The Lady Vols celebrated their first home game of the year with a win against Kentucky on Sunday. After being down 17 points in the second quarter, Tennessee returned for an 87-69 victory to lock in a second SEC win of the season.
This win marks Tennessee’s fifth consecutive victory after a trio of unsettling losses. The Lady Vols will be looking to extend that winning streak Thursday night as they face off against the Florida Gators.
Lady Vols Beat Kentucky 87-69, Second SEC Win
Tennessee returned to Knoxville Sunday following an away game victory against Auburn to kick off conference play. Their latest win against Kentucky, however, was anything but certain, as the Lady Vols plateaued to a 17-point deficit with three minutes left in the second quarter.
But the Lady Vols came back with a vengeance, clearing the deficit and generating a 16-point lead before the final buzzer.
Tennessee outscored Kentucky by 16 points in quarter three alone. Tess Darby’s third-quarter three-pointer tied the game and turned Food City Center absolutely electric with celebration.
Not only did the Lady Vols celebrate an impressive 52% shooting percentage from the floor, but two Tennessee players – Jasmine Powell and Jewel Spear – both logged 100% success from the free-throw line.
When she wasn’t sinking free throws & snagging boards, Powell was busy setting up seamless assists for her Tennessee teammates, ultimately logging nine points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. Spear was another integral player against the Wildcats, with 21 points and 6 rebounds.
Rickea Jackson’s efforts resulted in one-third of Tennessee’s total points. Along with logging seven rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block, Jackson added 27 points to the scoreboard for the Lady Vols.
Jillian Hollingshead was a silent, substantial force in this game, drawing two fouls against Ajae Petty and providing strong defensive effort in the paint.
Meanwhile, Tamari Key – who accepted a pre-game award for her 300th block – added another six blocks to her growing record.
Kentucky Struggles To Keep Pace With Tennessee
Whereas Kentucky shot 50% from the field in the first half, that accuracy dropped down to only 23.5% in the second half.
Ajae Petty logged 14 points and 14 rebounds in addition to snagging two steals from Tennessee. And Saniah Tyler snagged another two steals and as many rebounds, adding 10 points to Kentucky’s total.
Brooklynn Miles, who transferred to Kentucky this year after playing as a Lady Vol secured six points and two steals.
The Wildcats logged an 83.3% three-point average in the second period, where the team sunk five back-to-back three-pointers. Two of these baskets came from Saniah Tyler, giving her 100% success behind the arc for the night.
Their defensive struggles and limited scoring consistency proved to be enough for the Wildcats to forfeit the lead, though. Kentucky’s second-quarter success was an anomaly compared to its 0% three-point accuracy in the first and third quarters. The fourth quarter improved only slightly, providing them a 14.3% success behind the arc.
Kentucky falls to 1-1 in SEC play after this matchup, while Tennessee rises to 2-0. The Lady Vols look to extend their five-game winning streak this Thursday when they welcome the Florida Gators to Rocky Top. Tickets are still available for this conference rivalry, which tips off at 7 p.m. ET.
