Lady Vols wins sibling rivalry, 108-44

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. In a match-up between sibling head coaches, Kelly HarperThe No. 15/12 Tennessee women’s basketball team defeated Harper’s brother Ross Jolly and the Georgia College Bobcats, 108-44, in an exhibition at the Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday night.

In a true team effort, each player scored and recorded at least one rebound in the game. Five Lady Vols finished in double figures, led by senior Rae Burrell’s 18 points on an efficient 7-of-9 shot from the field. Junior Jordan Horston put in an all-round performance with 14 points, eight boards, four assists and three steals.

To graduate Alexus Dye took six of her 12 points in the first quarter to kick off the Lady Vol attack early, while fellow graduates Jordan Walker and Keyen Green each achieved 11 points. Walker added four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

The Tennessee freshmen finished with some impressive numbers in the game. Brooklyn Miles had a stat fill performance with six points, a game-high five assists, a game-high five steals and four rebounds. Sara Puckett finished with a game-high nine rebounds to go along with five points and three assists, while Kaiya Wynno added seven points, six boards, three assists and two steals. Caroline Striplin rounded it out with six points, five rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block.

As a team, the Lady Vols shot 52 percent from the field and 41 percent from outside the arc while assisting on 23 baskets. Defensively, the team kept Georgia College on 27 percent shooting and forced 25 turnovers, leading to 34 points for Tennessee. Five different players took up multiple takeaways, while UT ended up with 18 steals in the game. The team also added eight blocks led by junior Tamari Key’s game-high three rejects.

The Lady Vols opened the game by taking down their first six shots to take a 13-0 lead and force Georgia College to give a timeout. UT answered with a basket from the intermission to start the tilt with a 15-0 run before the Bobcats scored their first basket of the game. Eight different players scored during the first quarter to give Tennessee an early 28-6 advantage.

All 12 active Lady Vols played during the first half and recorded at least four minutes of action. Tennessee improved its lead to 50-19 at halftime, behind Burrell 15 points. Walker posted nine points in the half to go along with four rebounds, three steals and two assists. As a team, the UT shot 48 percent of the field while Georgia College shot just 25 percent.

Tennessee came out with the hot hand to start the third period, running 18-4. Horston fed the Lady Vols at both ends of the floor, earning 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. The UT attack scored 28 points in the quarter to enter the final frame with a 78-35 rise.

Tennessee’s bench played through the fourth quarter, maintaining momentum in Lady Vols’ favor by beating the Bobcats 30-9 to secure the wire-to-wire 108-44 victory. All seven reserves noted a basket in the frame.

The Lady Vols kick off their 2021-22 campaign next Wednesday, November 10 at the Thompson-Boling Arena with a match-up against Southern Illinois. The match kicks off at 7pm and will be broadcast on SEC Network and audio streamed on Lady Vol Network.

FOUR POINTS, A REBOUND: With no slump in production when Tennessee’s bank checked into the game, all 12 Lady Vols finished with at least four points and grabbed one rebound in the game. The reserves totaled 47 points, including all 30 points in the fourth quarter, which marked the most points in any period during the game.

ATTACKING THE PAINT: Tennessee went to the paint early and often, beating the Bobcats 78-24 low. The Lady Vols were also aggressive on the glass, finishing with a 64-33 advantage on the boards. UT’s 31 offensive rebounds led to 27 second chance points.

EXCEPT THE CENTURY MARK: The Lady Vols took 108 points, placing them 12th in the most ever goals scored by the Tennessee women in an exhibition game. It was the 23rd time that the UT has reached the milestone of the century in an exhibition competition.

UT ALL-TIME IN EXHIBITIONS:UT is 50-4 all-time in preseason exhibition games, with the only losses to the Soviet National Team (1979), Athletes in Action (1992) and the USA National Team (1995, 2007). Tennessee is 10-0 in preseason exhibition games in the post-Pat Summitt era, beating Carson-Newman eight times (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) and both Georgia College (2021 ) as Coker (2012) once each. Kelly Harper is 2-0 on Rocky Top with wins in 2019 and 2021. No exhibition match was held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.