Knoxville, TN – In its fourth straight matchup against a ranked opponent, the No. 20/22 Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team couldn’t overcome No. 16/13 Ohio State, falling in Food City Center on Sunday, 78-58.
Senior Destinee Wells was the high scorer for Tennessee (4-4) with 11 points, and junior Sara Puckett was close behind with 10. Junior Jillian Hollingshead pulled down a team-high seven rebounds on the evening.
Cotie McMahon and Rebeka Mikulášiková led Ohio State (6-1) with 19 and 18, respectively. Celeste Taylor posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Jacy Sheldon scored double-digit with 13.
Ohio State was first on the board, jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the opening minute. Puckett was first to score for UT, hitting a layup at the 8:38 mark. Mikulášiková countered with a trey on the other end as the Buckeyes went up 9-2, but Tess Darby and Puckett combined for five quick points to have the Lady Vols within a basket two minutes later.
OSU responded with an 11-0 run to lead 20-7 with four minutes to go in the first. Puckett then ended the UT Lady Vol drought with a layup, setting off an 8-0 Tennessee run to send the game into the second period with UT trailing, 20-15.
The Buckeyes stretched their lead to nine in the opening minute of the second before Karoline Striplin hit a pair of free throws and Darby drained a three to have the Lady Vols within four by the 7:05 mark, but six straight OSU points put the Buckeyes on top by 10 with 4:36 to go in the half. UT cut it to nine on two occasions, but Ohio State reeled off an 11-5 run over the final three minutes to set the halftime score at 43-28.
The Buckeyes started the second half with six straight points before a trey by Wells gave UT a spark. Tennessee outscored OSU 11-4 over the next two and a half minutes to pull within 14 at 53-39. Sheldon fired in a three coming out of the media timeout to start a 7-1 burst that had Ohio State ahead by 20 at the 3:06 mark. The teams traded buckets through the end of the period with the Buckeyes taking a 63-44 lead into the final stanza.
Taylor drained a three to push OSU on top by 22 to start the fourth quarter. Ohio State maintained that advantage until back-to-back buckets by Puckett and Hollingshead pulled UT within 18 with 6:19 to play. The Lady Vols drew within 18 twice more before the final buzzer but couldn’t get any closer as Ohio State took a 78-58 victory.
TK Taking Steps
Tamari Key posted nine points, four rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal in 16 minutes vs. the Buckeyes, recording season highs in all categories. The 6-foot-6 redshirt senior played twice as many minutes vs. Ohio State than she has in any game all season.
That development provided evidence that the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots and triple-doubles is progressing in her return from being sidelined last season due to blood clots being discovered in her lungs.
Avery Hits First Tennessee Trey In Return
Avery Strickland returned to action after missing the last four games while in concussion protocol. The sophomore guard/forward from nearby Farragut High School recorded her first three-pointer as a Lady Vol in the final minute of the second quarter against Ohio State and finished with four points and two rebounds in 12 minutes of duty.
The 5-foot-10 Strickland, who joined UT from Pitt during the offseason, knocked down 39 treys with 33.9 percent accuracy as a freshman for the Panthers last year.
UT Lady Vol Fans Showing Support
Tennessee Lady Vol fans packed Food City Center against Ohio State with a season-high attendance of 8,723. It comes on the heels of a previous best of 8,211 fans supporting the Tennessee vs. Notre Dame on Wednesday night in the ACC-SEC Challenge.
UT is averaging 8,206 in five home games to rank No. 7 in the nation.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
On Wednesday, the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team heads to Huntsville, AL, for a neutral site game vs. Middle Tennessee. The Lady Vols and Blue Raiders will face off at Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center at 6:30pm CT (7:30pm ET). The contest will be streamed on ESPN+.
