Senior Ariel Massengale scored 15 of her game-high 17 points in the second half, including her 1,000th career point, as #6 Tennessee beat #10 Kentucky, 72-58.
After playing a one-point thriller in Lexington three weeks ago, Tennessee and Kentucky played another hotly-contested gameon Sundayafternoon. The Lady Vols won their 19th consecutive game against an SEC opponent in front of a season-high 16,013 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The Lady Vols used a 14-2 run, spurred by Massengale, midway through the second half to take control in building a double-figure lead that Kentucky was never able to overcome.
The Lady Vols (22-3 overall) have won 18 of their last 19 games and stayed perfect in the SEC at 12-0.
Massengale led five double-figures scorers for the Lady Vols. She was joined by Cierra Burdick (14), Bashaara Graves (11), Isabelle Harrison (11) and Jaime Nared (10).
Kentucky is now 19-6 and 8-4 in the SEC. The Wildcats had four in double-figures: Makayla Epps (13), Jennifer O'Neill (12), Bria Goss (10) and Linnae Harper (10).
Tennessee has now won its last 18 home games dating to its last game vs. Kentucky in Knoxville. The Wildcats handed the Lady Vols their last home loss, one day shy of a year ago on Feb. 16, 2014 with a 75-71 win.
The Lady Vols' last loss versus an SEC team came in that game against Kentucky last season.
Massengale became the third Lady Vol to score her 1,000th career point in a five-game span joining Harrison (at Kentucky, Jan. 29) and Graves (vs. Mississippi State, Feb. 1). She connected on a clutch 3-pointer with13:33left in regulation to put the Lady Vols up 45-37.
In a tight game, Tennessee scored seven consecutive points keyed by Massengale's 3-pointer to take that seven-point lead. Tennessee put together a 14-2 run to take the game's first double-figure lead at 51-40 with10:51left in the game. Massengale converted a pivotal 3-point play during the spurt and had nine points in the run.
Kentucky crept back within four points on two occasions in the final seven minutes of the game, but the Lady Vols surged out to a 16-point lead thanks to a 14-2 run in the final minutes. Massengale's jumper with 55 seconds remaining gave the Lady Vols' a 72-56 advantage, their largest of the game.
The teams were even through 20 minutes, standing deadlocked at 31 at halftime. Burdick, Harrison and Nared all had six points in the first half for the Lady Vols. Goss led the Wildcats with seven.
Tennessee suffered a tremendous blow as senior leading scorer and rebounder Harrison was carried off the court after suffering an apparent injury less than a minute into the second half.
Tennessee will host Alabama on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. That game will air on Fox Sports Net and can be heard on the Lady Vol Network.