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- May 1, 2020
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Excellent point. There were a couple times Nika looked like she was going to lose her temper and was able to keep it together. Same for Horston.You have a point about Jackson’s composure.
I just think the entire Tennessee team was frustrated with Aaliyah. She made them look bad on offense. In the 2nd quarter, UConn was exhausted and the reffing got a little weird and TN found they could dominate the offensive glass, which must have been very satisfying for them. In effect, the refs told them they’d be allowed to dominate physically. But then the refs pulled the rug out from under them in the 3rd, and no one suffered from it more than Jackson. Now the bad calls were going UConn’s way.
Of course, you’re right that Jackson should have kept her cool. Everyone else suffered from the inconsistent reffing too. I was thinking about that moment when it looked like Horston and Nika might mix it up. Jordan had been whistled for a foul out on the perimeter and then tried to grab the ball one more time and Nika reacted. But they sorted it out between them and cooled off before the refs even got there to break it up. The two feistiest players on the court kept their cool. If they could do it, Jackson should have too.
I didn’t really follow her at Miss St but I gather her rep was as a smooth scorer who didn’t play much D and had little team spirit — defense and team spirit seem to go together. Kellie has her playing better D at TN, but it’s hard to work transfers into the team culture in only a few months. I hope she can manage it in the next few weeks.
This situation unfortunately takes some of the shine away from the game for me. Even though Tennessee couldn't keep it close in the end, their fight at certain points was entertaining. The atmosphere at the arena was awesome. I really enjoyed it, with the exception of the double intentional.
