The Lady Vols basketball’s game against Eastern Kentucky last season was a confidence-boosting rout.
On Sunday, it was a relief for Tennessee to pull away late and come out with a win. The Lady Vols led by only four points going into the fourth quarter, but built a lead in the fourth to beat EKU 72-63 at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
Junior forward Karoline Striplin led Tennessee (5-5) again in scoring with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Tennessee’s post players carried most of the offense until senior guards Jewel Spear and Tess Darby started hitting 3-pointers in the second half.
EKU guard Antwainette Walker had a game-high 24 points along with five rebounds. EKU (8-2) outscored Tennessee in the second and third quarters, 22-21 and 20-19.
Tennessee star forward Rickea Jackson was out for an eighth straight game due to a lower leg injury. The Lady Vols got junior forward Jillian Hollingshead back after she missed the loss to MTSU on Wednesday due to concussion protocols, but were without sophomore guard Avery Strickland due to concussion protocols again.
Tennessee struggles to control game in first half
Every time Tennessee built a lead in the first half, EKU got right back in the game.
The Lady Vols’ turnovers played a part, but so did their struggles shooting. Every time they built a lead bigger than five points, they turned it over and EKU scored easy buckets in transition. Tennessee had 10 turnovers by halftime and shot 34.3% from the field – it only led 36-31 at halftime because it was 10-for-13 from the free-throw line.
Tennessee led by 10 points with a minute left in the second quarter, but it was cut down to five points with an EKU 3-pointer and steal-and-score.
Tennessee ended with 22 turnovers, though it made up for it by scoring 21 points off 18 EKU turnovers.
Tennessee transfers struggling in recent games
Senior guards Spear and Destinee Wells were highly touted transfers going into the season, especially for their 3-point shooting. But both have struggled.
Though Spear averaged 19 points through Tennessee’s first three games, her production dropped off after that. She scored in double figures for just the third game since then on Sunday after going scoreless against Ohio State and scoring three points against MTSU.
Spear went 0-for-5 in the first half, but scored all 12 of her points on in the second half against EKU and added seven rebounds.
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Wells was expected to be a starting point guard, but has yet to find consistency running the offense. She has only logged 35 assists to her 25 turnovers this season. Wells was only given three turnovers on the stat sheet Sunday, but two others were due to Wells’ bad passes.
She has had a few games where she has scored the ball well, but she has shot just 15.8% from 3-point range this season. Wells ended with zero points, two assists and one rebound Sunday.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.