How Lady Vols basketball freshmen elevated team in Talaysia Cooper's absence

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Kim Caldwell told her freshmen they needed a little bit more from each of them without leading scorer Talaysia Cooper, who was a late scratch for Tennessee's matchup with Arkansas.

All five of them answered the challenge, and no one more than Jaida Civil. The 6-foot guard was aggressive offensively from tipoff, scoring the second bucket of the game for Lady Vols basketball.

Civil scored 12 points in No. 22 Tennessee's 85-50 win over Arkansas (11-8, 0-4 SEC) at Food City Center on Jan. 11. Cooper did not play due to getting hit in the head with a ball during shootaround.

Civil has come a long way since the beginning of the season when her pace led to mistakes at times. She was patient with the ball in her hands and attacked the rim when she had opportunities, and she was all over the boards.

"I'm trying to fit in wherever the team needs me to," Civil said. "So, if they need me to rebound, if they need me to go score, if they need me to get some turnovers, that's what I'm going to do. So, (the game has) been slowing down for me thanks to my teammates."

On drives where Civil would have passed the ball previously, she put her head down and got to the rim – and she finished. Civil was 3-for-5 inside the arc.

Caldwell attributed Civil's growth to the extra time she's getting in the gym. Caldwell has seen Civil in the gym and watching film every day outside of practice, and it's allowing her to understand her timing better. There are fewer moments when she's trying to do everything at once.

"I think just calming her down a little bit," Caldwell said. "And then when games are fast, nothing’s ever going to be too fast for her when she can learn to slow herself down."

In a 30-second stretch of the third quarter, Civil drew a foul near the end of a shot clock, made both her free throws and then drained a 3-pointer on Tennessee's next possession. Civil added six rebounds, four steals and an assist in 27 minutes, and she had the second-highest plus-minus on the team at +28.

Freshman point guard Mia Pauldo, who has been hot to start her first SEC season, had a higher plus-minus of +37. Pauldo had 18 points on 7-for-16 shooting with four rebounds and four assists.

But it wasn't just Pauldo and Civil. All five freshman logged at least 18 minutes and were productive. Lauren Hurst earned her minutes crashing the boards, and logged five rebounds, five points, an assists and a steal. Deniya Prawl had four points, five rebounds and two steals. Mya Pauldo had three points, four rebounds and an assist.

Without school in session, the freshmen have been able to get extra work in, and the results are already showing. The hardest games are still ahead of the Lady Vols, though, with eight ranked matchups left on their schedule – including a road game against reigning national champion and longtime rival UConn.

But the "young ones," as Caldwell calls them, are getting better every minute they're on the court, and they're giving the Lady Vols true depth as they get deeper into conference play.

"We told the freshmen they were going to come play and they’re getting the opportunities," Caldwell said. "Hopefully they can take a step forward and just continue to grow confidence that I believe in them and that’s what they were here to do."

Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women's athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: subscribe.knoxnews.com/offers

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee freshmen boosted play vs Arkansas in Talaysia Cooper's absence

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