KNOXVILLE, Tenn — Tennessee women's basketball came out of halftime firing to race past UCF inside Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday night and score their third win in a row.
Sophomore guard Sara Puckett provided a spark to start the frame with a pair of threes and a couple of heads-up plays in transition to help UT outscore the Golden Knights 34-10 in the third quarter en route to a 99-64 win.
Tennessee went into the half up by three, and senior guard Jordan Horston said the big performance in the third quarter was the result of a fiery speech from the head coach at halftime.
"Coach Kellie [Harper] got on us really, really hard," Horston said. "It worked. We don't want to start like that anymore. She lost her voice, by the way."
Freshman Justine Pissott turned in her best scoring performance to date for Tennessee. The former five-star recruit scored a new career-high 14 points in the Lady Vols' win, including a 5-for-8 field goal shooting performance.
"She just looked more comfortable," said Kellie Harper, the Tennessee head coach. "You don't just snap your fingers and do that. She's worked to get there. I'm really happy to see it pay off."
The Lady Vols are riding their longest winning streak of the season, but they put it to the test against their toughest matchup yet. Tennessee will go on the road to face second-ranked Stanford on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 3 p.m. The Cardinal is 10-1 this season and has won its last five games.
