FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper led four players in double figures with her eighth 20-point effort of the season, as No. 16/15 Tennessee rolled past Arkansas, 93-63, on Sunday afternoon at Bud Walton Arena.
Cooper scored exactly 20 points vs. the Razorbacks on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and added a game-high four steals to lead the Lady Vols (14-2, 2-2 SEC). Junior forward Zee Spearman knocked down a career-best trio of three-pointers to tally 18 points and eight rebounds, while junior guard Ruby Whitehorn supplied 17 points and senior forward Sara Puckett was a rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine boards. In her return to Fayetteville, where she spent her first three college seasons, senior point guard Samara Spencer directed UT’s offense with eight assists and no turnovers while adding four rebounds and three steals.
Arkansas (8-11, 1-3 SEC) was paced by Izzy Higginbottom, who led all scorers with 26 points. Carly Keats was the only other Razorback scoring in double figures, tossing in10.
Spearman got the Lady Vols on the scoreboard first, nailing a three-pointer from the left corner to put her team up 3-0 just 26 seconds into the contest. Arkansas pushed back, building a three-point lead at 9-6 with 7:53 to go on an old fashioned three-point play by Higginbottom. UT, though, would use a 10-2 surge on a pair of buckets by Whitehorn, a put-back by Cooper and a steal and layup by Kaniya Boyd to build a 16-11 lead by the 4:43 media timeout. Cooper struck again, knocking down a trey with 3:22 to go to provide Tennessee its largest lead, at 19-12, and a three by Puckett at the 1:51 mark ended the scoring in the first frame with a 22-16 Big Orange advantage.
Spencer began the second stanza for the Lady Vols with a three-ball at the 9:04 mark, and Puckett followed suit with a deep-ball with 8:37 remaining to make it 28-18 for the visitors. A Cooper steal and layup and a Puckett free throw ballooned the UT lead to 31-18 with 6:16 to go. Arkansas would not go quietly, tallying the next six points to cut the deficit to 31-24 by the 3:49 media timeout. The Razorbacks extended a mini run to eight, trimming the gap to 31-26 with 3:49 remaining, but an 11-2 burst by the Lady Vols expanded the advantage to 14, 42-28, at the 1:52 mark, with a trio of free throws by Jewel Spear and steals and layups by Whitehorn and Alyssa Latham forcing an Arkansas timeout. A Cooper layup and a Spear three-pointer helped the Big Orange carry a 47-33 lead into the intermission.
A quick four points by Cooper, a put-back by Whitehorn and a three-pointer from Tess Darby expanded the lead to 19 points at the 7:41 mark of the third period, forcing Arkansas to ask for time. Tennessee continued to hit its stride, getting a pair of Cooper charity tosses, a Spearman layup, another Darby trey and a Jillian Hollingshead layup to grow the gap to 24 by the 3:46 media break. UT closed out the frame with an 8-6 differential, with Spearman netting a three, pair of layups and a free throw to account for all of UT’s scoring and send the Lady Vols into the final stanza with a 73-47 cushion.
Tennessee carried a 78-52 lead into the 5:28 media timeout in the fourth quarter, getting a Cooper jumper and free throw and a Spearman layup. UT continued to pour it on, using a 9-3 burst to force a UA timeout with 3:34 remaining after a trey and-one by Hollingshead, a layup by Puckett and the third three-pointer from Spearman to make it 87-55. Head coach Kim Caldwell subsequently cleared the bench, and her squad closed out at 30-point road win.
UP NEXT: The Lady Vols return home to host Mississippi State on Thursday night at Food City Center in Tennessee’s “We Back Pat” game. Tip-off between the Big Orange and the Bulldogs is set for 7 p.m. with SEC Network televising the action. The game also will be available on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com.
