Despite taking early control of the game, the No. 18 Lady Vols quickly ran out of gas to No. 2 South Carolina.
The result was a season-low in points as Tennessee was handily defeated 70-63 in Knoxville.
The Lady Vols' (15-5, 3-5 SEC) previous low in points was 70 in the loss at Vanderbilt in the final moments. The Gamecocks' (20-1, 8-0) defense was too much for Tennessee to keep up with, though.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
Throughout the game, the Lady Vols shot 30.7% from the field and 11.5% on 3-pointers. They settled for 26 shots from range making just three. They also turned the ball over 13 times.
Leading the way for Tennessee was Ruby Whitehorn. She finished with 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting. She also had five rebounds, two assists, six turnovers, two blocks and three steals.
Talaysia Cooper was also in double digits. She finished with 11 points with all of them coming in the first half.
As a defense, the Lady Vols held South Carolina to 46% shooting from the field and 28.6% from beyond the arch. They forced 17 turnovers which translated to 14 points.
Tennessee also did a good job of crashing the glass on offense. The Lady Vols grabbed 18 offensive boards and out-rebounded the Gamecocks 49-40 in the game.
This wasn't enough to keep pace with South Carolina's balanced scoring that featured five different players with 10 or more points.
WHAT HAPPENED
The Lady Vols came out strong scoring the first four points of the game. Tennessee continued to apply figurative and literal pressure to South Carolina to grow the lead.
With two minutes and 48 seconds left in the opening quarter, the Lady Vols were coming off an 8-0 run to claim a nine-point advantage. However, after that, the Gamecocks went on an 8-0 run of their own to pull within one.
It was a defensive first quarter with neither team shooting the ball well or taking care of the ball. Both teams coughed it up four times and Samara Spencer's 3-pointer was the only shot from range to connect.
Things quickly slipped away from Tennessee in the second quarter, though. South Carolina went on a 14-0 run while holding the Lady Vols off the board for four and a half minutes in the middle of the frame.
Jillian Hollingshead ended the drought with a free throw with just over two minutes remaining but the Gamecocks' lead had already ballooned up to 11 before the shot at the stripe.
With Cooper's five-straight points to end the first half, Tennessee trailed 26-35 after 20 minutes. She led the way with 11 points. Whitehorn was the closest behind her with eight.
South Carolina continued to pull away in the third quarter. The steady stream of buckets for the Gamecocks and stops on the other end resulted in a 22-13 advantage for South Carolina in the frame.
Trailing by 18 heading into the fourth quarter, the Lady Vols chipped away at the Gamecocks' lead. With 1:12 to play, it was a Whitehorn lay up that finally got things back to double digits at nine.
Tennessee would continue to apply pressure with a Jewel Spear 3-pointer to cut it to six. However, it took too much time. 14 seconds remained in the game by the time the shot fell.
This was as close as the Lady Vols would get, though, as they fell by seven.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will have some rest before its next game. The Lady Vols won't be in action until Feb. 2 when they hit the road to play Missouri. The game vs. the Tigers is set for 3 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.
Then, it's another heavy-weight matchup. Tennessee will welcome No. 6 UConn to Knoxville on Feb. 6. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The Lady Vols will then make their return trip to No. 7 LSU on Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. ET ahead of the Super Bowl. The matchup will air on ESPN, ESPN+ and Disney+.
– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.
– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.
– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.
