KNOXVILLE – Jordan Walker scored 16 points, and Tamari Key added 13 with 11 rebounds as No. 7 Tennessee beat Alabama 62-44 on Thursday night in the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball opener for both schools.
After leading by six at halftime, the host Lady Volunteers (12-1) missed their first seven shots of the third quarter as the Crimson Tide (9-3) rallied to momentarily lead, 32-30. With the game tied at 35, a 3-pointer by Tennessee’s Tess Darby as the shot clock expired with a minute left in the third gave the Lady Vols a lead they never lost.
“That was the biggest bucket of the game,” Tennessee coach Kellie Harper said. “That was huge. It gave our team energy and got the crowd in it.”
Alabama shot 24% for the game. Tennessee’s defense kept the Tide from making too much of the Lady Vols’ middle two quarters, when the hosts shot a combined 6-for-27 from the field and scored just 15 points. A 24-7 fourth-quarter run iced the victory.
“The main message we had in this game was to get stops,” Walker said. “I’m really proud of the way this team pulled together to get through the adversity.”
Said Harper: “I knew we’d have to win with defense. … That group that was in there at the end of the third quarter settled us down. They had the poise and confidence that allowed us to hang in there.”
Alabama’s Brittany Davis scored 12 points and JaMaya Mingo-Young added 11. The Tide had 18 offensive rebounds against much taller Tennessee, but they scored just six points off their second chances.
“I like the fact that we outrebounded them on offensive rebounds,” Alabama coach Kristy Curry said. “When you get 18 offensive boards, you’ve got to convert more of those.”
Tennessee scoring leader Jordan Horston missed her second straight game because of an illness that school officials said is not COVID-19. Harper said she expects Horston to be ready for Sunday’s game at Arkansas.
Throughout the nonconference portion of their schedule, the Lady Vols developed depth in their roster. Keyen Green, Brooklynn Miles, Sara Puckett and Karoline Striplin have come off the bench to make contributions, and their potential to do so again will be key as the grind of the season wears on.
Tennessee’s Rae Burrell continues to work toward her return to the court, too.
She entered the season as Tennessee’s top returning scorer, having averaged 16.8 points per game in 2020-21, but after scoring 12 points while playing 17 minutes in the opener, she went down with a knee injury. Harper said Burrell has been doing individual work in practice and that she expects her to start doing drills soon.
Tennessee is the second ranked team the Tide have faced this season – they lost by three points to No. 15 Duke in November – and the road will get tougher in the coming weeks while playing quality competition in the SEC. After having two games canceled because of COVID-19, Alabama hadn’t competed since Dec. 13 but is set to play again Sunday as Auburn visits Tuscaloosa.