KNOXVILLE — Tennessee fifth-year senior Jewel Spear scored 11 of her 20 points by being flawless at the foul line, sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper added 16 points on 50% shooting from the field, and the 15th-ranked Lady Volunteers beat No. 18 Alabama 88-80 in a matchup of Southeastern Conference rivals Thursday night for their third straight win and fifth in six games.
Tennessee (20-6, 7-6), in its first year under head coach Kim Caldwell, has now recorded 20 or more wins in a season 48 times in its storied history that includes eight NCAA Division I tournament titles. The Lady Vols, though, didn’t hit that milestone until the NCAA tourney last season.
Alabama (21-6, 8-5) had won four in a row heading to Knoxville, but the Crimson Tide — who beat the Lady Vols in Tuscaloosa during the regular season a year ago but then lost to them in the SEC tournament — fell to 56-9 in the overall series.
“Alabama’s a really good team,” Caldwell said during a postgame news conference. “… I wish we could have finished it a little bit better, but any time you can win in this league against a top-ranked opponent, you’ll take it.”
The Tide were up 22-17 after the first quarter, but neither team lead by more than seven points in the first half. However, the Lady Vols scored the final 10 points of the second quarter to take a 42-37 lead into the locker room, then scored the first 11 points of the third quarter.
“It was huge,” Caldwell said, “because we didn’t get off to a very good start and we had that lapse there in the fourth quarter, so we needed those runs.”
In fact, Tennessee started the third quarter on a 16-5 run, capped by Sara Puckett’s 3-pointer for a 58-42 lead. Samara Spencer also made a 3 during the run, and the Lady Vols’ advantage entering the fourth quarter was 65-51. The hosts committed no turnovers in the third quarter.
“I think we played a little more under control,” Caldwell said. “I don’t think we necessarily changed anything, I just think we shared the ball a little better, found the spots that were open, settled in, and more people touched the ball each time down the floor, which is when our offense looks its best.”
Sarah Ashlee Barker scored nine points during Alabama’s 14-4 run to get within 79-75 with 3:15 left, but Tennessee scored the next five points to regain a nine-point lead. Zee Spearman gave Tennessee a 10-point advantage with 1:12 left, and Cooper did the same with 39 seconds remaining to seal it.
Spearman had 13 points and nine rebounds for Tennessee, which finished with a 44-30 advantage on the glass. Spencer had nine points, five rebounds and four assists, Cooper added five rebounds, four assists and three steals to her 8-for-16 shooting, and Tess Darby chipped in nine points on a trio of 3-pointers.
Spear’s 11-for-11 showing on free throws contributed toward a 16-for-18 night at the line for Tennessee. Alabama was 9-for-11.
Barker finished with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Zaay Green — who played at Tennessee from 2018-20 — added 16 points as all five starters for the Tide scored in double figures.
Aaliyah Nye scored 11 of her 13 total points in the first half to help Alabama stay within 42-38. The Lady Vols shot 46 % in the first half and outrebounded Alabama 28-15 to stay in front.
Essence Cody also scored 13 points while leading the visitors in rebounds with seven, and Karly Weathers had 11 points and four steals for the Tide.
Alabama is fifth in the 16-team SEC standings with three games remaining in the regular season, with the Tide hosting Auburn (12-14, 3-10) on Sunday (5 p.m. Eastern on SEC Network) and LSU next Thursday before closing at Oklahoma on March 2.
Tennessee, eighth in the standings, visits Florida (14-13, 5-8) at 1 p.m. Sunday and Kentucky next Thursday before hosting Georgia on March 2. SEC Network will televise all three of those games.
The SEC tournament is March 5-9 in Greenville, South Carolina.