The Lady Vols welcomed the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks to Thompson-Boling Arena Thursday night for a home game finale of epic proportion.
After putting up a valiant effort, Tennessee ultimately ended its three-game win streak with a 73-60 loss to South Carolina.
South Carolina beats Tennessee 73-60
The Lady Vols welcomed South Carolina to Knoxville Thursday with an arena of nearly 10,300 cheering basketball fans. This included a number of celebrity athletes and Tennessee legends like Michelle Marciniak, Abby Conklin and none other than Chamique Holdsclaw.
And the night certainly didn’t disappoint for those watching.
Tennessee did what it struggled to do all season, coming in hot from the start. By the end of the first quarter, Tennessee found itself up by nine points. They extended the lead to a short-lived 10 points in the second quarter before South Carolina regained its composure to secure a 33-29 lead going into halftime.
Lady Vols can’t carry momentum into 2nd half
Unfortunately, Tennessee wasn’t able to find that momentum again in the second half. Head coach Kellie Harper said that as obvious as it may seem, the game ultimately came down to the basics — Tennessee gave up too many points and didn’t score enough.
By the end of quarter three, the Lady Vols trailed by 18 points.
A fourth-quarter run saw Tennessee cut South Carolina’s lead to eight points. But that momentum was short-lived, resulting in the Gamecocks walking away with a 13-point lead by the final buzzer.
Rickea Jackson leads with 21 points
Karoline Striplin managed a 50% conversion rate outside the arc, ultimately adding 11 points and 3 rebounds to the evening.
Jordan Horston struggled in the scoring department. South Carolina prevented her from making a single three-point attempt, keeping her to 14 total points for the night. Horston still managed a double-double though, coming up with 11 rebounds on the night.
Rickea Jackson led the Lady Vols with 21 total points, scoring 9 of those points off her 11 attempted free throws.
South Carolina shines in Tennessee
Not only did head coach Dawn Staley have her trusty roster of Gamecocks by her side. South Carolina also benefited from additional assets.
Traditionally a point guard, Kierra Fletcher rose to the offensive occasion, sinking a pair of three-pointers and five of eight field goal attempts for a total 15 points.
Star player Aliyah Boston struggled to find her stride against Tennessee’s scrappy defense, logging only 11 points for the night. On her own defensive side, Boston proved to be a point of contention for the Vols with her five rebounds and four blocks.
And while Zia Cooke wasn’t much help defensively, she added a team-high 19 points to the scoreboard — almost half of which came from behind the arc.
Tennessee ends regular season Sunday against the Wildcats
As frustrating as this loss might have been, it offers Tennessee the perfect opportunity to define itself as a team. Jackson reflected after the game, noting a new potential she sees in the team:
“We just want to build off this game. I feel like we have another level to us, and I really believe that. We showed that tonight, but we just have to cut down on the little things, capitalize off the little things. We did get great defensive stops, but we weren’t coming down and capitalizing off of that, and they did. I thought that was the difference in tonight’s loss. I feel like we definitely know what steps we need to take for it. I feel like we’re not going to revert back, if anything we are going to build off of it. I think we will definitely have that next game.”
The ladies intend to put that to the test this Sunday as regular season comes to a close. Tennessee heads to Lexington to take on the Kentucky Wildcats at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Ranked No. 13 in the SEC, the Wildcats (10-17, 2-13 SEC) are coming off six consecutive losses. A win here would afford Tennessee just the right amount of renewed confidence heading into March Madness.
