Rickea Jackson turned in a double-double, helping Tennessee erase an 11-point, second-quarter deficit to seize a 75-67 victory over Auburn in the SEC opener for both teams at Neville Arena on Thursday night.
Jackson finished the game with 24 points and a career-high 19 rebounds to lead Tennessee (8-5, 1-0 SEC) in both categories. Fifth-year senior Jasmine Powell was also in double figures with 16, and junior Kaiya Wynn turned in 10 points and a game-high six assists.Â
Auburn (11-3, 0-1 SEC) was led by Mar'shaun Bostic with 17 points. Honesty Scott-Grayson and JaMya Mingo-Young were also productive with 16 and 11, respectively.
The Tigers got on the board first with a fast-break layup 25 seconds into the game. Five straight points by Karoline Striplin put the Lady Vols up by three 90 seconds later, but Auburn countered with a 9-1 run to lead 11-6 by the media timeout. A pair of Wynn free throws pulled Tennessee within three following the break, but AU took a 17-10 lead with 2:54 left in the first. The Lady Vols responded with an 8-0 run spanning a minute and half to reclaim the lead at 18-17. The lead changed three more times before the buzzer, with the Tigers taking a 22-21 advantage into the second.
Mingo-Young and Collins rattled off eight unanswered points over the first three and a half minutes of the second period, pushing AU ahead 29-20. Jewel Spear ended the drought for UT with a layup with 6:35 to go in the half, but back-to-back buckets by Mingo-Young and Collins extended Auburn's lead to 11 at 33-22. Jackson answered with six straight points for the Lady Vols to inch Tennessee within seven with just under two minutes left in the half. McKenna Eddings responded with a trey for the Tigers, and the teams traded baskets through the buzzer with Wynn knocking down a jumper just before time ran out to send the game into halftime with the Lady Vols trailing, 40-32.
Scott-Grayson drained a jumper to put the Tigers back up by double digits to start the second half, but the Lady Vols poured in nine straight points to pull within one and force an Auburn timeout at the 5:57 mark. Four more points by Powell after the timeout made it a 13-0 run and gave UT a 47-44 lead a minute later. Bostic ended the skid for the Tigers with a pair of free throws, but three buckets in a row by Powell gave Tennessee a 51-46 lead with 3:32 left in the third. Auburn countered with an Oyindamola Akinbolawa jumper and looked to cut it to one with a Bostic fast break on the next play, but Bostic missed the layup, and Tess Darby found the bottom of the net with a three on the other end to give UT a 54-58 advantage as the game entered the fourth quarter.
Darby and Jackson combined for five points in the first minute of the final stanza to extend the Lady Vols' advantage to 11. A free throw by Bostic cut the Tigers' deficit to 10 on the next possession, and the teams traded baskets with UT maintaining a 10-point edge until Scott-Grayson strung together six straight points for Auburn to pull the Tigers within six at 69-63 with 1:44 to play. Powell converted on a pair of free throws with 50 seconds left in the game to end the UT drought. Bostic scored a quick layup to pull Auburn within six, but the Tigers were forced to foul, and the Lady Vols converted from the free-throw line to take a 75-67 win.Â
NEXT UP: Tennessee returns to action at noon on Sunday, beginning a two-game home stand at Food City Center vs. Kentucky (8-7, 1-0 SEC). SEC Network will televise the contest, and the radio broadcast will be available on Lady Vol Network stations and via UTSports.com.
STREAKING INTO SEC PLAY:Â Tennessee picked up its fourth straight victory, carding its longest winning streak of the season and its best spree since putting together a string of nine straight from Dec. 27, 2022, to Jan. 22, 2023.Â
JACKSON WITH ANOTHER DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Rickea Jackson produced her second double-double of the season in only her fifth game, finishing with 24 points and a career-high 19 rebounds against Auburn. It is the 12th double-double of her career, a mark that ties her for eighth among active SEC players. Her effort is the 20th performance of 19+ rebounds by a Lady Vol, and she is the 15th different UT player to hit that total.Â
RICKEA STACKING UP 20s: Rickea Jackson carded her third game with 20+ points in 2023-24 in only five outings. She ranks eighth all-time at Tennessee in career 20-point games with 19, standing one behind seventh-place Meighan Simmons (20, 2010-14). Jackson had 31 vs. Florida State on Nov. 9 and 21 the last game vs. Liberty.Â
DECISIVE DEFENSE IN THE THIRD QUARTER:Â UT held Auburn to eight third-quarter points, marking the fewest points the Lady Vols have allowed in any stanza this season. The previous low was nine in the first frame to EKU and Liberty, and nine in the second quarter to Troy. AU managed only three-of-18 shooting from the field in the third period for 16.7 percent.Â
MEASURABLE IMPROVEMENT ON THE DEFENSIVE END:Â Tennessee held its fourth straight opponent and fifth of the season to 67 points or fewer. UT did so by limiting Auburn to 33.3 percent from the field, which was the fourth straight sub-36-percent effort by an opponent and the third-lowest shooting performance by a foe in 2023-24.Â
MAKING OUR OWN BREAKS:Â Tennessee reeled off 25 points on fast-breaks, carding a season high in that category. Its previous best was 19 vs. Wofford on Dec. 19. The Lady Vols tallied 11 of their 21 fourth-quarter points in transition.Â
LADY VOLS IN SEC OPENERS:Â Now 5-2 all-time vs. Auburn in SEC openers, including 3-1 on the road, Tennessee improved to 36-6 all-time in its first SEC game of a season, including 19-3 at home and 17-3 on the road. The Lady Vols have won their past 10 SEC openers, last losing to LSU, 80-77, on Jan. 2, 2014. Tennessee also improved to 33-9 in their initial SEC away game of a season, winning 14 of the past 15.
HARPER IN SEC OPENERS: Kellie Harper improved to 5-0 at UT in SEC openers, winning vs. Missouri, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida and now Auburn.