In a thriller, #6 Tennessee won its first road game against a top-10 team since 2008 with a 73-72 victory at #10 Kentuckyon Thursdaynight at Memorial Coliseum.
The Lady Vols remained perfect in the SEC at 8-0 and moved to 18-3 overall. Tennessee has now won 14 consecutive games vs. SEC opponents. Kentucky fell to 16-4 overall, 5-3 in the league. The Wildcats' 12-game home win streak came to an end.
Kentucky had four shots in the final 20 seconds to take the lead, but the Lady Vols' defense came up big as both Jordan Reynolds and Andraya Carter had blocked shots in the final seconds to secure the victory.
The game was within two possessions for the entire night, with neither team leading by more than six points. The contest was tied seven times and the lead changed hands 12 times.
Senior Isabelle Harrison led Tennessee with 19 points (8-of-12 from the floor) and 10 rebounds. Classmate Cierra Burdick tallied 16, making 7-of-13. Junior Bashaara Graves added 11 points.
The Lady Vols' last win over a top-10 foe came on Jan. 28, 2008, a 67-64 win at #9 Duke in Durham, N.C.
Makayla Epps led all scorers with 23 for Kentucky. Jennifer O'Neill and Alexis Jennings each scored 12.
Tennessee shot 60.0 from the floor in the second half as they rallied back from a halftime deficit.
Harrison's free throw with4:18remaining put the Lady Vols up 63-62, just their second lead of the second half. After the teams exchanged turnovers, Kentucky regained the lead at 63-62 on a lay-up by Makalya Epps.
Graves gave Tennessee the lead for for the Lady Vols with a pair of foul shots, 65-64, with3:47left. Harrison's jumper pushed the lead to three at 67-64 with3:22left.
Another Harrison jumper put the Lady Vols up 69-65 with2:46left. A banker by Carter with the shot clock winding down put the Lady Vols up 71-66 with two minutes left -- that was Tennessee's largest lead of the game.
Kentucky's Epps nailed a 3-pointer out of timeout to back within two, 71-69 with1:41left. Harrison pushed the margin back to two possessions with a jumper, 73-69, with1:24left. That was Tennessee's fifth consecutive successful field goal.
Epps hit another trey for the Wildcats to make it one point game, 73-72 at1:16.
The Wildcats had four shots to take the lead in the final 20 seconds but O'Neill missed a 3-pointer, Epps missed a short jumper, Jennings was blocked by Reynolds and O'Neill was swatted by Carter as time expired.
That set off a celebration for the Lady Vols, as they beat a ranked top-10 foe on the road for the first time in 2,558 days, spanning 250 gams.
Tennessee battled back after trailing most of the second half.
Ariel Massengale knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game at 60-60 with5:42left in the game. That tied the game for the first time since it was even at 45 with11:31left in the second half.
The Lady Vols grabbed a short-lived lead, 45-44, at11:53on back-to-back buckets by Jaime Nared with 12 minutes to go. That would be the Lady Vols only lead of the second half until there were less than five minutes to go.
Kentucky took the largest lead of the half into the locker room, 31-25 at halftime. The Wildcats scored the final five points of the half to build that six-point advantage.
Both teams struggled from the floor in the first half as Kentucky shot 37.1 percent and the Lady Vols made 36.7 overall, missing all five 3-point field goal attempts.
Tennessee returns to actionon Sundayas Mississippi State comes to Knoxville for a3 p.m., tip. That game airs on the SEC Network and can be heard on the Lady Vol Network.