COLUMBIA, S.C. – Tennessee continued its strong play to close out the regular season, challenging No. 1 South Carolina fiercely in front of a sold-out Senior Day crowd of 18,000 at Colonial Life Arena before falling, 76-68, on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Vols (17-11, 10-6 SEC), who fell behind by 15 in the third period and entered the fourth down 11, never surrendered and trimmed the deficit to three with 4:58 to go. The Gamecocks, though, managed to stave off the valiant effort by the Big Orange and improve to 29-0 overall on the season and 16-0 in SEC play.
UT, however, did manage to hold USC to its smallest margin of victory at home all season and the only one by single digits. It also stands as the third-closest win margin of the year behind a six-point triumph at No. 9 LSU on Jan. 25 and a seven-point victory at No. 24 North Carolina on Nov. 30.
Tennessee, which had played the Gamecocks to an 11-point setback in Knoxville on Feb. 15, was led in scoring by fifth-year forward Rickea Jackson, who shined in the spotlight with 29 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Jewel Spear and Jasmine Powell also were in double figures, each tallying 12 points on the afternoon.
South Carolina featured five players scoring in double figures, led by the 18-point, 14-rebound effort of 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso. Te-Hina Paopao tossed in 14, with MiLaysia Fulwiley, Bree Hall and Ashlyn Watkins contributing 13 each.
After an opening bucket by USC’s Fulwiley, the Lady Vols took an early 4-2 lead on scores from Sara Puckett on a put-back and Jackson on a layup. The Gamecocks responded with a 5-0 run, surging to a 9-4 edge by the 6:56 mark. UT answered, though, with Spear and Jackson connecting on jumpers to trim the deficit to 11-8 by the 4:34 media timeout. South Carolina scored four straight out of the break before Spear answered with a driving layup to pull UT within five, 15-10, with 2:19 to go. USC outscored Tennessee the rest of the period, 5-4, with pairs of free throws by Powell and Jillian Hollingshead keeping their team within range at 20-14 after one.
The Lady Vols scored five straight at the outset of the second frame, cutting the USC lead to one, 20-19, on a pair of Jackson free throws and then a Powell three-pointer at the 8:25 mark. After back-to-back buckets by Cardoso, Tennessee counter-punched with a Powell three, a Jackson fast-break layup and another long ball from Powell to take its first lead of the game, 24-23, with 6:23 remaining in the quarter. After the Gamecocks tied it back up on a Chloe Kitts free throw, Jackson responded with a jumper to lift her team on top by two, 26-24, with 4:49 to go in the first half. A 5-0 burst by the hosts put them back ahead, 29-26, at the 3:58 mark, but UT responded with a free throw from Tess Darby and two more from Tamari Key to pull even at 29 with 2:58 left. The Gamecocks, however, compiled an 11-3 run the rest of the way to take a 40-32 lead into the locker room.
The teams exchanged buckets after the half before South Carolina pushed its advantage to 12 by the 7:07 mark in third stanza, leading 46-34. A turnaround fade-away off the glass by Jackson whittled the gap to 10, 46-36, with 5:30 to go, but a Gamecock free throw by Sania Feagin sent her team into the media timeout with a 47-36 lead with 4:50 on the clock. A Jackson fast-break layup out of the break and a Darby jumper with 3:04 twice cut the deficit to nine, 49-40. A 6-2 burst, though, pushed the Gamecocks ahead by 13, 55-42, with 1:46 remaining. A pair of Fulwiley scores swelled the USC lead to 15 with 56 ticks left, but a jumper by Spear and layups by Karoline Striplin and Powell narrowed the deficit to 11, 59-48, heading into the final period.
At the start of the fourth, UT reeled off a 6-0 blitz on two charity tosses by Jackson, single free throws by Powell and Jackson and a put-back jumper by Jackson to make it 59-54 USC with 7:27 to go. UT then cut the gap to three at the 4:58 mark, 63-60, on another Jackson jumper. The Gamecocks answered and pushed their lead to seven, 67-60, with 4:14 left before a Darby layup pulled her squad to within five, 67-62, with 3:47 to go. A Gamecock response resulted in the lead growing back to 11, 73-62, with 1:14 remaining after a pair of Watkins rebound baskets. A Spear, jumper and an old-fashioned three-point play by Jackson got Tennessee back within seven with 20 seconds left, but the Lady Vols could get no closer.
UP NEXT: The Lady Vols will head back to South Carolina in the coming week, traveling to Greenville for the SEC Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. If the Lady Vols earn a No. 4 seed, they’ll play the second game on Friday in the quarterfinal round at approximately 2:15 p.m. ET. If UT winds up as the No. 5 seed, it would play at the same time, only a day earlier on Thursday in the second round.
STIFLING THE GAMECOCKS: The Big Orange defense held the Gamecocks to just 33.3 percent from the field, its worst mark of the season. After holding USC to a 40-percent field goal percentage in Knoxville, the Lady Vols have limited South Carolina to two of its four worst shooting games this season. Entering the contest, USC ranked second in the nation in field goal percentage with a rate of 50.9 percent.
OPENING WITH DEFENSE: For the second time this season, the Lady Vols were able to contain one of the nation’s top offenses in the first half. South Carolina was 35 percent from the field in the first half on Sunday after shooting just 33 percent during the earlier match-up in Knoxville. Outside of its two games against UT, the Gamecocks have been held below 40 percent from the floor in the first half just once in SEC play.
KEA CONTINUES TO DAZZLE: With 29 points on Sunday afternoon, Rickea Jackson moved to sixth on the all-time Lady Vol scorers list, including transfers, surpassing Candace Parker (2,137, 2005-08). Jackson has tallied 2,150 points in her career and notched her 45th consecutive game in double figures. The senior also has scored 20 or more points in 25 games during just two seasons as a Lady Vol, ranking fifth all-time on Rocky Top.
