University of Tennessee Athletics
Back To The Finals: UT Beats UK, 75-64
March 07, 2015 | Women's Basketball
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Reigning SEC Tournament Champion Tennessee will get to defend its title after beating Kentucky, 75-64, thanks to sharpshooting from 3-point range on Saturday at Verizon Arena,
The #5 Lady Vols will take on #3 South Carolina on Sunday at 3:30 p.m., in a game that airs on ESPN and can be heard on the Lady Vol Network. In the only meeting between the SEC regular-season co-champions, the Gamecocks beat the Lady Vols in Columbia, 71-66, on Feb. 23.
Tennessee (27-4 overall) will play in the SEC Championship game for the 23rd time in the 36-year history of the tournament. The Lady Vols are seeking their 18th SEC Tournament Championship and fifth in six years.
The Lady Vols are seeking to continue their trend of being the No. 2 seed and winning the title. On 10 previous occasions when the Lady Vols were seeded second they won the tournament title.
Tennessee is 75-18 all-time in the SEC Tournament including 20-2 in SEC Tournament play since 2008.
Senior Cierra Burdick led the Lady Vols with a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds for her seventh double of the year and third in five games. Sophomore Jordan Reynolds added 13 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Andraya Carter chipped in with 12 points.
The Lady Vols connected on 9-of-19 from 3-point range with Reynolds making 3-of-5, Burdick hitting 2-of-3 and Carter going 2-of-4.
Kentucky (23-9) was led by Bria Goss, who had 16 points. Linnae Harper (15), Jennifer O'Neill (11) and Makayla Epps (10) also scored in double figures. The Wildcats were limited to 33.8 from the floor.
Tennessee beat Kentucky for the third time this season.
Up seven at halftime, Tennessee expanded its lead to 11 points less than four minutes into the second half on a Reynolds jumper to make it 41-30. A 3-pointer by Ariel Massengale with 12 minutes left put the Lady Vols ahead 47-38.
Kentucky rallied to within five points midway through the second half, but another trey, this time by Jaime Nared, regained momentum for Tennessee. Nared added a layup with nine minutes left to retake a double-figure lead, 52-42.
Reynolds connected on her third triple of the game to push the Lady Vols' lead to a baker's dozen, 59-46 with 6:23 left.
Tennessee led by at least three possessions for the rest of the way.
After a slow start to the game where the teams were deadlocked at 9-9, 10 minutes into the game, Tennessee took control late in the first half to lead 31-24 at intermission.
With the game tied at 20 with three minutes left, the Lady Vols knocked down three 3-pointers late in the half with Carter nailing a pair. Burdick led all players with 12 first-half points, including 2-of-2 from beyond the 3-point line. Overall, Tennessee made 6-of-11 from beyond the arc in the first half.
