The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
5-2
Tennessee
4-2
No. 8 Lady Vols Down No. 21 Texas, 73-57
12.04.2011 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2011
Final Stats |
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Box Score 
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Eighth-ranked Tennessee held off No. 21 Texas for a 73-57 victory on Sunday.
Shekinna Stricklen scored 20 points, and Vicki Baugh scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Lady Volunteers (4-2), who turned a 49-38 rebounding advantage into 17 second-chance points and got 21 points off 16 turnovers by the Longhorns.
Tennessee used an 11-0 run to take a 38-27 lead with 1:28 to go in the first half. Meighan Simmons hit a 3 and Baugh and Glory Johnson got back-to-back layups on the break during the stretch.
Texas (5-2) wouldn't go away, and a 3-pointer by Chelsea Bass cut the Lady Vols' lead to 59-53 with 8:50 to play.
"I felt good when we cut it to six. I felt like we were at a good spot, but I felt like we ran out of gas a little bit," Longhorns coach Gail Goestenkors said. "We started fouling and had a couple of turnovers. With a great team like Tennessee, you've got to take advantage of every opportunity that you have."
Two minutes later, Johnson hit a layup that launched a 10-0 run and put the game out of reach.
Ashleigh Fontenette led the Longhorns with 22 points, and Chassidy Fussell scored 14.
Fontenette became the Texas' 36th player to score 1,000 career points with her first made basket of the game, and her team-high 22 points put her at 1,020 total. Fussell added 14 points.
"I didn't even know I was close, so I'm kind of shocked right now," Fontenette said. "I think we did good as a team today, we just couldn't put it all together."
Texas, which hasn't beat a top 10 opponent since a win at No. 4 Baylor on Feb. 1, 2009, has faced three ranked opponents now this season, but likely won't face another until they meet the Lady Bears, who are currently No. 1, on Jan.15.
In the meantime, Goestenkors thinks there's plenty to build on from the loss to the Lady Vols.
"I saw some great things, and I also saw some things that we need to work on, and we will, and we'll get better," she said.
