Improved health is allowing Rickea Jackson and Tamari Key to make some of their biggest contributions in a while for the Tennessee women’s basketball program, and coach Kellie Harper credited the team’s mental toughness with swinging the third quarter — and the game — in its favor Thursday night at Auburn.
As the Lady Volunteers endured a hard-fought Southeastern Conference opener, it took body and mind to earn the 75-67 victory that stretched their winning streak to four games and ended Auburn’s at eight.
Jackson scored 24 points and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds while playing 36 minutes, Powell shook off some first-half foul trouble to finish with 16 points, Kaiya Wynn added 10 with six assists in a challenging defensive test, and Key had six rebounds and three blocks while playing a season-high 24 minutes.
And with one down and 15 to go in their SEC regular-season schedule, Harper knows the Lady Vols (8-5) will need more of all of that.
“We really didn’t change a lot schematically (at halftime), we just talked about what we needed to do,” Harper said during her postgame news conference. “… It was mentality, and how we needed to be tougher, and a little bit stronger with the ball and stronger going to get the ball.”