Clarksville’s Bashaara Graves leads Tennessee Lady Vols past Florida on “We Back Pat” night 89-69

Knoxville, TN – On `We Back Pat’ Night, Tennessee took care of business posting a 89-69 victory over Florida.

Five Lady Vols scored in double-figures as #11/12 Tennessee never trailed in the contest to move to 15-4 overall and 4-2 in the SEC. Meighan Simmons knocked down five 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 21 points.

Bashaara Graves netted 17 to equal her most points since the fourth game of the campaign. Jasmine Jones tallied 13, one shy of her career high. Andraya Carter tied her season-best with 14 and Isabelle Harrison added 12.

Tennessee had a remarkable 27 assists on 33 baskets led by Carter, who had a career-high eight. Cierra Burdick, handed out seven. The accomplishment is even noteworthy as starting point guard Ariel Massengale suffered a facial injury in the first half when she was accident hit in the face while going for a ball. Massengale had four helpers in 14 minutes.

The Lady Vols assisted their first 18 baskets of the game spanning the game’s first 25 minutes.

Florida was led by Kayla Lewis, who scored 14 for the Gators (13-6, 3-3 SEC). Ronni Williams scored 12 while Jaterra Bonds and Antoinette Bannister each had 10.

Up by 13 at halftime, Tennessee continued to hold a lead of at least eight points in the second half.

Florida cut their deficit to eight (56-48) on seven consecutive points with 11:20 left in the game. But Tennessee retaliated with some long-range shooting as Carter and Jasmine Jones connected on 3-pointers to regain the lead of a baker’s dozen at 66-53 with nine minutes to go.

Jones’ second 3-pointer of the game, put UT ahead by 20 for the first time with 4:50 left in the game as Tennessee sealed the victory.

The Lady Vols led 40-27 at halftime with 36 of the points coming from Graves (11), Harrison (9), Simmons (8) and Carter (8).

Tennessee jumped out to a double-figure lead less than six minutes into the game as the Lady Vols showed off their passing skills. UT assisted each of its first nine field goals in taking a 22-10 lead on a Harrison layup with 12 minutes left in the first half.

The Lady Vols took their largest lead of the first half at 15 on a Harrison layup with 2:40 left, as UT led, 40-25.
Official Basketball Box Score
Florida vs Tennessee
01/23/14 6:30 p.m. at Knoxville, Tenn. (Thompson-Boling Arena)
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VISITORS: Florida 13-6 (3-3 SEC)
TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 Williams,Ronni…… f  5-9    0-0    2-2    2  5  7   4  12  1  3  2  1  25
22 Lewis,Kayla……… f  5-9    0-2    4-4    0  6  6   4  14  1  3  0  4  30
03 Miller,January…… g  0-3    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   2   0  0  1  0  1  11
10 Bonds,Jaterra……. g  3-10   0-2    4-7    2  5  7   0  10  5  5  0  2  34
13 Peoples,Cassie…… g  4-9    1-4    0-0    1  1  2   2   9  3  5  0  0  33
04 Needles,Carlie……    2-7    2-5    0-0    2  2  4   2   6  3  0  0  1  23
05 Bannister,Antoinette    4-7    0-3    2-3    1  2  3   2  10  1  1  0  0  20
31 Svete,Lily……….    3-6    2-4    0-0    1  3  4   2   8  0  1  0  1  24
TEAM…………….                         1  3  4
Totals…………..   26-60   5-20  12-16  10 27 37  18  69 14 19  2 10 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-30 36.7%   2nd Half: 15-30 50.0%   Game: 43.3%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  0-8   0.0%   2nd Half:  5-12 41.7%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  5-6  83.3%   2nd Half:  7-10 70.0%   Game: 75.0%    1
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HOME TEAM: Tennessee 15-4 (4-2 SEC)
TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
11 Burdick,Cierra…… f  1-6    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   0   2  7  1  1  0  21
12 Graves,Bashaara….. f  7-8    0-0    3-3    2  6  8   0  17  2  1  0  0  22
20 Harrison,Isabelle… c  5-9    0-0    2-6    0  2  2   1  12  2  1  3  1  24
05 Massengale,Ariel…. g  0-5    0-2    0-0    2  2  4   0   0  2  2  0  1  14
10 Simmons,Meighan….. g  6-13   5-10   4-4    0  3  3   4  21  1  1  0  2  26
00 Reynolds,Jordan…..    2-6    0-2    0-2    0  2  2   2   4  2  1  0  3  22
01 Moore,Nia………..    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
02 Jones,Jasmine…….    5-8    2-2    1-3    3  3  6   2  13  2  4  0  2  18
14 Carter,Andraya……    4-6    3-5    3-6    0  1  1   4  14  8  3  0  2  30
21 Russell,Mercedes….    3-4    0-0    0-0    2  6  8   2   6  1  1  0  0  19
TEAM…………….                         1     1
Totals…………..   33-65  10-21  13-24  11 27 38  15  89 27 15  4 11 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-34 41.2%   2nd Half: 19-31 61.3%   Game: 50.8%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-14 28.6%   2nd Half:  6-7  85.7%   Game: 47.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-11 72.7%   2nd Half:  5-13 38.5%   Game: 54.2%    5
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Officials: Michael Price, Bruce Morris, Luis Gonzalez
Technical fouls: Florida-TEAM. Tennessee-None.
Attendance: 10541
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Florida…………………..   27   42  –   69
Tennessee…………………   40   49  –   89

Points in the paint-UF 34,UT 38. Points off turnovers-UF 12,UT 26.
2nd chance points-UF 8,UT 10. Fast break points-UF 12,UT 8.
Bench points-UF 24,UT 37. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-UF 2nd-00:32, UT 2nd-00:48.
Largest lead-UF None, UT by 24 2nd-03:34.