KNOXVILLE— The Lady Vols are making a habit of impressive second half performances. Thursday, the Lady Vols outscored No. 18 South Carolina by 18 points after intermission. Tonight, Tennessee followed suit by besting No. 10 Georgia by 15 points in the final 20 minutes of play en route to a 79-66 victory.

The Lady Bulldogs led Tennessee at the half 42-40 and led by as many as six multiple times. That mattered little once the Lady Vols got on track in the second half.

“Can we play a first half? We get ourselves in a hole, but I was really proud of our effort and us coming back in the second half (of the first half), cutting the lead. Then, playing like we know we should play the second half,” Warlick said.

“I would really like us to play a 40-minute game, for us to start off a lot better. As a coach, it’s about finishing the job, getting the job done. It’s not how you start, but how you finish, but I would like to come out of the gates a little faster. This team doesn’t give up, and as a coach you’re excited about that. We got down, but we came back. I love that from us.”

Tennessee’s comeback was mounted due to a defense which forced Georgia to miss eight of their frst 10 shots of the second half and held the Lady Bulldogs to just 29% shooting after the break. Tennessee also kept the visitors off the glass, limiting Georgia to just nine rebounds after intermission.

Jones scored a career-high 12 points against Georgia.
Photo by Reed Carringer

The Lady Vols were led by Bashaara Graves (23 points, 8 rebounds) and Meighan Simmons (16 points on 6-12 shooting). Taber Spani joined Graves and Simmons in double-figures with 11 points; however, perhaps the most encouraging effort came from freshman Jasmine Jones. In 23 minutes of play, Jones scorer a career-high with 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds. With the absence of the injured Burdick, Jones’ play will be key for Tennessee as SEC play continues.

“Today, you saw the Jasmine Jones that we know can play. I told her after the game that she’s an X-factor for us. She’s athletic, she shoots the ball well, she’s a great rebounder and she’s a great defender. I think today, she finally got comfortable in the game. I think in other games, she got into a little bit of foul trouble and we had to pull her, she never got into a rhythm,” Warlick said.

“I thought she played smart, she got huge rebounds for us, hit big baskets for us and that’s what we expect from JJ. That’s what we expect from her, that or better. We will not
accept anything under that.”

Up Next: The Lady Vols welcome Missouri to town for their first every trip to Thompson-Boling Arena Thursday evening at 8 p.m. TV: Sports South.