Lady Vols fall short against No. 2 Stanford, 77-70.
Tennessee returns to Knoxville for its next contest when it hosts Wofford on Dec. 27 at 6:30 p.m.
PALO ALTO, Calif. (WVLT) - Tennessee dropped a hard-fought contest at No. 2 Stanford on Sunday, falling 77-70 in Maples Pavilion. The contest that 15 lead changes and seven ties.
The game was knotted up at 35 a piece heading into the break. Tennessee held its own in the third quarter but couldn’t stop Stanford in the fourth quarter.
Tennessee was outscored 24-12 in the final quarter.
Stanford has 54 rebounds, 37 of which came on the defensive end, the same amount as Tennessee’s total (37) rebounds.
Tennessee missed the length Tamari Key provides, as the Lady Vols suffered 10 blocked shots and didn’t block a single Stanford shot.
Senior Jordan Horston was the top performer for the Lady Vols, recording her third double-double of the season with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and a season-high tying four steals.
“We played hard,” said Horston. “I feel like we played really hard. Like coach said, we were pretty steady the whole game, and I’m just excited to see how we get better from this.”
Coach Kellie Harper added, “You know I think it’s helping us, I really do. I think it’s helped us grow. Obviously, you still have to stay strong mentally through those losses, but I think we know who we are based on the competition we’ve played.”
Senior Rickea Jackson and sophomore Sara Puckett shot in double figures with 14 and 11, respectively.
Cameron Brink led Stanford, who finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds. Haley Jones and Hannah Jump were also top scorers, logging 19 each.
The Lady Vols went quiet for the next two minutes, allowing the Cardinals to mount their then-largest lead of the game, 66-60 until Franklin made a free throw.
It was evident that Tamari Key’s strength was missed on the court against the Cardinal, but Harper knows it’s crucial this team quickly finds an answer to her absence.
“We don’t have anyone that can grow in the next few weeks,” said Harper. “So what we were able to do was go with players that were physical, that were tough, and play in a system really relying on each other and our defense has really gotten better.”
Tennessee returns to Knoxville for its next contest when it hosts Wofford on Dec. 27 at 6:30 p.m.
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