KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee women’s basketball lost to No. 1 South Carolina 73-60 on Thursday night inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Lady Vols went toe to toe with South Carolina early, tied up at 10 points apiece.
Then the Lady Vols closed out the quarter on a 9-0 run to lead 19-10 at the break. Jillian Hollingshead, Rickea Jackson, Jordan Horston and Jasmine Franklin all scored on the run.
Tennessee shot 53.3% from the floor in the first quarter and held South Carolina to just 25 percent shooting in the first frame.
UT got up by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, up 26-16. South Carolina turned up their level of play and went on a 17-0 run and got up 33-26.
The Lady Vols went on an over-six-minute stretch without scoring in the second quarter.
Karoline Striplin made a three-pointer before the second quarter came to a close to stop the bleeding and made it 33-29 at halftime with the Lady Vols trailing.
Tennessee shot 18.8% in the second period, shooting 3 of 16 from the floor.
Tennessee trailed 37-33 with 7:35 left in the third quarter, South Carolina then went on a 9-0 run to claim a double-digit lead, leading 46-33 following a three-pointer from Kierra Fletcher.
The Gamecocks led 59-41 heading into the fourth quarter. The Lady Vols were outscored by 14 in the third quarter and shot 21.4% from the field. South Carolina shot 64.3% in the third quarter.
The Lady Vols found a spark in the fourth quarter. They went on a 10-2 run to get within 10 points. They got within 8 points following a Hollingshead jumper with 4:51 left in regulation.
Tennessee was down 67-58 with 4:14 to go. The Lady Vols couldn’t find much scoring from that point onwards and South Carolina hit some shots to put the game away.
The Gamecocks won 73-60.
Zia Cooke led the way for South Carolina with 19 points. Jackson scored 21 points for Tennessee.
The Lady Vols close out the regular season on the road against Kentucky on Sunday at 2 p.m. with the three seeds already locked up for the SEC Tournament.
