Knoxville, TN – Reaching 10 wins in Southeastern Conference action, the No. 13-ranked Tennessee women’s basketball team bested Vanderbilt, 66-52, Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Jordan Horston was stellar for the Lady Vols in the win, scoring 16 points, pulling down 13 boards, and dishing out seven assists in her second-straight game with a double-double and the 12th of her season. The junior also swatted away two shots.
Rae Burrell posted her third game in a row with double-figure points off the bench. The senior tallied 15 points, while four Lady Vols scored eight: Alexus Dye, Jordan Walker, Tamari Key, and Sara Puckett.
Tennessee and Vanderbilt traded blows at the beginning of the first quarter, but the Lady Volunteers buckled down, holding the Commodores scoreless for the last 4:40 of the frame. Burrell provided an instant spark off the bench, sinking a pair of buckets in Tennessee’s next two possessions. The Big Orange defense held VU to 5-of-20 from the floor and 1-of-9 from beyond the arc in the first quarter. All told, the Lady Vols held a 15-12 advantage after one-quarter of play.
Tennessee kept the defense up early in the second, but the Commodores started to find rhythm in the middle portion of the period, making a 9-0 run. The Lady Vols countered, sinking three buckets in the last 50 seconds of the quarter, including an acrobatic jumper from the elbow by Horston as the buzzer sounded. Puckett was the leading scorer in the quarter for UT, sinking six points coming on a 3-pointer and an and-one with three and a half minutes to go. The Lady Vols took a 31-26 lead heading into halftime.
The Lady Vols held Vanderbilt scoreless until the media timeout, 5:12 into the period. UT jumped out to a 10-0 run in that time, and a 16-0 run overall, tying the second-longest the Lady Vols went on all season. The Commodores found a bit of life, but Tennessee kept its distance in the period, leading 48-39 going to the fourth.
It was more of the same in the fourth as Tennessee won the period, 18-13. Twelve Lady Vols checked onto the floor and nine logged a statistic as UT closed out the victory. Horston posted three points, three rebounds, and three assists while Key had two points, two rebounds, and two assists.
Next Up For UT Lady Vols Basketball
The Tennessee women’s basketball team goes on a two-game road stretch, taking on Alabama on Thursday, February 17th at 6:00pm CT on SECN+. The Big Orange then travels to top-ranked South Carolina on Sunday, February 20th, in a battle of the top-two teams in the league standings.
Tennessee will appear on a special edition of ESPN College GameDay before Sunday’s game that will air from noon to 1:00pm.
[[470center\
Box Score
Vanderbilt 52, Tennessee 66
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
| Vanderbilt | 12 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 52 |
| Tennessee | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 66 |
