KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Five seniors were recognized in Senior Night festivities prior to Thursday’s contest, and all five contributed significantly as Tennessee won its final regular season home game of the season, 75-66, over Texas A&M at Food City Center.
The Lady Vols (17-10, 10-5 SEC), who had fallen to the Aggies, 71-56, in College Station on Jan. 14, earned some closure over that setback and secured another solid NET win in the process over A&M (18-10, 6-9 SEC), which came in ranked No. 39.
Forward Rickea Jackson led the Lady Vols with her eighth 20+ scoring effort of the campaign, connecting on nine of 14 shots from the field and eight of nine from the free throw line to finish with a game-high 27 points. Jewel Spear enjoyed a 6-of-10 evening from the field, including 2-of-5 from long range, to net 16 points. Tamari Key chipped in nine points and seven rebounds, eclipsing 1,000 career points in the process, Tess Darby tallied seven points and six rebounds and Jasmine Powell dished out a game-high six assists.
UP NEXT: Tennessee closes out the regular season on the road on Sunday, making its way to Columbia to face No. 1/1 South Carolina for the second time this season. The Lady Vols and Gamecocks will meet at noon at Colonial Life Arena, just two weeks after USC prevailed in Knoxville, 66-55, in a contest that featured 14 lead changes and 11 ties. Sunday’s game will be televised by ESPN and carried on Lady Vol Network stations statewide and via live stream on UTSports.com. Listen on 95.5FM WSMG beginning at 11:30am.
TK HITS 1,000 – With nine points vs. Texas A&M, Tamari Key (1,004 pts.) eclipsed 1,000 career points, becoming the 50th Lady Vol all-time to score that many for the Big Orange. She also became the fifth player on this year’s roster to personally reach 1,000 points, whether all at UT or with another program. That ties a program best also set by last year’s squad for most 1K scorers on the same squad.
