The Lady Vols cruised to an 83-63 victory over Kentucky to wrap up the regular season on Sunday in Memorial Gymnasium.
Tennessee (21-10, 13-3 SEC), which picked up its first win in Lexington since 2017 and first victory at Memorial since 2015, finished with its highest conference win total since going 15-1 in 2014-15. The Big Orange closed the regular season by winning four of their last five.
Senior Rickea Jackson was the top scorer for UT with 21 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Jillian Hollingshead had a strong outing with 15 points on 88-percent shooting from the floor, and sophomore Karoline Striplin and graduate Jordan Walker was also in double figures, finishing with 12 and 10, respectively. Senior Jasmine Powell led the team in assists, dishing out a season-high-tying eight.
Maddie Scherr turned in a game-high 27 points to lead UK (10-18, 2-14 SEC), while Robyn Benton managed 17, and Jada Walker posted 10 on the day.
The league office released the bracket for the 2023 Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament, and No. 3 Tennessee has earned a double bye and will open play on Friday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.
The Lady Vols (21-10, 13-3 SEC) are slated to compete at approximately 8:15 p.m. ET on Friday in the tourney’s 10th game. They will meet the winner of Thursday night’s game between No. 6 seed Alabama (20-9, 9-7) vs. the victor of Wednesday’s tilt between No. 11 Florida (16-13, 5-11) and No. 14 Kentucky (10-18, 2-14). The SEC Network will have the broadcast.
