chose the Vols over the Irish and leads the team in scoring (16.8 per game) and assists (5.2).
Sophomore Rennia Davis (13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds) was the No. 12 player in that class, and the four-woman freshman class, led by No. 10-ranked Zaay Green, was ranked No. 4 overall.
In its last visit to Thompson-Boling Arena two years ago, ND squandered a 15-point second-half lead to lose 71-69.
Last Jan. 18, a week after getting crushed 100-67 at Louisville, the Irish found themselves down 37-14 to Tennessee at home before detonating in the fourth quarter with a 34-9 run to win 84-70 en route to the national title. The Tennessee women used to alternate with UConn at No. 1, but this week it was the Volunteer men who moved to the top spot.
Muffet McGraw knows her team will be entering a hornet's nest.
"It's a game for them that can turn the whole season around," McGraw said. "... It's important for us to come out focused. We haven't done that in the [recent] games."
She was particularly miffed at the carelessness last Sunday while committing 18 turnovers in the 92-63 rout of Boston College.
"This is the time of year when upsets happen," McGraw said. "It's too far to look to March, it's not even February yet, the team starts to get into the grind of the season, especially on the road."
"We know we're going to get their best shot," said senior Jessica Shepard, who is averaging 14.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, and is 25 points away from 2,000 in her college career. "They're going to come in ready to play, so we're going to have to be locked in on what the coaches are asking us to do, and play our best game."
The other four starters also are double-digit scorers: Arike Ogunbowale (21.5 points, plus 3.8 assists), Jackie Young (14.4, 4.5 assists), Marina Mabrey (14.1, 4.3 assists) and Brianna Turner (13.0, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks).
Just two weeks ago Tennessee was ranked No. 10, but now has lost five straight with four of them by a total of nine points. The talent ranks with most anyone in the country again, led by sophomore Evina Westbrook, the No. 2-ranked player two years ago who chose the Vols over the Irish and leads the team in scoring (16.8 per game) and assists (5.2).
Sophomore Rennia Davis (13.5 points, 8.2 rebounds) was the No. 12 player in that class, and the four-woman freshman class, led by No. 10-ranked Zaay Green, was ranked No. 4 overall.
In its last visit to Thompson-Boling Arena two years ago, ND squandered a 15-point second-half lead to lose 71-69.
Last Jan. 18, a week after getting crushed 100-67 at Louisville, the Irish found themselves down 37-14 to Tennessee at home before detonating in the fourth quarter with a 34-9 run to win 84-70 en route to the national title. The Tennessee women used to alternate with UConn at No. 1, but this week it was the Volunteer men who moved to the top spot.
Muffet McGraw knows her team will be entering a hornet's nest.
"It's a game for them that can turn the whole season around," McGraw said. "... It's important for us to come out focused. We haven't done that in the [recent] games."
She was particularly miffed at the carelessness last Sunday while committing 18 turnovers in the 92-63 rout of Boston College.
"This is the time of year when upsets happen," McGraw said. "It's too far to look to March, it's not even February yet, the team starts to get into the grind of the season, especially on the road."
"We know we're going to get their best shot," said senior Jessica Shepard, who is averaging 14.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, and is 25 points away from 2,000 in her college career. "They're going to come in ready to play, so we're going to have to be locked in on what the coaches are asking us to do, and play our best game."
The other four starters also are double-digit scorers: Arike Ogunbowale (21.5 points, plus 3.8 assists), Jackie Young (14.4, 4.5 assists), Marina Mabrey (14.1, 4.3 assists) and Brianna Turner (13.0, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks).
