The Tennessee women’s basketball team (7-1, 1-0 SEC) defeated No. 13 Arkansas (10-3, 1-2 SEC) 88-73 Thursday night to begin SEC play. The win was the Lady Vols’ second against a top-15 ranked team this season, after beating No. 15 Indiana in December.
Senior Rennia Davis and junior Rae Burrell led Tennessee’s scoring with 26 points each, in their first game in ten days following a COVID-19 pause. Davis also totaled 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals, her 33rd career double-double, passing Tamika Catchings for fifth all-time in school history.
Additionally, Davis, who was named to the Wooden Midseason List this afternoon, passed the 1,500-point and 800-rebound mark, with a career total of 1,512 points and 803 rebounds.
Burrell added five rebounds, an assist and two steals. She has led or been tied for team lead in points in five of the Lady Vols’ first seven games. Tennessee also got double figure points from senior Kasiyahna Kushkituah and sophomore Jordan Horston, who each scored eleven.
“They both play really aggressively,” head coach Kellie Harper said of Davis and Burrell. “It looks different, but they play aggressively, and that’s really good. You’ve got to account for both of them. They can shoot. They do a nice job in the paint. I think their styles are coming at you very differently, but because of their aggressiveness and their explosiveness, guarding both of them when they’re playing like this is really hard.”
The Lady Vols showed some rust to start the game. Freshman Marta Suárez scored the game’s first basket, but then Tennessee’s offense dried out. Arkansas scored seven straight points, including five from Makayla Daniels, and took a 7-2 lead just over two minutes into play.
Tennessee found its footing and took the lead late in the first quarter. Davis and Burrell each scored four points in that run, capped off with two free throws from Jordan Horston that tied the score and then gave Tennessee the lead.
Kushkituah, Jordan Walker and Horston all added scores before the quarter’s end, but led by just one to end the first, 18-17.
Tennessee and Arkansas traded several baskets to open the second, including six points from Davis, a three-pointer from freshman Destiny Salary and two threes’ from Arkansas’ Daniels.
With the score tied at 29 apiece, Chelsea Dungee hit a free throw for the Razorbacks to take a 30-29 lead. Burrell followed shortly with a good jumper to put the Lady Vols ahead, and they would hold the lead for the rest of the game.
Kushlituah (4 points), Davis (4) and Burrell (3) all added scores before the half to give Tennessee a 42-35 lead.
The third quarter was the Lady Vols’ best offensive showing of the night, with 28 points in the frame. Everything seemed to go Tennessee’s way, including a 11-2 run spanning three minutes, where the Lady Vols took a 60-44 lead, with six points from Davis.
Arkansas’ Destiny Slocum countered with a quick three, but Kuskituah and Burrell each added a basket as Tennessee pulled ahead to a 17-point lead, its largest margin at this point of the game.
The two schools traded scores for the last two minutes of the third, until a Davis jumper put Tennessee ahead 70-55 entering the fourth.
Arkansas was more evenly matched with the Lady Vols in the fourth quarter, as both teams scored 18 points, but Tennessee played well enough to close out the quarter.
The Lady Vols had a more balanced scoring in the fourth than previous quarters, with Davis, Walker, Kuskituah, Horston and Burrell all scoring. Tennessee would end the game with a 15-point win, 88-73.
“(The win) means a lot,” Davis said. “And rankings don’t mean that much, but it’s everyone else’s opinion. So, for us it is to come out there and just prove everyone else wrong, and that’s what we just did. We already know we are a good team and know what we are capable of doing. We just wanted to prove everybody else wrong.”
On the night, Tennessee had an impressive 53.6% shooting on field goals, while shooting over 60% in the second and third quarters (64.7 and 63.2). On the other side, the Lady Vols held Arkansas, a usually high percentage shooting team, to just 31.9% on field goals.
Dungee paced the Razorbacks offense, ending the night with 30 points and seven rebounds. Slocum and Amber Ramirez also finished with double figure points, 17 and 15, respectively.
Tennessee also dominated the night in the paint. The Lady Vols, of course, had an apparent size advantage. Arkansas’ tallest starter was 6-foot-1 Taylah Thomas, while every one of Tennessee’s starters was 6-foot-1 or taller (Burrell was the shortest at 6-foot-1).
The Lady Vols scored 52 points in the paint to Arkansas’ 20, and out rebounded the Razorbacks 49-36.
Tennessee had to play a complete, clean game of basketball to earn the upset, and that’s exactly what the Lady Vols did.
“I think (the win) says that we’ve got a talented team,” Harper said. “We can win games. I think it also shows quite a bit of resilience and focus. Our team was ready to play. They have been ready to play. I think people can see that. If you watched that game, I think you can see that our players were excited to be out there.”
Tennessee will travel to Baton Rouge Sunday for a matchup with LSU (4-5, 2-1 SEC). Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on SECN+.
