KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Tennessee women's basketball had no trouble in their first exhibition game of the season against Carson-Newman on Monday night, winning 105-72.
The Lady Vols jumped out to a double-digit 19-9 lead after the first media timeout. Sara Puckett scored 7 of those points and Jillian Hollingshead scored 6 of those points.
The Lady Eagles went on a small run to get within 21-17. Greeneville, Tennessee native Braelyn Wykle played a major part in Carson-Newman chipping away as she had 11 points up until that point. However, UT got back up by double digits by the end of the first quarter, leading 31-20.
During the first quarter, Lady Vols center Tamari Key made her long-anticipated return to the court. Key had to miss most of last season after blood clots were found in her lungs, but after a long recovery, she was able to play in UT's exhibition.
The Lady Vols dominated through the first media timeout of the second quarter. They held the Lady Eagles to just 30 percent shooting, shot 70 percent from the floor and went on an 18-4 to build a 23-point lead with 4:54 left until halftime. Rickea Jackson had 9 of those 18 points in the run. Tennessee led 59-34 at halftime.
LVFL Jordan Horston, who currently plays in the WNBA for the Seattle Storm, was at the game and was recognized during a timeout in the third quarter,
Tennessee led by as many as 36 points as they went on to win.
The Lady Vos had six double-digit scorers. Jackson led the way with 17 points, Puckett finished with 12 points, Kaiya Wynn had 12 points, Destinee Wells added 11 points and Hollingshead scored 10 points.
Wykle finished with 15 points for Carson-Newman.
Tennessee plays another exhibition game on Sunday before the regular season begins against Florida A&M on Nov. 7. They play the USA Women's National Team on Nov. 5 at 6 p.m.
