KNOXVILLE – Tennessee’s Jazmine Massengill hugged teammate Jessie Rennie with enough force to lift the freshman guard off the ground Sunday afternoon.
The show of affection occurred moments after the Lady Vols’ 88-38 women’s basketball victory over Howard before a crowd of 9,269 at Thompson-Boling Arena. The gesture reciprocated the lift Rennie provided by making five 3-pointers. She drew a foul on one of her baskets and converted the free throw into a four-point play.
The team joined Massengill in engulfing Rennie, demonstrating their feelings for her and the shooting day she had.
“They couldn’t be happier every time she made a shot,” UT coach Kellie Harper said.
Rennie, in turn, already was considering expanding on her part.
“I’m always confident to shoot,” said Rennie, who’s from Bendigo, Australia. “I think tonight showed I need to be doing that, not only for myself but for the team.”
Her next shot will occur during SEC play. No. 22 Tennessee (10-2) opens at home against Missouri on Thursday. Game time has been moved to 5 p.m. to avoid conflict with UT’s football game against Indiana in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl that night in Jacksonville, Fla.
The Lady Vols will take the full plunge with a visit to No. 13 Kentucky next Sunday.
Rennie’s shooting and another strong performance by sophomore wing Rae Burrell (18 points, 12 rebounds) suggested Tennessee’s play is on the upswing. Harper described the team’s progression since she arrived last April as head coach in terms of a road trip.
“We’ve come miles,” she said. “We still have miles to go.”
She’s been warning the players about the SEC’s steeper grade for weeks now. She gave them all another earful Sunday as part of her rant following a listless third quarter against Howard (8-5). She admonished them by saying: “You’ve got to get ready for SEC play.”
In that regard, Harper thought the Lady Vols’ rebounding box-outs were “non-existent.” Furthermore, their transition defense and defensive communication were sub-par. Finally, a few too many of their 15 turnovers were of the “silly” variety.
Conversely, she said Tennessee had some “really, really good offensive possessions,” particularly in the first half.
Rennie, who’s previous scoring high was eight points against Colorado State, benefitted from those possessions.
While Harper noted Rennie’s confidence, the coach said Rennie’s willingness to pull the trigger has been a bigger variable.
“I can’t say I’ve ever seen Jessie’s confidence waver,” Harper said. “She always plays with a pretty good head on her shoulders. We have seen her pass up some shots in games and in practice. That’s what we talked to her about.”
Rennie, who is 10 for 18 from long range during the past six games, said that she went to New York City for Christmas but returned to Knoxville before everyone else.
“I was the only one here,” she said. “I was getting extra shots up. I guess it helped.”
She helped Tennessee shoot 42.1 percent from long range (8 for 19). The accuracy and the made 3-pointers matched the Lady Vols’ single-game highs for the season.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri who covered University of Tennessee athletics for the Knoxville News Sentinel from 1988-2019. He may be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com