The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
No. 17/19 Tennessee
Women's Basketball triumphs against No. 17/19 Tennessee, 66-60
12.08.2019 | Women's Basketball
Longhorns win Big 12/SEC Challenge behind Sutton and Higgs, who each score 19 points
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Texas made timely shots and got defensive stops when it counted the most – surviving foul trouble by key starters – as the Longhorns topped undefeated No. 17/19 Tennessee, 66-60, at Thompson-Boling Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Sug Sutton and Lashann Higgs each scored 19 points and Jada Underwood contributed 13, as Texas (5-4) held Tennessee to 31 percent shooting accuracy from the floor. The Lady Vols (7-1) were led by Rennia Davis and Jazmine Massengill, who scored 15 and 10, respectively.
Texas is now 4-2 in the Big12/SEC Challenge.
The Longhorns, who led the Lady Vols at the end of each quarter, came back from a three-point deficit early in the fourth quarter and made six free throws in the last 1:45 to preserve the win. Texas outscored the Tennessee, 16-11, in the final period despite the fact that two Texas starters, Joyner Holmes and Celeste Taylor, fouled out at the 5:49 and 1:24 marks, respectively.
Sutton scored Texas' first seven points of the game, as the Longhorns burned the nets early – hitting seven of 14 field goals and four of five three pointers by the 5:00 mark of the first quarter. Texas used an 8-0 run to take a 20-13 lead with 2:50 remaining, but Tennessee closed to within one with a 6-0 period-ending streak of its own. Underwood, who bucketed eight first-quarter points to lead the Longhorns, hit two free throws at the end of the period to give Texas a 22-19 lead. The Horns held Tennessee to 29 percent of its field goal attempts in the initial quarter.
Higgs scored 12 points in the second quarter, as the Longhorns put together a 10-0 streak to take a 12-point lead into the last four minutes before halftime. Tennessee's Massengill hit a three pointer at the buzzer, as the Lady Vols rallied to halve the Texas lead to 42-36 at intermission. UT held the Vols to 33 percent in field goal percentage in the halftime statistics. Underwood had 11 points.
Both teams played evenly for most of the third quarter, but a late Tennessee rally closed Texas' lead to one point, 50-49, going into the final period.
The Lady Vols scored the first two field goals of the fourth quarter to take a three-point lead, but Texas then hit the next four baskets, one each by Higgs and Collier and two by Sutton, to put the Horns ahead, 58-53, at the 6:50 mark. After Tennessee trimmed the UT lead to three, Sutton's two free throws restored the five-point lead at the 1:45 mark. With Texas ahead by four and Tennessee forced to foul with 29 seconds left, Underwood hit two key free throws to put Texas up by six.
Higgs then came up with a key steal with 22 seconds remaining. Texas held Tennessee without a field goal for the last 2:22 of the game.
KEY STATISTICS
- The Longhorns started Holmes, Taylor, Collier, Underwood and Sutton.
- This was the 38th consecutive season that Texas and Tennessee have played.
- Texas broke a two-year Tennessee winning streak in the series.
- Tennessee won the rebounding battle, 54-42.
TEXAS HEAD COACH KAREN ASTON
"I thought it was a real gutsy performance on the part of our team in a lot of ways. This one sitting to my right (Joyner Holmes) kind of led the way in gutsiness. She tweaked her ankle during shoot-around and it was really a game-time decision. But I thought her presence was huge for us in leadership. Sug and Lashann looked a lot more like themselves today. They're the leaders of our team. I'm just really proud of our team. We've struggled, but I think everybody knows that. It's just a process when you have players that are new and those that return from injury. I've been preaching to them to stay with the process, and we'll get better and better every day. They're trying to do that, and this was a reward for that."
UP NEXT
Texas takes a 10-day break for final exams and then returns on Wednesday night, Dec. 18, to face Ohio University at 7 p.m. (CT) at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. The game will be telecast nationally on the Longhorn Network. It will be available on radio at 105.3 FM in Austin and online at TexasSports.com/audio.
