For the second time this week, the Lady Vols came up just short of securing wins over two top 10 teams.

On Thursday, a shot at the rim didn’t fall, and Tennessee fell 89-87 to No. 6 LSU. Last Sunday, a shot from the arc didn’t fall, and Tennessee fell 87-86 to No. 10 Oklahoma. Such is the difference between being undefeated in the SEC instead of 1-2.

In both games, the Lady Vols had to wipe out a double-digit deficit, a situation that Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell said had to change.

“It’s extremely frustrating that we don’t play for four quarters,” Caldwell said. “We have to stop being behind so much.”

Tennessee made its move much quicker against LSU than it did Oklahoma and made it a close game in the third quarter after only being down 46-39 at halftime and 67-62 at the end of the third quarter.

Jewel Spear led Tennessee (13-2, 1-2) with 25 points, while Talaysia Cooper notched 24 points, and Ruby Whitehorn and Samara Spencer added 10 points each.

Aneesah Morrow led LSU (18-0, 3-0) with 23 points, while Flau’Jae Johnson tallied 20 points, Kailyn Gilbert posted 22 points, including the game winner, and Mikaylah Williams added 16 points.

Our players have to actually want to rebound,” Caldwell said. “We turned the ball over too much.”

Watching from the sidelines were Jordan Horston and Tamari Key, who returned stateside after playing in New Zealand this fall. The two got a warm welcome home from the crowd of 10,220.

Caldwell was frustrated after the game because she and her staff made the same points after Sunday’s loss. In a one-possession outcome, a couple more rebounds can be the difference between a win and a loss.

“We literally have to learn what they keep preaching,” Spear said.

LSU coach Kim Mulkey was asked about a road win at No. 16 Tennessee providing some validation for her and the team. The Tigers are now one of only two teams to win three consecutive games at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. The other team was Mississippi State.

“I don’t care about critics,” Mulkey said. “All I care about is those kids. Even if we had gone home with a loss, we still competed. We just scored two more points than they did.”

Mulkey’s post-game press conference can be watched HERE. Caldwell’s can be watched HERE. Tennessee’s highlights can be watched HERE.

While the losses are disappointing – Caldwell said it bothers her for the seniors because they can’t get these games back – the Lady Vols are well ahead of schedule in her first year at the helm. It bodes well for the rest of this season that Tennessee has shown it can compete with top 10 teams.

It came down to a final shot.

“We had a good look at the rim,” Caldwell said. “We just didn’t hit it.”

Maria M. Cornelius, a senior writer/editor at MoxCar Marketing + Communications since 2013, started her journalism career at the Knoxville News Sentinel and began writing about the Lady Vols in 1998. In 2016, she published her first book, “The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt,” through The University of Tennessee Press.