The Tennessee Lady Vols (16-9, 8-4) defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores (19-8, 6-6) 86-61 in the battle of the Volunteer State. The
Commodores went down early and never returned, only staying close enough to give a warning but never far enough to cause trouble.
Head coach Shea Ralph stated, “If you look at the stat sheet, we were quite competitive in most areas except for our shooting
percentage. Today didn’t go as planned for us due to a few circumstances beyond of our control.
With 25 points, Iyana Moore led the team in scoring. Sacha Washington followed with 13 points and 8 rebounds, and Jordyn
Cambridge finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.
From the beginning,
Tennessee’s top scorer, Rickea Jackson, gave the team an early lead with a three-pointer. Before the Commodores scored for the first
time in more than three minutes, a Jordan Oliver layup gave the Lady Vols a 20-7 lead after they embarked on a 12-0 run. After
exchanging blows for a short while, Tennessee ended the first quarter ahead, 30 to 15.
Similar to the first quarter, the second quarter began with a Moore midrange basket that was barely a step inside the three-point line,
matching a layup from Tennessee big Tamari Key. A defensive rebound was grabbed by Cambridge midway through the second
quarter, and they proceeded to run in transition, finding an open Iyana cross-court who swished a three from the left wing. The
Commodores sprang to life as the crowd surged.
Following
Vanderbilt trailed 44–29 at the half. Compared to Tennessee’s 59%, 54%, and 100% splits, the Commodores were shooting 33% from
the field, 25% from three, and 71% from the free throw line.
Washington and Moore each made two fast layups to start the second half for Vanderbilt, which was followed by a Washington and-
one that she was unable to convert. For the remainder of the half, Washington and Moore would maintain their dominance,
accounting for all 14 of Vanderbilt’s points. However, Jackson outscored the Commodores 10 points in the third quarter on her own.
Jackson shot 11/15 from the field and finished with 24 points. The fifth-year forward missed five games because of a leg injury, but she
still had her ninth 20-point game of the year.
Regarding Jackson, Ralph remarked, “She’s a great player.” She exudes confidence and swagger when playing. I believe that we made
a mistake with her today by allowing her to catch the ball in her most comfortable spot. Elite athletes capitalize on your errors.
Jackson’s heroics would ensure that the Lady Vols entered the fourth quarter with a comfortable 66-48 advantage.
More of the same would be seen in the fourth quarter as Vanderbilt’s failure to produce stops limited their chances of scoring.
Moreover, they were unable to score when they were stopped. The Commodores could only allow Tennessee to even the score after two
consecutive baskets without a response from them. Vanderbilt struggled to establish a cadence, and as the
The next game that Vanderbilt will play is an away game against Arkansas on Sunday, February 25. The Commodores have just one
home game left in the season, which is against Georgia on Sunday, March 3.
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