Gainesville, FL – Senior forward Rickea Jackson fired in a season-high 28 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to propel the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team to a 77-67 road win over Florida on Thursday night to open SEC play.
Jackson finished 10 of 13 from the field and eight of nine from the free-throw line, tallying 15 of her points in the second half on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 accuracy at the charity stripe.
The Lady Vols (9-6, 1-0 SEC) also got 15 points from senior guard Jordan Horston, who made up for first-half foul trouble with 12 second-half points on 5-of-9 shooting over the final 20 minutes at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. She saw only five minutes of action during the opening 20 minutes after picking up her second foul with 8:17 remaining in the second quarter.
Florida (11-3, 0-1 SEC), which was receiving votes in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, had four players in double figures, led by 21 points from Alberte Rimdal. KK Deans added 16, while Nina Rickards and Ra Shaya Kyle tossed in 11 each.
In winning for the fifth time in its past six games, Tennessee overcame an unsettled first half in which it committed an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers against an aggressive Gators defense. It did so by shooting 48 percent for the game, limiting UF to only three 3-pointers and outworking the home team on the glass, 45-27. UT’s reserves also produced in a big way, outscoring Florida, 46-3, thanks in large part due to Jackson’s 28-point effort in 25 minutes off the bench.
The teams traded baskets during the early going, as both squads seemed to feel their way through a choppy opening five minutes. A Jackson turnaround jumper in the paint put Tennessee up 6-4, before Florida’s Rimdal tied it at six-all heading into the media timeout at the 4:47 mark.
The Florida Gators put together an 8-2 run out of that break, forging a 14-8 lead with 1:20 to go in the quarter. A 6-1 counter by the Tennessee Lady Vols on back-to-back buckets from freshman Justine Pissott and a layup with two seconds left by sophomore Karoline Striplin, however, pulled UT to within one, 15-14, after the first 10 minutes.
Graduate Jasmine Franklin started the second period by drawing a foul and tying the score at 15 by knocking down one of two free throw attempts. She tied it again at 17 by the 9:04 mark, but Florida used a 5-0 burst to move ahead 22-17 with 8:17 left.
Junior Tess Darby ended the run with a jumper on the next trip down the court, and thanks to a Jackson layup and old-fashioned three-point play, followed by a Darby three, the Lady Vols were able to seize the lead back at 27-25 at the 4:59 media break. Jackson continued building her 13-point halftime ledger with a put-back and jumper to push the advantage to 31-25, forcing UF to call a timeout with 2:56 left in the half.
The Gators collected themselves and evened the score at 31 on a bucket by Rimdal, and two more from Deans. Jasmine Powell’s old-fashioned three-point play with 57 ticks left pushed her team back in front, 34-31, and a pair of Jackson free throws with 26 seconds left sent the Lady Vols into the locker room with a 36-31 lead.
Tennessee built its advantage to nine on a Horston layup and Sara Puckett turnaround jumper, 40-31, in the first minute and a half of the third quarter, forcing Florida to take a timeout. Horston then buried a three from the left corner to make it 43-31 at the 7:54 mark.
Following a Rimdal free throw, a Jackson jumper boosted UT’s lead to 13, 45-32, with 5:07 to go in the quarter before the Gators used a 5-2 burst to cut the gap to 45-36 by the media timeout at 3:59. UT stretched the lead to 13 again, 53-40, at the 1:37 mark, fueled by a pair of Jackson buckets and layups by Horston and Powell.
The Gators outscored the Lady Vols the rest of the period, 6-3, with Jackson’s three-point play helping the Big Orange carry a 56-46 margin into the final frame.
A Puckett layup gave UT a 12-point fourth-quarter lead, 58-46, which Tennessee maintained through a UT-called timeout at the 8:45 mark. Florida kept fighting back, though, trimming the lead to six on three occasions and five on two others, but layups by Horston at the 6:36 and 6:05 marks turned back the Gators.
A pair of free throws by Jackson with 4:53 remaining and by Jordan Walker with 4:20 to go also stemmed a determined UF squad and help UT cling to a 68-61 advantage.
After Rickards drew a foul and hit one of two free throw attempts for Florida to cut the gap to 68-62 with 4:12 left on the clock, Tennessee was able to finish off the Gators by dropping in five of an 11-of-14 fourth-quarter free throw effort along with layups from Jackson and Franklin to close the game by outscoring the hosts, 9-5, down the stretch for the 10-point triumph.
Karo Dishing
With two assists against the Gators, Karoline Striplin led UT in assists for the second straight game. After recording just five assists over the first 13 games of the season, she has now logged eight over the last two contests.
Girl On Fire
Rickea Jackson carded a season-high 28 points against Florida, hitting 10 of 13 shots from the floor and eight of nine free throws. Over the last two contests, she is averaging 68.2 percent from the floor and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line.
Count On Horston
Despite missing all but five minutes of the first half due to foul trouble, Horston finished the contest as Tennessee’s second-highest scorer with 15 points. She has landed in double figures in every contest she’s played this season with the exception of the UMass game on Nov. 10 when she exited in the first half due to injury.
High-Powered Offense
The Tennessee Lady Vols put up 77 points on 48.3 percent shooting against the Gators, the most points Florida has allowed to any opponent except Oklahoma (95) and Florida State (92). Coming into the contest, UF was limiting opponents to an average of 63.7 ppg. and a field goal percentage of 36.7.
Battle Of The Boards
The UT Lady Vols out-rebounded the Gators 45-27, resulting in 16 second-chance points. Tennessee has now won the rebounding battle in 11 of 15 games this season, including nine of the past 10.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
The Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team returns to Thompson-Boling Arena on Sunday, where it will play its SEC home opener vs. Alabama (12-2, 1-0 SEC), a 56-53 victor over Georgia in Tuscaloosa on Thursday night.
Tip-off on The Summitt is slated for 11:02pm CT with the SEC Network televising.
