Women's college basketball Power Rankings: Is it time for Tennessee to panic as it tumbles out of the top 10?

 Then post player Keyen Green suffered a knee injury in a victory over Georgia on Jan. 23, and the Lady Vols hit their first rough patch in a season that had been going very well. Tennessee has since lost three of its past four games, and had to go to overtime for the one victory in that stretch.

What had been shaping up as a game in which Tennessee would be favored instead resulted in a 75-56 loss to UConn on Sunday. Afterward, Tennessee coach Kellie Harper acknowledged her team is trying to pick up the pieces.

"We had too many breakdowns defensively with our focus, and offensively we just missed too many shots," Harper said of the Lady Vols, who shot a season-low 28.8% from the field, with starters Alexus Dye, Tess Darby and Jordan Walker going a combined 0-for-16.

The one starter who met expectations was Jordan Horston, who had 26 points and eight rebounds. Rae Burrell, who had 11 points off the bench, was the only other Lady Vols player who scored in double figures.

Harper praised the Huskies, who had 18 assists to the Lady Vols' seven.

"They're such great passers," she said. "So if you do have a breakdown, they capitalize on it. Don't take anything away from UConn. Everyone knows one of the best things they do is run an efficient offense. They did a great job. But I think that's where we have to be a little more focused, a little more precise. We gave up too many easy opportunities for them."

Tennessee's woes didn't start Sunday in Connecticut. The Lady Vols' shocking 71-61 upset at Auburn on Jan. 27, four days after Green was hurt, was a sign that the team, now at No. 11 in ESPN's Power Rankings, was taking her on-court absence very hard.

The Tigers had lost 23 consecutive SEC games, and even without Green, this was a matchup Tennessee should have won. But Green has been an emotional leader and steadying presence off the bench for the Lady Vols.

The 6-foot-1 graduate student played three seasons at Liberty, then transferred to Tennessee for the 2020-21 season. She played just four games before suffering a season-ending knee injury in practice in December 2020.

But she worked her way back through rehab. She had appeared in all 19 games this season for Tennessee, averaging 7.0 points and 3.2 rebounds, before her injury. Harper called it a "gut punch" at the time.