HARTFORD, Conn. – No. 15/15 Tennessee worked its way back from being 16-down in the first quarter to lead by four in the second and two in the third before unbeaten No. 1 UConn hit 12 of 16 shots in the third period to pull away and claim a 96-66 victory in front of 15,495 at PeoplesBank Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Vols (14-5), who led 46-44 with 8:28 left in the third period before the Huskies went on top for good with 7:40 to go, were paced by senior forward Janiah Barker’s 16 points. Senior forward Zee Spearman chipped in 14, and senior guard Nya Robertson finished with 11.
UConn (23-0) got 27 from Azzi Fudd and 26 from Sarah Strong to overcome the Big Orange. Serah Williams, Ashlynn Shade and Allie ZIebell also were in double figures with 12 and 10 and 10, respectively.
The Huskies got off to an 8-0 start before Barker’s shot off the glass with 6:43 left and a free throw at the 6:14 mark gave Tennessee a three-point response. UConn, though, scored the next five points to build a 13-3 lead by the 4:54 media break. The hosts built the gap to 16 twice in the opening stanza, including 21-5 with 3:35 to go, but a Robertson three at the 3:18 mark gave her team some juice. UT went on to outscore the home team 14-4 the rest of the way, with a Talaysia Cooper three and Spearman bucket at the buzzer helping trim the deficit to 25-19 by the end of the period.
A pair of Robertson free throws at the outset of the second frame pulled UT within four, 25-21, and another Cooper trey cut it to three, 27-24, at the 9:23 mark, but UConn separated back to seven with 7:02 to go, 34-27. Barker responded with a three-ball to slice it to four, 34-30, with 6:52 to go before a Strong driving layup sent the Huskies into the 4:50 media timeout with a 36-30 edge. A Jaida Civil free throw and three-pointer soon after that break narrowed the margin to two, 36-34, and a driving layup by Cooper knotted it at 36 and forced a UConn timeout with 3:24 to go. Tennessee kept its foot on the gas, grabbing its first lead, 38-36, at the 3:02 mark on a Spearman layup and pushing its advantage to four, 40-36, on reverse layup by Spearman. The Huskies worked back within two, but an Alyssa Latham turnaround jumper made it 42-38 with 2:08 left before the hosts tied it up at 42 by halftime on a pull-up jumper by Fudd.
After the Huskies struck first in the third period, a pair of Spearman buckets propelled Tennessee back on top, 46-44, with 8:28 remaining. Another Spearman bucket lifted her team back in front, 48-47, at the 7:58 mark, but UConn reeled off 10 straight to move ahead by nine, 57-48, and force a Lady Vols timeout with 5:38 left in the quarter. The Big Orange bounced back, getting a top-of-the-key three from Mia Pauldo and a layup by Spearman to trim the gap to four, 57-53, with 4:45 on the clock before a Strong layup sent her team into the 4:14 media break with a 59-53 lead. The Huskies scored the next seven points, building the margin to 13, 66-53, with 1:55 left and forcing another UT timeout. UConn increased its run of points to 14 straight, scoring the last five points to close out the third with a 71-53 lead.
A Barker three to open the final frame ended UConn’s scoring run and made it 71-56, but the Huskies outscored the Lady Vols 13-3 to extend the lead to 84-60 at the 4:38 media break. UT could come no closer, as the nation’s No. 1-ranked squad hit 56.3 percent over the final stanza to close out the win and avenge last season’s loss in Knoxville to the Big Orange.
NEXT UP
Tennessee next heads to Athens to take on No. 23/25 Georgia (18-4, 4-4) at Stegeman Coliseum on Thursday night. The Lady Vols and Lady Bulldogs will meet at 6:30 p.m. ET in a contest broadcast on SECN+. The game also will be carried on Lady Vol Radio Network stations with audio streaming available on UTSports.com. Listen on 99.5FM WGRV beginning at 6pm.
