University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
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USA Women's National Team (Exhibition)
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Lady Vols Battle USA Women’s National Team, Fall 95-59
November 05, 2023 | Women's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- No. 11/12 Tennessee battled with the world's most dominant basketball program for four quarters, but the mighty USA Women's National Team prevailed, 95-59, in an exhibition game Sunday evening at Food City Center.
Fifth-year forward Rickea Jackson led the way for the Lady Vols and was the game's high scorer, tallying 15 points along with five rebounds and two steals. Fifth-year guard Jasmine Powell, who stands just 5-foot-6, was the game's tone-setter on the boards, pulling down seven caroms to help her team out-rebound the USA, 38-37.
Junior forward Jillian Hollingshead, facing players in the paint such as 6-9 Brittney Griner and 6-5 Aliyah Boston, tallied eight points and five rebounds. Senior guard/forward Tess Darby and junior guard Kaiya Wynn chipped in seven points each, with Darby leading her squad with two three-pointers and Wynn dishing out a team-high three assists.
Betnijah Laney led five Team USA players in double figures, firing in 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Jackie Young chipped in 13 points and dished out six assists, while Kahleah Cooper (12), Griner (11) and Diana Taurasi joined her in the 10-plus club. Sabrina Ionescu added a game-high nine assists to go with seven points.
The teams traded early baskets before two Taurasi threes spearheaded an 8-0 Team USA run to give it a 15-7 advantage with 5:03 left in the first quarter. Three-pointers from Lady Vols Powell and Darby cut the deficit to two, but Team USA responded with a 6-0 run to lead 23-15 after one.
The USA Women's National Team carried its momentum into the second period, scoring the first six points before a Jackson jumper cut the deficit to 29-17. Team USA connected on four shots behind the arc in the quarter, taking a 49-26 lead before Jackson connected on a trey followed by a jumper from Hollingshead.
Team USA started the third quarter with another run to lead 60-34 at the media timeout. Darby hit one of her two threes in the period, but the USA Women's National Team largely kept the Lady Vols at bay to lead 72-39 headed into the final quarter.
Wynn provided a fourth-quarter spark, converting a traditional three-point play and adding four additional free throws to finish 5-for-5 at the charity stripe. The three-point barrage from Team USA continued, as the squad added three more in the final quarter to finish 11-for-22 from deep in the contest. Tennessee also hit a trio of treys in the quarter to finish 9-for-23 (39%).
NEXT UP: Tennessee returns to Food City Center on Tuesday night to face Florida A&M in the season opener at 6:30 p.m. ET. SECN+ will stream the game live. The Rattlers are led by LVFL Bridgette Gordon, who is in her first year as head coach. Gordon played at UT from 1985-89, leading the Lady Vols to their first two NCAA titles in 1987 and 1989. She later served as an assistant coach from 2017-19 and has her replica No. 30 jersey in the rafters, high above The Summitt.
JACKSON LOOKING THE PART: After leading the USA AmeriCup Team in scoring over the summer and earning a spot on preseason all-conference teams and national player of the year watch lists, Rickea Jackson looked the part of a marquee player vs. Team USA. The fifth-year forward led all scorers in the game with 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 13 before intermission. Jackson, who averaged 19.2 ppg. a year ago in en route to All-SEC First Team honors and a top-five finish in the Cheryl Miller Award Small Forward of the Year voting, paced the Lady Vols with 17 points in the exhibition win over Carson-Newman on Oct. 30.
BATTLING ON THE BOARDS: The Lady Vols put up a tremendous rebounding effort, out-rebounding the USA Women's National Team, 38-37. Jasmine Powell led the way with seven rebounds, followed by Rickea Jackson and Jillian Hollingshead with five each.
ACE'S FIRST LADY VOL TREY – Guard Avery Strickland, a graduate of Farragut High School and native of Knoxville, hit her first two threes as a Lady Vol against the USA Women's National Team. In her freshman year at Pitt, Strickland led the Panthers with 39 three-pointers last season, hitting those with 33.9 percent accuracy.
JEWEL'S DEBUT – Senior Jewel Spear made her Lady Vol debut against Team USA, knocking down a three-pointer late in the third quarter. She missed the first exhibition game vs. Carson-Newman due to an ankle injury. Spear averaged 16.5 ppg. and hit 93 three-pointers at Wake Forest last season before transferring to Tennessee.
PAYING TRIBUTE TO NIKKI'S FAMILY: Between the first and second quarters, Tennessee publicly recognized the family of the late LVFL Nikki McCray-Penson. The Collierville, Tenn., native starred at Tennessee from 1991-95 and went on to win two gold medals with USA Basketball at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. She passed away on July 7, 2023, at the age of 51. As a USA player, McCray-Penson returned to Tennessee for a game just like tonight's, with the beloved Lady Vol singing the national anthem before the game and getting engaged to boyfriend Thomas Penson afterward. That game occurred on Nov. 22, 1995, when current Lady Vol head coach Kellie (Jolly) Harper was a freshman point guard for the Big Orange.
