KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Monday night, the Tennessee Lady Vols took on Arkansas in the Play4Kay game inside Food City Center. The game honored former Lady Vol Tasha Butts, who passed away in October of 2023 due to breast cancer.
Tennessee held the lead the entire time, and the 81-55 blowout win was the team's eighth SEC win of the season.
The Lady Vols started hot with a 12-0 run. Jewel Spear had two from deep early on, and the team was doing an excellent job grabbing offensive boards and being aggressive on both sides.
Tennessee was up 27-13 at the end of the first quarter and Rickea Jackson led with 10 points. The Lady Vols also shot 50% from the field and went 4-6 in those first ten minutes.
By the end of the first half, the Lady Vols were up by double figures and Jackson stayed leading in points 17 of her own at halftime.
Spear broke almost a three-minute scoring drought in the third quarter with her third three of the night. The 5th year transfer was perfect from beyond the arc at this point in the game.
Karoline Striplin knocked down a three of her own a few possessions later to give the lady Vols a 24-point lead, and to end the third quarter, Hollingshead grabbed a second offensive board, passed to Striplin, and she layed one in to end the quarter, 63-37.
In the fourth quarter, Tennessee continued to dominate on both sides of the ball. Avery Strickland saw some action towards the end. The sophomore guard hit a corner three, and her score gave every player who entered the matchup at least two points.
Jillian Hollingshead ended the night with a double-double. She had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Hollingshead had been stuck in a slump over a long stretch of games, so this game boosted her confidence right before a tough stretch of SEC games.
The Lady Vols shot 53.3% from the three and 41.8% from the field, being aggressive and persistent on offense throughout the game.
The win will need to give Tennessee momentum as the team heads into its toughest matchup of the season so far.
The South Carolina Gamecocks come to town on Thursday, Feb. 15, for a 7 p.m. tip-off inside the Food City Center.
