KNOXVILLE — Mia Pauldo scored 21 points, two fellow freshmen guards also made important contributions on the offensive end, and the 17th-ranked Tennessee women’s basketball team leaned on its defense to beat No. 11 Kentucky 60-58 in a Southeastern Conference border rivalry showdown Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
It’s the seventh consecutive victory for the Lady Volunteers, who improved to 14-3 overall and 6-0 in SEC play in Kim Caldwell’s second season as head coach in Knoxville.
“You’re watching us mature. We played really hard for 40 minutes when the shots were not going in,” Caldwell said in her postgame news conference. “And again, that was nonexistent for us at the beginning of the year. So I was proud of that.”
A season-best 12,551 were in attendance for a Tennessee women’s basketball home game.
“The students came in full force,” Caldwell said. “They were worth at least six points. I mean, when they got loud, it got loud. We have players that will play off that, so I appreciate the crowd tonight. It meant a lot to us.”