Athens, GA – The Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team took a decisive road win on Thursday night, defeating Georgia in Stegeman Coliseum, 95-73, and maintaining second place in the SEC standings.
The 95 points marked the highest point total scored by a Tennessee team in SEC play during the Kellie Harper era.
Senior Jewel Spear had the hot hand for UT (13-7, 6-2 SEC), racking up 25 points on 57.1 percent shooting and five made threes. Fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, five assists, and six rebounds, and fellow fifth-year Tamari Key tied her season-high of 10 points and pulled down a game-high and season-best eight rebounds.
Georgia (10-11, 1-7 SEC) was led by De’Mauri Flournoy with 18 points. Asia Avinger was also in double figures with 15, and Javyn Nicholson and Jordan Cole posted 13 and 11, respectively.
Tennessee won the tip and got the ball to Key for the first points of the game. Jackson and Jasmine Powell followed it up with threes, and the Lady Vols jumped out to an 8-0 lead just a minute into play. Georgia responded with seven straight points over the next 60 seconds to pull within one, but UT rattled off an 11-2 run capped by a pair of free throws by Karoline Striplin to lead 19-9 with 2:25 to go in the first. Flournoy ended the UGA drought with a three, and Nicholson scored the final points of the quarter on a layup for a score of 19-14 after one.
Jackson opened the second period with an old-fashioned three-point play, and a bucket by Powell on the next possession gave UT a 10-point lead and forced a Georgia timeout with 8:38 to go in the half. Tennessee got the defensive stop following the timeout, and Spear swished a three on the other end, as UT racked up 13 unanswered points to lead 32-14 by the media break.
Taniyah Thompson netted UGA’s first points of the quarter from the free-throw line at the midway point. Destiny Thomas hit Georgia’s first field goal of the quarter with 3:14 to play, and Flournoy added a layup on the next play to make it a 6-0 run and trim the deficit to 12. Tennessee outscored the Lady Bulldogs 10-4 over the final 2:39 to build its largest halftime lead of the season at 41-24.
Spear sank a layup through contact and added the free throw at the outset of the second half, extending UT’s margin to 20. UGA rallied with a 9-2 run to pull within 13 two and a half minutes later. The Lady Bulldogs hung within 13 through the 3:47 mark when a Savannah Henderson trey jump-started a 7-2 run that whittled the margin to 10 at 58-48.
With 1:50 left in the third, Spear was fouled behind the arc and hit all three free throws to stretch Tennessee’s lead back to 13. The teams then traded buckets through the buzzer, sending the game into the final stanza with the Lady Vols on top, 66-54.
Spear opened the scoring in the fourth with a baseline three, and Jackson added five points as UT outpaced UGA 8-2 over the first three minutes. Cole countered with a pair of free throws, but Spear drained her fifth three of the game on the next play to put UT ahead by 19. It became a back-and-forth affair until a three by Tess Darby set off a 10-5 Big Orange run to close out the game with UT taking the 95-73 victory.
Key Start For UT
Key promptly made the game’s first bucket on a layup and ignited an 8-0 game-opening run for the Lady Vols. She wound up tallying season highs of 10 points (on 5-of-8 shooting) and eight rebounds.
Dynamic Duo
Tennessee’s top two scorers this season delivered again against Georgia, with Rickea Jackson and Jewel Spear each hitting for 20+ points vs. UGA and notching their fifth individual games of 20 or more in 2023-24.
Spear knocked down five of nine attempts from three-point range to tally a game-high 25 and post 55 over her past two games after dropping 30 on Ole Miss on Sunday. Jackson, meanwhile, went eight of 17 from the field, including 3-of-4 accuracy beyond the arc to card her own 20-spot with 21 on the night.
Scorching The Nets From Long Range
Tennessee finished the night 12 of 29 from three-point range vs. Georgia, with Jewel Spear going five for nine, Rickea Jackson three of four, and Tess Darby three of nine to lead the way. The 12 treys tied as a season best with the dozen they dropped on Liberty and marked the fifth time they have had 10 or more in a contest in 2023-24, tying a program best for most in a season with the 2010-11, 2007-08 and 2002-03 squads.
More Dimes For JP
For the sixth time in the past 10 games, Jasmine Powell dished six or more assists, finishing with nine vs. Georgia. It marked her fourth straight game with six or more, tallying 30 total assists and averaging 7.5 dimes during that stretch. She now has a team-high 82 for the season and 47 in SEC play, averaging 4.1 and 5.9 in 20 and eight games, respectively.
Turning Over The Dogs
Tennessee forced Georgia into 14 miscues and generated a season-best 22 points off turnovers for the game, including 12 and 20 in the first half. Tennessee’s best points-off-turnovers total for a game during 2023-24 campaign previously had been 21 at Liberty on December 31st and vs. EKU on December 10th. Its best in SEC play thus far had been 20 vs. Florida on January 11th.
Putting Up 20 in a Quarter
Tennessee has scored 20 or more points in 39 of the 80 quarters it has played this season. The Big Orange women tallied 20 points or more in three of four quarters played in their first three SEC contests and had two such stanzas vs. Mississippi State and Vanderbilt before tallying 20 or more in three periods vs. Georgia. The Lady Vols tallied a final-frame season-high 29 points vs. UGA.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
The Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team is back home on Sunday to face Missouri (11-10, 2-6 SEC) at 1:00pm CT, with SECN+ streaming the game live. Various in-venue videos and activities will be focused on the celebration of Black History Month. A promotion featuring $10.00 kids’ 12-and-under pricing will be available for this game.
