Tennessee’s exhibition win over Florida A&M gave Kim Caldwell plenty to like, but the night also offered a clear glimpse at how a freshman can work through first-game nerves and still make a real impact.
The Lady Vols rolled past the Rattlers 132-63 on Tuesday night, with eight players finishing in double figures in a game that served as the first real run for every Tennessee player inside Food City Center against another opponent. Even though the result won’t count, it gave fans on SECN+ an early look at a roster with plenty of new faces - and a freshman who had to settle in on the fly.
Gabby Minus stood out from the start. The freshman was active everywhere, contributing on both ends in 17 minutes off the bench. She scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting and went 2-of-2 at the line, while also adding seven rebounds and two assists.
After the game, Caldwell explained that Minus’ night began with a little hesitation.
“I was very proud of Gabby,” Caldwell told me. “She had those two rough shots early in the game, and she’s coming off to the sideline, and I’m trying to coach her up on the shots.
I said, ‘Well, tell me about those two shots,’ and the correct answer was, ‘I shot them too quick.’ And she just grabbed me and said, ‘Coach, I’m so nervous.’”
That moment said a lot about what Tuesday night really was: the first taste of the stage, the lights, and the speed of a college game environment that can’t quite be replicated in practice. Caldwell said that was part of the point of the exhibition in the first place.
“That’s why tonight was so good. We had so many players that sat last year or sat part of last year, and two freshmen that got their debut, and it means something to them.
They were nervous, and I think they settled into the game. That’s why you have these exhibitions, so that the first time out isn’t really the first time out.”
Minus clearly found her footing after those early misses. She grabbed three offensive rebounds, scored two second-chance points and created another basket by setting up a Smikle three. On top of that, she added two steals and a block, then finished plus-41 while she was on the floor.
For a freshman who admitted she was nervous just minutes into her first game, that’s about as strong a beginning as Tennessee could ask for. The Lady Vols open the regular season Monday against Duquesne, and this time, Minus will already have one first-time experience behind her.
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The only exhibition game on Tennessees schedule offered an early look at how many different ways this Lady Vols roster can beat you, and Florida A&M had no answer for it. Tennessee rolled to a 132-63 win while forcing 37 turnovers and turning those takeaways into 45 points, the kind of pressure-to-points formula that can make a deep team even harder to handle once the games start to count.
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