Knoxville, TN – No. 17/17 Tennessee women’s basketball’s freshman class combined for 38 points, and the Lady Vols held an SEC opponent below 60 points for the fourth time in five games, seizing a 60-58 victory over No. 11/12 Kentucky in front of a season-high crowd of 12,551 on Thursday night at Food City Center.
The Wildcats (17-4, 4-3 SEC) had the ball with a chance to tie or win it with eight seconds left in the game, but UT knocked the ball loose and forced a jump ball. With two seconds left, UK had alternate possession and another opportunity, but redshirt junior Talaysia Cooper forced UK’s 21st turnover to end the threat and deliver the Big Orange (14-3, 6-0 SEC) its first back-to-back wins over ranked teams since the 2021-22 season and extend its winning streak to seven games.
Freshman guard Mia Pauldo continued her strong play since the calendar turned to December, firing in 21 points as the only Tennessee player to score in double figures. Fellow rookie guards Deniya Prawl and Jaida Civil offered Pauldo support, with Prawl contributing an SEC high of nine and Civil chipping in eight. Civil also led the squad in rebounds with nine and tied for the lead in assists with three, as the Lady Vols persevered without injured senior forward Janiah Barker, the team’s second-leading scorer.
UK, which was without its star forward Teonni Key, was paced by three players scoring in double digits. Amelia Hassett tallied 16, while Jordan Obi produced a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double and Tonie Morgan added 13 points. UK’s leading scorer, Clara Strack, was held to nine points, but she pulled down a game-best 15 boards.
The Lady Vols jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on an Alyssa Latham layup and a pair of free throws from Zee Spearman, but the Wildcats crept within one at 4-3 by the 4:52 media timeout as neither team could find its shooting touch. UT’s freshmen established their presence for the rest of the defensive-dominated opening stanza, with Prawl and Civil scoring on driving layups right after the break and Prawl swishing a three from the top of the key to end the first frame with her team possessing an 11-7 edge.
A Cooper mid-range jumper pushed UT up 13-10 at the 9:31 mark, but Kentucky scored five straight points to take its first lead at 15-13 with 7:34 to go. A Cooper defensive rebound and pass ahead to Kaniya Boyd for a layup knotted things up at 15 before the teams went to a media timeout with 5:48 remaining in the second period.
The Big Orange freshmen continued making a statement, scoring the remaining 14 points of the period, with buckets by Civil and Pauldo making it 19-15 with 4:00 to go and a Civil free throw and Pauldo trey building the gap to 23-17 with 3:04 remaining. UT twice extended the gap to nine, 27-18 on a Civil free throw and Pauldo trey, and 29-20 on a pair of Prawl charity tosses, before a Morgan layup supplied UK the half’s final score to trim UT’s advantage to seven, 29-22.
Kentucky struck first in the third quarter, using a 4-0 burst to trim the Tennessee margin to 29-26 with 7:42 remaining. The Lady Vols countered with a 7-0 punch, though, getting a driving layup from Pauldo, a Spearman three-ball and Prawl driving layup to zoom ahead by 10, 36-26, and force a Wildcats timeout with 5:56 to go. UK reciprocated with a 5-0 run to work its way back within five at 36-31, by the 4:52 media break.
After a Pauldo steal and score put UT up, 38-32, with 3:17 to go, the Cats crept to within four, 38-36, at the 2:13 mark. A Nya Robertson trey lifted the Big Orange lead back to five, 41-36, with 1:51 left, but a free throw by UK’s Morgan and three-pointer by Hassett with 39 seconds remaining sent the game to the fourth quarter with the home team clutching a 41-40 lead.
A transition jumper and then a three-ball by Cooper boosted Tennessee’s lead back to six, 46-40, with 8:19 remaining, but Kentucky kept coming, taking a 49-48 lead on a Morgan jumper with 6:59 to go. UT’s rookies sprung into action once more, with a Civil turnaround jumper and a pair of Pauldo free throws sending the Lady Vols into the 4:28 media timeout clutching a 54-51 advantage.
After the Wildcats tied it up at 54 with a trio of Asia Boone free throws right after that break, a Spearman trey and a Pauldo pull-up jumper made it 59-54, sent the crowd into a frenzy and forced a Kentucky timeout with 2:52 remaining.
The Cats got layups from Jordan Obi and Morgan to work within one, 59-58, with 1:56 to go, and Pauldo’s one-of-two trip to the free throw line with 1:24 on the clock left UT clinging to a two-point lead it was held to protect with its defense.
Next Up For UT Lady Vols
The Tennessee women’s basketball team returns to action on Monday night, as the Lady Vols travel to Oxford, MS, to take on No. 18/18 Ole Miss (17-4, 4-2 SEC). The match-up is slated for 6:00pm CT (7:00pm ET) at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss.
The game will be televised on ESPNU and carried on Lady Vol Radio Network stations with audio streaming on UTSports.com and SiriusXM Radio (Ch. 106 or 190).
