Tennessee entered Sunday afternoon’s regular-season finale at struggling Kentucky already locked into a third-place finish in the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball standings, with a double bye into the league tournament’s quarterfinals also secured.
With no chance to improve their position — or make it worse, for that matter — the Lady Volunteers could hardly have been blamed if they were inclined to hit cruise control with the postseason already on their minds.
Well, they certainly cruised, but their foot was on the pedal from the start and the Wildcats had the bad fortune to be in their path.
Tennessee’s 13-0 run in the first 4:12 of the game established the pace, and the Lady Vols never trailed in an 83-63 victory as four players scored in double figures for the visitors, who used their size advantage for inside dominance at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.
Rickea Jackson had 21 points and seven rebounds in her 27th double-digit scoring performance of the season for Tennessee (21-10, 13-3), while Jillian Hollingshead had 15 points, Karoline Striplin 12 and Jordan Walker 10. Hollingshead and Striplin grabbed six rebounds each to help the Lady Vols finish with a 43-27 advantage on the glass, and Walker had five rebounds and as many assists.