Near-perfect Lady Vols on exhibit

The No. 2 Tennessee Lady Vols close out their brief exhibition season by hosting neighbor Carson-Newman tonight, 7 p.m., at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Lady Vols are coming off a near-perfect offensive performance against Dalhousie on Sunday and will open the regular season at home against Stetson on Nov. 20.

Tennessee defeated Carson-Newman, 105-47, last year in an exhibition game, but the Lady Eagles went on to post a 25-8 record and win the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. Carson-Newman is currently ranked No. 19 among Division II women's programs in the USA Today/ESPN preseason poll.

Dean Walsh, a familiar face in Blount County during his tenures at Maryville High and Maryville College, is entering his fourth season as Carson-Newman's head coach. Walsh's teams have shown marked improvement in each of his first three years, including last season's dramatic tournament finish and advance to the Division II Sweet 16.

Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt was pleasantly surprised by the offensive showcase produced by her squad on Sunday and will be looking for consistency in tonight's contest.

``Our team is much better offensively this year. They're more comfortable and confident,'' Summitt said. ``We're just a better offensive team.

``You can't say much wrong about our offense. I just wish we could save some for later in the year.''

The Lady Eagles will have to deal with mismatches in size and speed, as well as the Lady Vols' depth in the post. After giving a thumbs up to her team's offensive performance in the opening exhibition game, Summitt is now devoting additional practice time to defense.

``We need to work on the defensive end. We gave up too much penetration. There are things we can work on,'' she said.

And tonight, Carson-Newman will be the focus of those things.