Why freshman Deniya Prawl's breakout game matters for Lady Vols basketball

MURFREESBORO – Deniya Prawl didn't waste any of her minutes on the court at Murphy Center.

The Lady Vols basketball freshman made an immediate impact whenever she checked into the game, whether she was crashing the boards, getting downhill to the rim or causing havoc on defense.

Prawl looked confident with the ball in her hands. She scored a career-high 15 points as No. 13 Tennessee (4-1) won 85-41 against MTSU (2-3) on Nov. 20. She shot 7-for-10 and added four rebounds, all offensive, and four steals.

Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell appreciates Prawl's offensive rebounding the most.

"She doesn't pout. She doesn't complain. If she doesn't touch it, and there's a lot of times she's open, if she doesn't touch it, she just goes and gets the offensive rebound for her teammates," Caldwell said. "She's doing that as a freshman, and you can win with players that are selfless like that."

Prawl knocked down a 3-pointer 20 seconds after she subbed into the game for the first time. Caldwell said Prawl isn't happy with where her 3-point shot is right now, but hitting the first one helped her relax a bit. The 6-foot-2 guard struggled to find her shot in the first four games, missing all eight of her attempts.

The more the misses piled up, the more Prawl piled on herself, Caldwell said.

"It takes time. I think that young people get so caught up in one game or two games," Caldwell said. "I mean, our overall body of work is tiny, and so it's going to take her some time. She's a great player. She did really put her head down and attack the rim, and we'll have some good clips to show her."

Prawl leaned on coaches' and teammates' encouragement going into the MTSU game. She said Caldwell has been "really patient" with her in practice, and she never misses a chance to make a correction defensively. All Caldwell's reminders from practice echoed in her mind during the game.

Prawl looked confident in her positioning in the full-court press and got even more deflections than the steals that showed on the stat sheet. She kept players in front of her guarding one-on-one.

"I think that was really important to my confidence for today, just coming in knowing I could make an impact," Prawl said. "Coach Kim really believes in me, and that really fueled me for today."

Prawl becoming a consistent contributor raises Tennessee's ceiling significantly. She has a smooth offensive game. She had to play catchup in preseason after a leg injury over the summer, but Prawl is starting to hit her stride when Tennessee needs her.

Senior forward Janiah Barker, who led Tennessee with 20 points and 12 rebounds, said she's proud that Prawl got past being "really in her head."

"As a freshman, you gotta give yourself grace, and I think she's been doing that," Barker said. "She's coming to practice, being the best version of herself, and it translated today. I'm just really excited for her, really happy for her. She's been crashing the rebounds. She made some shots, just playing really hard."

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

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Deniya Prawl's breakout Lady Vols game means for season