BATON ROUGE, La. – Freshman guard Jaida Civil scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead a determined Tennessee effort, but five players scored in double figures to help No. 6/6 LSU fight off the Lady Vols for an 89-73 victory on Thursday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
UT, which outworked LSU on the glass in the first half, 27-18, had leads in the first and second quarters before falling behind in the third quarter. The Lady Vols cut the deficit to nine late in the third and to 10 in the fourth quarter but could get no closer, as LSU used a 36-18 advantage in the paint and a 27-16 edge on the glass in the second half to secure the win.
Civil finished five of 10 from the field, including a 2-of-4 night beyond the arc, and was five of seven from the free-throw line to pace the Big Orange (16-11, 8-7 SEC). Senior guard Nya Robertson and redshirt junior Talaysia Cooper also were in double figures, contributing 14 and 13 points, respectively. Alyssa Latham tied Civil for the team lead on the glass.
The Tigers (25-4, 11-4 SEC) were paced by Mikaylah Williams, who had a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. MiLaysia Fulwiley, ZaKiyah Johnson, Grace Knox and Flau’jae Johnson added 18, 14, 13 and 10, respectively.
LSU forged four-point leads multiple times early on, but Tennessee countered each one with buckets from Zee Spearman, Latham and Cooper to pull back within two until a Fulwiley layup gave the Tigers a 10-6 edge heading into the 4:49 media timeout. UT surged out of the break, getting back-to-back three-pointers by Mia Pauldo and another from Spearman to grab a five-point lead, 15-10, with 2:44 remaining. After LSU trimmed the gap to two, a Janiah Barker trey and a put-back off the glass by Cooper increased the margin to seven, 20-13, before a Jada Richard three from the top of the key drew LSU back to within five, 20-15, at the end of the first frame.
A Spearman layup and a pair of free throws by Cooper pushed the Big Orange advantage back to six, 24-18, with 8:46 to go, but LSU exploded with a 14-0 run to seize a 32-26 lead before a Latham put-back ended it at the 5:28 mark with her team down, 32-26. A Bella Hines bucket forced a UT timeout with the Tigers leading, 34-26, with 4:57 left, allowing the Lady Vols to regroup. Right out of that break, a Robertson jumper in the paint and a three-pointer by the senior drew her team back within three, 34-31, with 4:18 to go. Deniya Prawl worked it back to three with a layup at the 3:42 mark, and Civil did the same with two charity tosses to make it 38-35 with 3:27 left. After LSU pulled ahead, 41-35, with 1:58 on the clock, Tennessee put together a 7-0 run on layups from Civil and Cooper and a rainbow three from Robertson to retake the lead, 42-41, with 50 ticks left. A Williams layup, though, provided the home team with the last points of the half and a 43-42 edge at the intermission.
Pauldo drained her third three of the game to give Tennessee a 45-43 lead early in the third, but LSU put together a 10-2 burst to take a 53-47 lead into the 5:36 media timeout. The Tigers scored out of the break to make it 55-47, but Civil trimmed the margin to five twice, including 55-50 on a corner three with 4:24 remaining and 57-52 on a layup with 4:24 to go. The home team, though, strung together nine straight points to build a 66-52 lead with 2:02 remaining. UT got another Robertson trey, a Prawl fall-away and a Latham layup on a pass from Barker to trim the gap to nine, 68-59, with 1:18 on the clock, but LSU scored the last two to take a 70-59 lead into the final period.
After an LSU free throw by Fulwiley at the outset of the fourth quarter, a Cooper runner drew the Lady Vols within 10, 71-61, with 9:09 remaining, but the Tigers responded with a 6-0 burst to make it 77-61 and force a Tennessee timeout with 6:33 to go. The Big Orange would not go away, as a floater by Robertson, free throws by Civil and consecutive three-pointers by Cooper and Civil cut the gap to 10, 81-71, with 3:12 left and forced an LSU timeout. After that stoppage the home team was able to outscore UT 8-2 the rest of the way to close out the win.
NEXT UP
Tennessee returns home for its final contest of the regular season, as the Lady Vols host Senior Day vs. Vanderbilt on Sunday. The Lady Vols and Commodores will meet at Food City Center at 2 p.m. ET. The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN and also carried on Lady Vol Radio Network stations with audio streaming available on UTSports.com. Coverage begins on 99.5FM WGRV at 1:30pm
