Stanford, CA – Redshirt junior Talaysia Cooper’s 19-point, 10-steal double-double helped No. 19/17 Tennessee rack up 16 steals and force 30 turnovers to get past Stanford, 65-62, on Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion.
The Lady Vols (6-2) outscored the Cardinal, 21-15, in the fourth quarter to overturn a three-point deficit and claim a victory for the league in the ACC/SEC Challenge and end a four-game losing streak in the 40-game series vs. Stanford. SU (8-2), which is receiving votes in both polls, tied its school record for miscues and fell despite out-shooting UT, 46.4 to 34.7 percent, from the field.
Cooper, who hit a driving layup with six seconds on the clock to put her team up, 64-62, had help on the scoring front from freshman guard Mia Pauldo, who had 14 points and no turnovers in the tight affair. Zee Spearman and Janiah Barker chipped in 13 and 10, with Spearman hauling down a team-high eight boards.
Nunu Agara and Hailee Swain paced Stanford with 14 points each, while Chloe Clardy and Lara Somfai added 12 and 10, respectively.
The Lady Vols got off to a slow start shooting, but their defense forced six Cardinal turnovers in the opening six and a half minutes, with Cooper tallying three steals and scoring six points to help stake Tennessee to an 11-8 lead at the 3:38 media timeout. UT managed only three free throws the rest of the way, and Stanford scored eight points to take a 16-14 edge after the opening stanza.
The Lady Vols’ field goal woes continued in the second quarter, allowing Stanford to take a 19-14 lead with 8:31 remaining. UT clawed back, though, getting a Spearman layup, Jaida Civil kiss off the glass and a Mia Pauldo mid-range jumper to pull within one, 21-20, by the 3:26 media break. After the Cardinal nudged the lead back to four, 24-20, with 2:41 to go, Tennessee produced an 8-0 burst on a Spearman trey, Alyssa Latham put-back and a three by Barker with three seconds left that sent the Big Orange into the locker room with a game-best four-point margin, 28-24.
Pauldo began the third frame on a positive note for her squad, nailing a three to give UT a 31-24 advantage. A Cooper steal and layup boosted the lead to seven again, 33-26, forcing a Stanford timeout with 7:55 remaining. Out of the break Pauldo hustled for a rebound and put-back, giving her team a nine-point lead, 35-26.
Tennessee led by nine again, 37-28, with 6:16 to go, but the Cardinal used a 7-1 spree to cut the deficit to three, 38-35, by the media timeout and then moved ahead on a Clardy three, 40-38, with 3:47 remaining to force a UT timeout. A Cooper layup ended an 11-0 Stanford run and UT cut the gap to one twice on buckets by Cooper and Barker, but Stanford got a Clardy pull-up jumper to take a 47-44 advantage into the final period.
Mia Pauldo twice cut the Stanford lead to one, 47-46, and 50-49, on a layup and then a three, and a Deniya Prawl and Nya Robertson hit layups to flip the deficit into a three-point lead, 53-50, with 5:49 remaining before the Cardinal trimmed it to 53-52 heading into the media break. After the hosts tied the game at 55 with 4:36 left, a layup by Cooper and an old-fashioned three-point play by Spearman staked the Lady Vols to a 62-57 lead with 3:05 to go.
After a Stanford timeout, Agara nailed a three-pointer to draw Stanford within one, 62-60, with 1:13 on the clock. She then rebounded a missed free throw and scored to knot the game at 62 with 11 ticks on the clock before the Cooper layup and a Nya Robertson free throw with 0.5 remaining accounted for the final score.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
Tennessee will travel home Thursday and will not return to game action until December 14th, when Winthrop comes to Food City Center for a 2:00pm contest. That contest will be broadcast on SECN+ and the Lady Vol Radio Network.
