Jan. 14, 2018
#6/6 Tennessee 86, #9/8 South Carolina 70
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Jaime Nared scored 19 points as No. 6 Tennessee bounced back from its first loss of the season with an 86-70 victory at No. 9 South Carolina, which played without injured All-American A’ja Wilson.
The Lady Vols (16-1, 4-1 Southeastern Conference) lost in overtime, 79-76, at Texas A&M on Thursday night. But with the 6-foot-5 Wilson sidelined with a right ankle sprain for the Gamecocks (14-3, 3-2), Tennessee took advantage of the middle, with Nared and Mercedes Russell helping build an 18-point lead late in the third quarter.
South Carolina rallied to cut the lead to 70-66 on Alexis Jennings’ three-point play with 5:45 left. But Nared hit an inside bucket, Evina Westbrook made a jumper and Nared finished a three-point play to restore Tennessee’s large lead.
It was South Carolina’s largest loss at home since being beaten 73-53 by Tennessee in Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick’s first SEC game on Jan. 3, 2013.
Russell and Westbrook had 16 points each. Russell added a game-high 12 rebounds.
Sophomore Tyasha Harris had a career-best 28 points for the Gamecocks.
Wilson injured her ankle in the final minute of South Carolina’s win over Auburn on Thursday night. She spent the past few days receiving treatment in the hopes of playing but came out to the court during pregame with a pink cast and a scooter to keep her right leg elevated. There is no timetable for Wilson’s return.
QUOTABLE Dawn Staley
On the performance of Gamecock sophomore guard Tyasha Harris Sunday
“That’s what great players do. When there is a player down they step up, and Ty (Harris) is no different. I had no worries that she would not step up today and score points for us. It’s just that she needed some help, but I think that she understands that she has to keep her game honest. On any given night 21 shots isn’t her comfort zone, but she took her open shots – that is only going to help her get even better.”
NOTABLE
- Sunday’s loss to the Lady Vols snapped Carolina’s nine-game winning streak in top-10 contests against SEC schools. The streak dated back to January 2015.
- With a career-best 28 points, Tyasha Harris recorded her second 20-point game of the season and reached double figures for the 10th time in her sophomore campaign. The guard reached double figures six times all of last season.
- Gamecock freshman forward LeLe Grissett nearly notched her first career double-double after finishing with 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
- Carolina redshirt junior forward Alexis Jennings totaled 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. She has averaged 12.3 points per game in Carolina’s six contests against ranked foes this season.
GAMECHANGER
The Lady Vols countered a 7-0 Gamecock run midway through the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run of their own to turn a four-point advantage into a 77-66 lead with 4:12 left to play.
KEY STAT
Tennessee capped off a strong shooting afternoon by connecting on four of its final five field goal attempts of the contest to pull away from the Gamecocks down the stretch.
UP NEXT
Carolina will look to bounce back on Thu., Jan. 18, when it faces Vanderbilt on the road in Nashville, Tenn. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. ET, and the contest can be seen on SEC Network+.
