GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Senior forward Rickea Jackson fired in a season-high 28 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to propel Tennessee to a 77-67 road win over Florida on Thursday night to open SEC play.
Jackson finished 10 of 13 from the field and eight of nine from the free-throw line, tallying 15 of her points in the second half on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 accuracy at the charity stripe.
The Lady Vols (9-6, 1-0 SEC) also got 15 points from senior guard Jordan Horston, who made up for first-half foul trouble with 12 second-half points on 5-of-9 shooting over the final 20 minutes at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. She saw only five minutes of action during the opening 20 minutes after picking up her second foul with 8:17 remaining in the second quarter.
Florida (11-3, 0-1 SEC), which was receiving votes in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, had four players in double figures, led by 21 points from Alberte Rimdal. KK Deans added 16, while Nina Rickards and Ra Shaya Kyle tossed in 11 each.
In winning for the fifth time in its past six games, Tennessee overcame an unsettled first half in which it committed an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers against an aggressive Gators defense. It did so by shooting 48 percent for the game, limiting UF to only three 3-pointers and outworking the home team on the glass, 45-27. UT's reserves also produced in a big way, outscoring Florida, 46-3, thanks in large part due to Jackson's 28-point effort in 25 minutes off the bench.
The teams traded baskets during the early going, as both squads seemed to feel their way through a choppy opening five minutes. A Jackson turnaround jumper in the paint put Tennessee up 6-4, before Florida's Rimdal tied it at six-all heading into the media timeout at the 4:47 mark. The Gators put together an 8-2 run out of that break, forging a 14-8 lead with 1:20 to go in the quarter. A 6-1 counter by the Lady Vols on back-to-back buckets from freshman Justine Pissott and a layup with two seconds left by sophomore Karoline Striplin, however, pulled UT to within one, 15-14, after the first 10 minutes.
Graduate Jasmine Franklin started the second period by drawing a foul and tying the score at 15 by knocking down one of two free throw attempts. She tied it again at 17 by the 9:04 mark, but Florida used a 5-0 burst to move ahead 22-17 with 8:17 left. Junior Tess Darby ended the run with a jumper on the next trip down the court, and thanks to a Jackson layup and old fashioned three-point play, followed by a Darby three, the Lady Vols were able to seize the lead back at 27-25 at the 4:59 media break. Jackson continued building her 13-point halftime ledger with a put-back and jumper to push the advantage to 31-25, forcing UF to call a timeout with 2:56 left in the half.
The Gators collected themselves and evened the score at 31 on a bucket by Rimdal, and two more from Deans. Jasmine Powell's old-fashioned three-point play with 57 ticks left pushed her team back in front, 34-31, and a pair of Jackson free throws with 26 seconds left sent the Lady Vols into the locker room with a 36-31 lead.
Tennessee built its advantage to nine on a Horston layup and Sara Puckett turnaround jumper, 40-31, in the first minute and a half of the third quarter, forcing Florida to take a timeout. Horston then buried a three from the left corner to make it 43-31 at the 7:54 mark. Following a Rimdal free throw, a Jackson jumper boosted UT's lead to 13, 45-32, with 5:07 to go in the quarter before the Gators used a 5-2 burst to cut the gap to 45-36 by the media timeout at 3:59. UT stretched the lead to 13 again, 53-40, at the 1:37 mark, fueled by a pair of Jackson buckets and layups by Horston and Powell. The Gators outscored the Lady Vols the rest of the period, 6-3, with Jackson's three-point play helping the Big Orange carry a 56-46 margin into the final frame.
A Puckett layup gave UT a 12-point fourth-quarter lead, 58-46, which Tennessee maintained through a UT-called timeout at the 8:45 mark. Florida kept fighting back, though, trimming the lead to six on three occasions and five on two others, but layups by Horston at the 6:36 and 6:05 marks turned back the Gators. A pair of free throws by Jackson with 4:53 remaining and by Jordan Walker with 4:20 to go also stemmed a determined UF squad and help UT cling to a 68-61 advantage.
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