The theme for the Tennessee Lady Vols for most of 2013 has been overcoming the injuries that have depleted their roster to surprisingly win the SEC regular season title and earn a 2-seed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
Yet as David Hooper of SB Nation's Tennessee site Rocky Top Talk has written, they might actually have more depth than the Oklahoma Sooners.
Depth advantage: ...Tennessee? This may actually be true. Oklahoma will dress nine, but will very likely only play seven. Against UCLA, Ellenberg, Hook, and McFarland had 40, 39, and 37 minutes, respectively. Tennessee will roll with eight, with only Ariel Massengale and Meighan Simmons as likely 30+ minute candidates. This may be key, because...Oklahoma is foul prone.
As Hooper noted in his piece, Oklahoma lost senior Whitney Hand in December, freshman Maddie Manning in November, and freshman Tara Dunn. Indeed foul trouble could be the difference.
For more on Lady Vols basketball, check out RTT's women's basketball site. For more on the how both teams got to this point, check out our Oklahoma City region storystream.