KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 15/13 Tennessee outscored No. 9/10 Oklahoma, 27-12, in the fourth quarter to nearly erase a 16-point final-frame deficit before falling, 87-86, on Sunday in front of a season-best crowd of 11,321 at Food City Center.
The Lady Vols (13-1, 1-1 SEC), who suffered their first loss of the season, pulled to within one on a Jewel Spear three-pointer with 40 seconds left and used a shot clock violation to get the ball back with just over 10 seconds remaining. The Big Orange got an open look beyond the arc, but a shot attempt with three seconds left on the clock wouldn’t go down, and the Sooners (13-2, 1-1 SEC) escaped with a one-point victory.
Spear led all scorers with a season-high 28 points, connecting on 11 of 17 shots from the field, including 6-of-11 accuracy beyond the arc. She was four of four on field goals, nailing three treys in the fourth quarter to contribute 11 points to her team’s comeback. Talaysia Cooper and Samara Spencer scored 16 points each, while Ruby Whitehorn tossed in 13. Cooper finished with a career-high nine steals during the contest.
OU was led by Payton Verhulst, who hit four treys and finished with 16 points. Raegan Beers added 13 points and eight boards, while Reyna Scott and Liz Scott chipped in 11 apiece, as the Sooners shot 54 percent from the field to UT’s 45.7 and pulled down 42 rebounds to the Lady Vols 33 for only the Big Orange’s second deficit on the glass all season.
Tennessee jumped on top 4-0 early on a pair of Cooper transition layups before Oklahoma responded with a 7-0 run to seize a 7-4 lead with 7:35 to go. The Sooners pushed ahead by six, 13-7, at the 5:49 mark before a pair of Whitehorn layups and a free throw pulled the Lady Vols within two, 15-13, with 5:03 to go. An OU bucket by Liz Scott sent the visitors into the 4:36 media timeout leading, 17-13. The Sooners extended their lead by as many as 11, taking a 28-17 lead on a Reyna Scott fast-break layup with 1:17 to go, but UT used a three pointer by Spencer and a Spear layup off a steal and assist from Spencer to trim the gap to 28-22 by the end of the period.
Spear struck for three buckets early in the second quarter, draining a three and hitting a pair of mid-range jumpers to help draw her team within three, 34-31, with 6:12 remaining. OU, however, would outscore UT, 4-2, over the next minute to carry a 38-33 advantage into the 4:57 media break. The Sooners scored two more buckets after the timeout, boosting their lead back to nine, 44-35, on a Beers fast-break layup with 2:46 to go. A Spear jumper and Cooper steal and layup reeled Oklahoma back to within five, 44-39, with 15 seconds left, but Nevaeh Tot sank a pair of free throws to send the Sooners into the intermission with a 46-39 edge despite committing 17 first-half turnovers. OU shot 57.6 to UT’s 40 percent from the field, and the Sooners were plus-12 on the boards, 27-15, over the first 20 minutes.
A Zee Spearman turnaround jumper just after halftime drew Tennessee to within five, 46-41, and a Spencer layup, followed by a free throw cut it to four, 48-44, with 8:10 to go. Oklahoma, however, continued to hit shots and began to pull away, utilizing a 15-3 run to build its lead to 63-47 entering the 4:52 media break and later to 19 by the 3:49 mark. The Lady Vols scrapped back, though, getting a Sara Puckett jumper, a free throw and bucket from Whitehorn and a three from Spear to trim the deficit to 11, 70-59, with 1:31 left. OU, though, would have the last word, hitting the final five points of the frame to lead by 16, 75-59, after three.
Tennessee showed resilience and battled back in the fourth stanza, cutting the gap to 10 twice, first 80-70 on a Sara Puckett three with 6:16 to go and then on a Samara Spencer corner three, making it 83-73 heading into the final media timeout with 4:54 remaining. The Lady Vols weren’t finished, outscoring Oklahoma 13-4 down the stretch with a Spear layup cutting it to eight and then back-to-back threes by the fifth-year guard whittling the gap to four, 85-81, with 1:22 left. Then, a Cooper steal and layup made it a two-point game, 85-83 with 1:05 remaining. After a pair of free throws by Verhulst gave OU an 87-83 advantage with 56 ticks on the clock, Spear found the bottom of the net with a trey at the 40-second mark to make it a one-point game, 87-86. After getting the ball back via a shot clock violation with 10 seconds remaining, a last-second Lady Vol three-point attempt was just off the mark.
UP NEXT: Tennessee will play host to its second straight top-10 team, as No. 6/4 LSU (16-0, 1-0 SEC pending today’s game) pays a visit to Rocky Top on Thursday, Jan. 9. The Lady Vols and Tigers will meet at 6:30 p.m. ET in a contest streamed live on SECN+ and available on Lady Vol Radio Network stations, 99.5FM WGRV beginning at 6pm.
