KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 15 Tennessee shot 46 percent from beyond the arc, connecting on an efficient 12 of 26 attempts, to hand Mississippi State an 86-73 setback on Thursday night at Food City Center.
The Lady Vols were eight of 15 from three-point land in the first half and hit four more over the second 20 minutes. The percentage for the game was their second best of the season.
Junior guard Ruby Whitehorn connected on eight of 16 shots from the field, including two of five tries from three-point range, to lead Tennessee (15-2, 3-2 SEC) with a season-high 20 points. Senior point guard Samara Spencer hit four treys to finish with 18 points, while redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper added a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double and fifth-year guard Jewel Spear tossed in 13 on 4-of-6 marksmanship from long range.
The Bulldogs (15-4, 2-3 SEC) placed three players in double figures, led by 17 points from Jerkaila Jordan. Debreasha Powe and Destiney McPhaul chipped in with 16 and 11, respectively, as MSU fell to UT for the fourth time in the past five meetings.
Back-to-back buckets by Whitehorn and Zee Spearman staked Tennessee to an early 4-0 lead, but Mississippi State scored the next nine to grab a 9-4 lead by the 5:07 mark. Whitehorn evened things up by the 3:53 media timeout, though, hitting a jumper and netting a three-pointer to tally seven early points. MSU built its lead back to four twice, including 15-11 with 1:49 remaining, but the Lady Vols got consecutive treys from Spear and Spencer to end the first frame with a 17-15 edge.
Powe knocked down a three to open the second stanza and put State up by one, 18-17, with 8:55 to go, but the Big Orange got a Whitehorn jumper, Tess Darby three, Jillian Hollingshead free throw and Cooper jumper to compile an 8-2 burst and grab a 25-20 lead by the 4:45 media break. The Bulldogs whittled the gap down to two on four separate occasions, most recently at 34-32 with 1:21 left in the half. The Lady Vols responded, though, putting together a 9-2 run on the strength of a three-pointer by Spear off a steal from Cooper and two more deep-balls from Spencer to seize a 43-34 cushion at the intermission.
A Spear trey just after halftime boosted the Lady Vols to a game-best 12-point lead at 46-34, but Mississippi State kept scrapping and sliced the margin to five twice, including 48-43 at the 7:02 mark. A pair of Spencer free throws and another by Spearman pushed the gap back to eight, 51-43, by the 5:00 media timeout. With a Darby trey and a pair of Spencer free throws just after that break, Tennessee extended its lead to 13, 56-43, with 4:18 to go, but State got it back to 10, 60-50, on a McPhaul jumper with 2:39 remaining in the third. MSU then worked to within six, 60-54, with 1:45 left, but a pair of Cooper layups enabled Tennessee to take a 64-56 advantage into the final quarter.
UT twice opened up 15-point leads in the fourth frame, including 71-56 on a three-pointer by Spencer at the 7:54 mark and 73-58 via a jumper by Spencer with 7:26 remaining. MSU continued to battle, cutting the margin to nine at 73-64 with 5:49 to go and again at 75-66 by the 4:41 media timeout. The Bulldogs kept the pressure on, working to within seven, 78-71, on a Powe three-pointer with 3:07 remaining. The Lady Vols, however, didn’t let it get any closer. They finished the proceedings on an 8-2 blitz via a Spearman layup, three combined free throws by Spear and Whitehorn and a three from Spear that accounted for the final score.
The Lady Vols make their way to Nashville this weekend, where they’ll face in-state rival Vanderbilt on Sunday afternoon in Memorial Gymnasium. Tipoff between the Big Orange and the Commodores is set 3 p.m. ET. The game will be available on Lady Vol Network radio stations from 95.5FM WSMG with coverage beginning at 2:30pm.
