Kim Caldwell explains what went wrong for Lady Vols in blowout loss vs UCLA

Mistake after mistake piled up for Lady Vols basketball at Pauley Pavilion on Nov. 30.

Soon those mistakes snowballed into an insurmountable lead for No. 3 UCLA (8-1), and No. 16 Tennessee (5-2) crumbled down the stretch during a 99-77 loss in Los Angeles. Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell said it was the first time she has seen her team's defense perform so poorly – UCLA shot 58.5% and scored 50 points in the paint.

"We've got to cut down our mistakes. Our mistakes right now are just cringy, to be honest, for a lack of a better word," Caldwell said. "But it's why you play the game, it's why you play this game so early in your schedule with so many new ones. We're not afraid of it, we're not scared of it."

Lady Vols struggle with turnovers all game

Tennessee had shown concerns with its turnover rate against inferior opponents this season, and UCLA exposed that weakness again and again.

The Lady Vols turned the ball over on their first two possessions of the game, although they were able to clean those up and only commit six turnovers in the first half.

But the Bruins broke the game open in the third quarter when Tennessee had nine turnovers. UCLA outscored UT 27-27 to take a 75-56 at the end of the third.

UCLA finished with 29 points off 20 forced turnovers, and the Lady Vols only managed to score 13 points off 12 forced turnovers.

"We can't continue to turn the ball over the way we're turning it over," Caldwell said. "We can't continue to have the defensive lapses that we have been having, and they were just tenfold tonight."

Kim Caldwell happy with forwards, not so much with guards

Caldwell said after the game she wasn't worried about UCLA's forwards going into the matchup because she saw a sense of urgency from the Lady Vols, and they "took the matchup seriously."

Transfer Janiah Barker and Zee Spearman proved Caldwell right with the two strongest performances of the game. Barker scored 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting with three rebounds and two steals against her former team.

Spearman had 10 points on 5-for-11 shooting with six rebounds, two assists and a block. Spearman guarded All-American Lauren Betts for most of the game, and she held the 6-foot-7 center to only seven points and four rebounds.

Caldwell wasn't as pleased with her guard play from a defensive standpoint. UCLA guards Gabriela Jaquez and Gianna Kneepkens both had big performances, scoring 29 and 20 points, respectively, and combining for 9-for-12 from 3-point range.

"We did talk a lot about if our guards aren't ready, they're going to get cut to death. They're going to get open passes," Caldwell said. "They pass so well, and if you are in the wrong spot for a second or by an inch, they're going to find it. And we were in the wrong spot by a mile."

Tennessee getting freshman important experience

The loss was an ugly one, but Tennessee's freshmen got big-game experience they can learn from.

Deniya Prawl led the freshmen with 19 minutes played, and she had six points, three rebounds, one assist and a steal. She had the strongest performance overall of the three freshmen who played.

Jaida Civil was all over the boards in her 17 minutes, and her six rebounds were tied for a team-high. She also made a 3-pointer, but her typical defensive prowess wasn't felt as much against UCLA's guards.

Mia Pauldo went 1-for-5 with three points, one rebound, two assists and one turnover in 16 minutes.

"If you're going to trust your players and you're going to trust your freshmen – and that's what we're going to do – then you have to put them out there," Caldwell said. "You have to let them fail a little bit, and you have to let them see what it takes, because we need those players. We need those players when we get into January and February."

Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social‬. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What went wrong for Lady Vols basketball in blowout loss vs UCLA