Jordan Horston cemented her legacy as a Lady Vol on Sunday, becoming the fourth player in Tennessee’s rich women’s basketball history to register at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 400 assists.
The Lady Vols beat Vanderbilt 84-71 in Memorial Gymnasium as Horston finished with 13 points, eight boards, and eight assists.
“I know that if I kick it out, (my teammates) are going to knock down a shot,” Horston said. “Like I always say, I play to win. I just do what I need to do to try to win the game, and then whatever happens happens.”
Horston’s eighth assist on the night, and the 400th for her career, couldn’t have come at a bigger moment.
As Vanderbilt was clawing back into the game, Horston dished to Rickea Jackson who sealed the win.
Rickea Jackson continued her SEC dominance on Sunday, finishing with 21 points and five rebounds.
“It was big, having our two best scorers just step up in a big moment like that,” Karoline Striplin said. “Them leading the way gave us a lot of confidence on the defensive end, and just knowing that we can look to them in those moments is big.”
Striplin saw on Twitter that Horston was close to the milestone. While Horston doesn’t focus on her personal milestones over the team’s success, Striplin couldn’t hide her happiness.
“That was crazy,” Striplin said. “I was excited for her, I was excited for her in my mind.”
The Lady Vols shot 47.1% from the field, compared to Vanderbilt’s 47.4% on Sunday.
Karoline Striplin had a good day for the Lady Vols in the post, breaking Vanderbilt’s tough zone defense in the first. She finished with a career-high 13 points, and she grabbed six boards, with five being on the offensive end.
As the team rolls into the heart of its SEC schedule, Striplin is going to be a crucial component of their success.
“She’s a player that does all the little things,” Horston said of Striplin. “She doesn’t complain, she’s just ‘yes ma’am, I’m going to do this…. This is what I’m going to do for the team,’ and that’s what we need.”
Rickea Jackson continued her dominance, finishing with 23 points and five rebounds.
The game started out sloppy on both sides, but the Lady Vols got it going near the end of the first.
Tennessee ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run, thanks to four points by Horston and a steal and score from Jasmine Powell. The Lady Vols outscored Vanderbilt 18-9 in the first.
Vanderbilt matched Tennessee’s 20 points in the second as the Lady Vols failed to pull away.
Vanderbilt’s zone defense kept them in the game for much of Sunday.
“When we move the ball, man or zone, I think our offense is better,” head coach Kellie Harper said. “I think our productions pretty high in those moments. I thought we did a good job for the most part of cleaning up some misses.”
Tennessee did clean up misses as they finished with 20 offensive rebounds. The Lady Vols were able to put up 28-second chance points.
The rebounding has made a complete 180 from the start of the year.
“It’s all our players,” Harper said. “They, right now, have an urgency on the boards. They understand what they need to do. They’re giving more effort in that area, which is probably the biggest area of improvement.”
The Lady Vols found success out of halftime, creating separation and putting a dent in Vanderbilt’s airtight zone defense.
Vanderbilt did not go away quietly, coming alive down the stretch. The Commodores outscored Tennessee 23-19 in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit.
The Lady Vols have struggled to put away teams in the fourth. On Sunday, it came down to Tennessee’s lack of stops on the defensive end. At one point, the Commodores found a bucket on six straight possessions.
“It wasn’t just one thing,” Harper said. “It was just a little bit of everything, and that’s where we have to have a little bit more urgency going down the stretch, or in the second half be able to get more stops. If it’s worked (for the beginning of the game), you got to keep doing it. As the game evolves, you have to evolve with it.”
The Lady Vols now bus back to Knoxville before taking a trip to College Station to face off with the Aggies on Thursday.
