Jillian Hollingshead shines despite back-to-back Lady Vol losses

CALEB JARREAU Staff Writer

Jillian Hollingshead caught the ball deep in the left corner on Monday in Baton Rouge. Without hesitation, she took the wide-open look, nailing her first three of the season.

The lone three-pointer she made a season ago, while donning the red and black of Georgia, also came against LSU.

Against LSU on Monday, Hollingshead finished with seven points and five rebounds in the 76-68 loss. Hollingshead also helped keep Angel Reese in check, preventing arguably the top post in the SEC from reaching her points average.

The Georgia transfer has become more confident on the court, and it has become evident. Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper’s only complaint about Hollingshead the past two contests has been the lack of paint touches the Lady Vols are able to generate.

Against LSU, failure to get paint touches affected the post unit as a whole.

“I thought we got her a few touches,” Harper said. “We missed our post-players several times, in particular in the third quarter. I thought we should’ve got it inside a little bit more, but we missed them.”

The Tigers crowded the paint in the second half on Monday, limiting Hollings- head’s influence. Regardless, she decided to show off her range with a corner three.

“We did not move the ball well,” Harper said. “They’re sitting in the paint, they don’t have to come out of the paint. They were trying everything they could do to stay in the paint.”

Hollingshead’s performance Monday night was not a fluke.

She shined on a national stage against UConn last week. She finished the game with 11 points and nine rebounds in 25 minutes.

“In terms of Jillian, the most disappointing thing was that we didn’t get her the ball enough,” Harper said. “There were times that she needed those touches and we just missed her.”

A common theme has been Tennessee’s struggles to get the ball in the post. It’s an issue Harper says they have to address.

“We just got to keep finding some movement, ball movement and player movement, when our first option breaks down,” she said.

Harper and her staff have experienced their confidence in Hollingshead, both verbally and with her play on the floor.

With the loss of Tamari Key, Tennessee’s 6-6 post who was diagnosed with seasonending blood clots in her lungs, Hollingshead is now the tallest active player. If you ask her teammates, they’ll tell you she could compete for tallest on the team.

Hollingshead is hitting her stride at the right time for Tennessee, during a crucial part of their conference schedule.

“That was probably one of the most exciting things to come out of that game,” Harper said following Tennessee’s matchup with UConn. “I thought she played well in a big-time environment against a bigtime team.”

The 6-foot-5 forward possesses guard skills, but also the length to hang with most bigs in the league. Harper has boasted of Hollingshead’s versatility.

While she is mostly in the post for Tennessee, Hollingshead also gets practice reps with the guards. She doesn’t seem to have any issues with handling the ball in-game for the Lady Vols.

With the momentum Hollingshead is picking up, and her likely earning more minutes following her standout games against UConn and in Baton Rouge, the Lady Vols may be adding another consistent scorer to the mix.

“I think that’s good for her, it’s good for our team,” Harper said. “She’s skilled with size and you love to see that competitiveness come out of her. I think we can really, really grow from this. I’m really excited about how she’s played.”