GREENVILLE, S.C. — Tennessee senior Rickea Jackson set a single-game record for the Southeastern Conference women's basketball tournament with a season-high 34 points as the Lady Volunteers held off Kentucky, 80-71, in Friday night's last quarterfinal.
No. 3 seed Tennessee (22-10) advances to face fourth-ranked, second-seeded LSU (28-1) in Saturday's semifinals.
Ajae Petty hit two free throws with 21 seconds left in the third quarter to pull Kentucky (12-19) within 51-48, but Jackson hit a jumper to start a run of 14 straight points for the Lady Vols to push the lead to 65-55. Jackson scored 16 of Tennessee's 27 fourth-quarter points.
Kentucky won the 2022 SEC tournament but had lost its final seven games of the regular season this year — including a lopsided loss to the Lady Vols on Sunday in Lexington — and was the bracket's lowest seed at No. 14. The Wildcats, though, knocked off No. 11 seed Florida on Wednesday and No. 6 seed Alabama on Thursday to become the lowest-seeded team to ever reach the tournament's quarterfinal round.
But against Tennessee, which had a double bye in the bracket, Kentucky struggled with attrition. Adebola Adeyeye fouled out and Petty was disqualified in the fourth quarter after pulling Karoline Striplin's pony tail, and Maddie Sherr fouled out in the final minute.
Jackson hit 10 of 15 shots from the field and was 14-for-14 from the foul line while scoring at least 20 points for the seventh straight game. Jordan Horston scored 21 points with seven blocks, seven assists and seven rebounds, and Tess Darby was 4-for-5 from 3-point range while scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds as the Lady Vols finished with a 43-24 advantage on the glass.
Tennessee was 24-for-26 on free throws, with Kentucky 9-for-12.
Kentucky's leading scorer this season, Robyn Benton, was in foul trouble early against Alabama and did not score, but she bounced back with 20 points to lead the Wildcats against Tennessee. Scherr added 13, Jada Walker had 12 and Petty got 11 before being ejected.