Senior forward Rickea Jackson fired in a season-high 28 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to propel Tennessee to a 77-67 road win over Florida on Thursday night to open SEC play.
Jackson finished 10 of 13 from the field and eight of nine from the free-throw line, tallying 15 of her points in the second half on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 accuracy at the charity stripe.
The Lady Vols (9-6, 1-0 SEC) also got 15 points from senior guard Jordan Horston, who made up for first-half foul trouble with 12 second-half points on 5-of-9 shooting over the final 20 minutes at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. She saw only five minutes of action during the opening 20 minutes after picking up her second foul with 8:17 remaining in the second quarter.
Florida (11-3, 0-1 SEC), which was receiving votes in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, had four players in double figures, led by 21 points from Alberte Rimdal. KK Deans added 16, while Nina Rickards and Ra Shaya Kyle tossed in 11 each.
Tennessee returns to Thompson-Boling Arena on Sunday, where it will play its SEC home opener vs. Alabama (12-2, 1-0 SEC), a 56-53 victor over Georgia in Tuscaloosa on Thursday night. Tip-off on The Summitt is slated for 12:02 p.m. ET with the SEC Network televising and radio coverage on 99.5 FM WGRV.
