Columbia, MO – Senior Rennia Davis scored all 26 of her points in the second half, including 20 in the fourth-quarter, leading No. 20/21 Tennessee women’s basketball team to a 78-73 win over Missouri at Mizzou Arena on Thursday night.
Junior Rae Burrell was also a factor for UT (14-6, 8-4 SEC), notching 23 points and eight rebounds. Redshirt junior Jordan Walker was UT’s top rebounder, pulling down 10 boards on the night.
Missouri (8-10, 4-9 SEC) was led by Haley Troup and Aijha Blackwell with 16 points each. Shannon Dufficy and Shug Dickson were also in double figures with 10 points apiece.
Burrell came out with the hot hand, putting in seven points in the first three minutes to propel the Lady Vols to a 9-2 lead. Troup rallied Mizzou with five-straight points to pull UM back within two points two minutes later, and back-to-back treys by Lauren Hansen and Troup would put the Tigers up by four with 3:36 to go in the first.
Tamari Key ended the 11-0 Missouri run with a layup, but Dufficy countered with another MU 3-pointer to put Mizzou up by five. Jordan Horston and Key combined for two buckets to close out the quarter with UT trailing, 18-17.
Hansen hit a three 20 seconds into the second frame to put the Tigers back up by four, but Burrell cut their lead to two with a jumper 20 seconds later. Blackwell followed it up with a trey before Horston set off a 14-2 run that put Tennessee up 31-26 by the 5:48 mark.
Troup ended the UM drought with back-to-back baskets, but Burrell hit a 3-pointer to score her 18th point of the first half and put the Lady Vols up 34-30 with 3:21 left in the quarter. Blackwell answered with three to pull UM within one, and Dickson hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put the Tigers up 36-34 at halftime.
Blackwell struck first in the second half, stretching Mizzou’s lead to four before Burrell knocked down her third trey of the game to pull UT within one 34 seconds in. Hayley Frank and Blackwell teamed up for five points to put UM back on top 37-33 with 7:07 to go in the third, but Burrell and Key scrapped back for UT, making the score 43-41 just over 30 seconds later.
The Tigers built their lead back up to six by the 5:26 mark, but a Horston layup set off a 7-2 UT run that saw the Lady Vols creep within one with just over four minutes left in the quarter. The teams traded buckets through the 1:40 mark before Missouri closed out the period with four-straight points to take a 60-55 lead into the fourth.
Davis hit two treys in the opening minutes of the fourth to fuel an 8-0 UT run that gave the Lady Vols their first lead of the second half at 63-60. Frank tied it back up with a 3-pointer on the other end, but back-to-back buckets by Davis put Tennessee on top 67-63 a minute and a half later.
Davis grew her fourth-quarter point total to 14 off a pair of free throws, stretching UT’s lead to 71-66 with 4:36 to play. Blackwell rallied the Tigers with a layup on the other end, setting off a 5-0 run that tied the game up by the 2:44 mark, but Davis scored seven points in the closing minutes to drive a 9-2 UT run and lead Tennessee to a 78-73 victory in Columbia.
Davis’ High-Powered Offense: With 26 points against Missouri, Rennia Davis logged the 20th game of her career (seventh this season) with 20+ points, tying Meighan Simmons for sixth all-time at Tennessee.
Burrell Drops 20 Again: Rae Burrell produced her sixth 20+ point game this season and the ninth of her career, firing in 23 vs. the Tigers. She had 18 at the half.
Key Swattin’: Over the last six games, sophomore Tamari Key is averaging 4.9 bpg. Her career total of 142 is good enough to rank eighth all-time among Lady Vols, situated behind seventh-place Nicky Anosike (161).
Cleaning The Glass: The Lady Vols out rebounded Missouri 46-25. They have now outworked 19 of 20 opponents on the glass this season and have done so by an average of 45.9 rpg. to 32.8 rpg. The only team they did not win the battle of the boards with was against No. 2/3 South Carolina as the teams tied with 40 rebounds each.
Next Up For Tennessee Women’s Basketball
The Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team will close out the regular season at home, hosting Auburn on Senior Day in a 2:00pm CT match-up on the SEC Network.
