LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 11/11 Tennessee suffered through a rough shooting night, while No. 15/14 Kentucky hit shots at a 52-percent clip and ran away from the Lady Vols Thursday night, 82-58, in front of 5,951 at Memorial Coliseum.
Redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper fired in 25 points and was the only player in double figures for Tennessee (21-7, 8-7 SEC), which struggled to a season low in points and its second lowest field goal percentage at 31.1 while seeing its four-game winning streak come to an end.
Kentucky (22-5, 11-4 SEC) had four players in double figures, led by a 23-point, 15-rebound double-double from Clara Strack. Georgia Amoore and Teonni Key added 18 points apiece, while Dazia Lawrence chipped in 13.
Kentucky jumped on top early, 4-0, before UT answered with a Cooper reverse layup with 8:28 remaining in the opening stanza. The Wildcats used a 10-4 run, with Alyssa Latham and Samara Spencer offering the only Lady Vol counters, to take a 14-6 lead by the 4:18 media timeout. UK moved ahead by 12, 18-6, with 1:03 to go before Cooper ended a five-minute drought with a three pointer. That, though, was followed by an Amoore layup to end the quarter with the home team on top, 20-9, as the Lady Vols suffered through a 4-for-23 shooting spell over the opening 10 minutes.
UK continued to expand its margin at the outset of the second period, scoring two quick buckets to make it 24-9 and force a Tennessee timeout with 9:06 to go. Tess Darby knocked down a three-pointer to trim the margin to 24-12 at the 8:15 mark and a steal and layup from Kaniya Boyd and a three-pointer by Cooper helped pull UT within 11, 28-17, with 6:42 to go. After the Cats scored three points on free throws, a Spencer trey drew her team back to within 12, 32-20, by the 5:48 mark, but Kentucky ballooned the lead to 16 on a Strack layup, 36-20, with 4:10 remaining. Two Zee Spearman free throws and a Ruby Whitehorn layup pulled the Lady Vols back to within 12, 36-24, with 2:49 to go, but Kentucky used a 9-2 push to take a 45-26 lead into the locker room.
The Wildcats kept pushing after intermission, putting together a period-opening 8-2 run to extend the gap to 25, 53-28, with 7:51 to go and forcing another Tennessee timeout. UT got a pair of free throws, a Latham layup and Cooper jumper, but it did little to slow the Cats, as they carried a 61-34 advantage into the media timeout. The Lady Vols managed to score a game-most 19 points by the end of the frame, but Kentucky produced 29 of its own and possessed a 74-45 cushion.
The teams traded buckets through the first six minutes, with Kentucky carrying an 80-51 lead into the 4:07 media timeout. Buckets by Sara Puckett, Spencer (three) and Jillian Hollingshead allowed Tennessee to close out the game with a 7-0 run and make the final score, 82-58.
UP NEXT: Tennessee wraps up the regular season at home on Sunday, as the Lady Vols play host to Georgia at noon ET at Food City Center. Senior Day ceremonies will take place after the game this year, with the Lady Vol careers of Favor Ayodele, Tess Darby, Jillian Hollingshead, Sara Puckett, Jewel Spear, Samara Spencer and Destinee Wells being celebrated. The contest will be televised on SEC Network and also will be broadcast on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com. Listen on 95.5FM WSMG beginning at 11:30am.
