Tennessee Drops Thriller At No. 2/2 Stanford, 77-70

Sunday, December 18

Stanford, CA

3:00 P.M.

University of Tennessee

7-6,0-0SEC

Stanford

11-1,0-0Pac-12

Tennessee

Stanford

December 18, 2022 | Women's Basketball

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STANFORD, Calif. – Tennessee dropped a hard-fought contest at No. 2/2 Stanford on Sunday, falling 77-70 in Maples Pavilion in a contest that featured 15 lead changes and seven ties.

Senior Jordan Horston was the top performer for UT (7-6), recording her third double-double of the season with 19 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high tying four steals. Senior Rickea Jackson and sophomore Sara Puckett were also in double figures with 14 and 11, respectively.

Stanford (11-1) was led by Cameron Brink, who finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds. Haley Jones and Hannah Jump were also top scorers, logging 19 each.

Tennessee forced a turnover on Stanford's first possession, and Horston turned it into two points on the other end to get UT on the board first. Jones scored SU's first points of the game on the next play before the Lady Vols were called for four fouls in the span of 40 seconds, resulting in two made free throws that gave Stanford its first lead of the game at 4-2 at the 7:45 mark. Back-to-back treys by sophomore Sara Puckett had UT back on top at 10-6 a little over a minute later, and the Lady Vols held on to a lead until two free throws off an administrative technical put Stanford ahead 11-10 with 5:21 to go in the quarter. The Cardinal went up three off a Brink layup on its next possession, and UT cut it down to one before a 5-1 run by Stanford stretched its lead to five. Jasmine Franklin and Horston each hit a free throw to close out the quarter, pulling the Big Orange within three at 20-17.

Graduate Jordan Walker drove into the lane and knocked down a layup five seconds into the second quarter to whittle the deficit down to one, and a jumper by Horston put the Lady Vols back on top a minute later. The Cardinal responded with a 6-0 run, but Puckett hit a long-range jumper to end the drought and drained her third three of the game 40 seconds later to pull UT within two at 28-26. Jones hit a layup for SU on the next play, but an old-fashioned three-point play by redshirt sophomore Marta Suárez cut it to one by the 4:53 mark. Agnes Emma-Nnopu hit the second of a pair of free throws for Stanford, but Suárez hit a second layup on the other side of the court to tie it up at 31-all with 3:37 left in the half. Another free throw put the Cardinal back on top, but a steal and score by Horston gave UT a one-point advantage with 2:12 to go. The game was tied again at 33 before Stanford went up by two off a Jump layup, but Horston hit a contested jumper at the buzzer to set the halftime score at 35-all.

Brink scored the first points of the second half from the free-throw line to put SU up by two, but junior Tess Darby answered with a trey on the other end to produce the eighth lead change of the game. There would be five additional lead changes and a tie over the next three and a half minutes before Darby stole the ball at half court and hit a fastbreak layup to put the Lady Vols ahead 46-44 at the media timeout. Senior Jasmine Powell converted on a pair of free throws following the timeout, and senior Rickea Jackson followed it up with buckets on back-to-back possessions to extend UT's lead to 52-44 with 3:37 left in the third. Brink ended the scoreless stretch for SU with a pair of free throws, and the teams traded baskets through the end of the quarter with Suárez putting the Lady Vols back ahead by eight with 50 seconds on the clock. Brink responded on the other end, knocking down a three at the buzzer to send the game into the final stanza with UT leading 58-53.

Brink struck again to start the fourth, scoring four of six straight Stanford points that gave the Cardinal the lead at 59-58 with 7:58 left in the game. A 3-pointer by Jump extended SU's lead to four before Franklin hit a jumper with 6:35 on the clock to end the skid. Tennessee's offensive woes continued, as Stanford launched into an 8-1 run to lead by nine with just under four to play, but Horston came up with a steal and turned it into two points to give UT a spark. A series of offensive rebounds allowed Stanford to manage the clock, running it down to 1:51 before Jones scored on a layup to put the Cardinal up 72-63. Jackson responded with a quick bucket on the other end, but a trey by Jump gave Stanford a 10-point lead with just over a minute to play. That lead would hold until Horston and Jackson combined for five points in the final 44 seconds of the game while UT limited SU to two free throws. The comeback attempt came up short as, the clock ran out and Stanford took a 77-70 victory.

UP NEXT: The Lady Vols will be back in action on Dec. 27, taking on Wofford in a 6:30 p.m. ET matchup that will be streamed on SECN+.

PUCK3TT BUCK3TTS: Sophomore Sara Puckett knocked down three 3-pointers in the first half, logging her third game of the season with multiple threes and tying her career high of three treys. Over the last two contests, she is shooting 50 percent from behind the arc, hitting five of 10 attempts. Covering her last four games, Puckett is averaging 10.8 points.

TURNOVERS IN CHECK: Tennessee committed just five turnovers against Stanford, their lowest turnover total of the season and of the Harper era. They have now finished three straight contests (9/6/5) with single-digit turnovers, marking the first time in program history a Lady Vol squad has accomplished that feat.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE NUMBER THREE FOR JORDY: Jordan Horston carded her team-leading third double-double of the season and 16th of her career. It also stands as UT's fifth double-double of the year.