University of Tennessee Athletics
#5 Lady Vols Withstand #22 Georgia, 59-51
January 25, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2015
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Fifth-ranked Tennessee got a career-high 15 points from Jordan Reynolds and some timely 3-pointers from Ariel Massengale as it survived No. 22 Georgia, 59-51, in a frenetic, high-pace SEC contest at Thompson-Boling Arena. With the win, UT earns its 13th straight SEC victory and its 16th straight at home dating back to last season.
The win was also the 100th career victory for Tennessee's seniors as a group. The trio of Cierra Burdick, Isabelle Harrison, and Massengale improve to 100-26 in its tenure on Rocky Top, including a 5-0 mark against Georgia.
As a team, UT (17-3, 7-0 SEC) shot just 34 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers, but prevailed behind a big 45-29 edge on the glass and a stellar 20-of-21 mark from the free throw line. The Lady Vols actually converted their first 20 freebies of the contest, matching the program's best mark since going a perfect 20-for-20 against LSU in 1988.
The 95 percent mark from the charity stripe ranks seventh-best in program history.
On the other hand, the 22nd-ranked Lady Bulldogs (17-4, 5-3 SEC) finished the game at just under 37 percent shooting, including a 6-of-24 mark from beyond the arc. UGA committed 14 turnovers amidst the up-and-down pace while going just 3-of-7 at the free throw line.
Harrison finished just a point and a rebound shy of the double-double, posting nine points and nine boards on the afternoon. She is now just three points shy of joining the 1,000 point club at Tennessee.
A true game of runs, Tennessee took a 30-25 lead into the intermission behind a 16-3 run to close the half. This spurt came on the heels of a 17-3 run midway through the opening period from UGA as it enjoyed a 22-14 lead at one point.
Despite the perceived momentum favoring UT at the break, it was all Georgia to start the second period in keeping true to the script established in the first half. The Lady Bulldogs scored the first 10 points of the frame and forced five Lady Vol turnovers in keeping UT off the board for over eight minutes to start the second period. But once Burdick broke the seal with a put-back layup at the 11:48 mark, the Lady Vol offense began to settle in.
Burdick's bucket sparked what would become a 12-0 run for the Orange and White, restoring the UT advantage to 42-35 by the 9:02 mark. After a driving, coast-to-coast layup from Massengale brought the Lady Vols to within one at 35-34, the senior then stepped back from beyond the arc to bury her first three of the ballgame to put UT in front 37-35. A baseline jumper from Reynolds preceded a three-point play from Harrison to put UT back up seven.
Unsurprisingly, UGA -- which entered the contest off back-to-back home wins over Vanderbilt and No. 10 Texas A&M -- refused to go away against the swinging momentum. Eight of the next 10 points went to the visitor as the Lady Bulldogs found themselves back in front at 45-44 after Pachis Roberts connected on Georgia's fifth made three of the ballgame.
The lead was short-lived, though. Harrison converted another three-point sequence to see the Lady Vols in front 47-45 with 5:51 to go, and after a UT defensive stop, Burdick got loose for a layup to push the advantage to two possessions.
UT maintained its advantage over the ensuing stretch, holding onto a 51-46 edge as the clock ticked beneath three minutes to play. It was at the 2:49 mark when Massengale effectively put things out of reach when her straightaway triple gave Tennessee its largest lead of the game at 54-46.
The eight-point advantage, coupled with UT's nearly flawless effort at the free-throw line, was more than enough for the Lady Vols to ride out the victory to stay perfect in SEC play with just one game left on the January calendar.
UGA was led by 14 points from forward Mackenzie Engram. The freshman scored the Lady Bulldogs' first 10 points of the contest and took 12 into the halftime break. She had entered the contest averaging 7.8 points per game. Senior Krista Donald added 12 points and a team-high five rebounds for the visitors.
Jaime Nared scored all seven of her points in the first half and Alexa Middleton finished with five to her name.
The Lady Vols will take its unblemished SEC mark on the road next week as it travels to Lexington to face No. 14 Kentucky on Thursday night. From there, UT returns home for a 3 p.m. meeting with a Mississippi State squad ranked 20th in the coaches' poll next Sunday. Both games will be televised on the SEC Network.