21st place, Kellie Harper’s Lady Vols, took a monumental turn on Thursday night at Thompson-Boling, defeating South Carolina’s No. 2 75-67, with 24 points from Rennia Davis. The victory broke the sequence of 31 Gamecocks games at the conference and was Lady Vols’ first victory over one of the top five since 2017.
“I am obviously very proud of our team and very proud of our effort in the second half when we got back in the game,” said Lady Vols coach Kellie Harper after the victory. “This basketball team is so good. His disciplined. They have a lot of talent and a lot of depth. They do things right at both ends of the court. I am very proud of our team for making the effort and making moves when we had to make them. We achieved a great victory. I am very happy and proud. “
All of Davis’ 24 points came in the second half, when she was one of three Lady Vols to score double digits. Point guard Rae Burrell made 9 of 17 field shots for 19 points, while point guard Jordan Horston added 12 points, respectively.
Second-year striker Aliyah Boston led South Carolina with 17 points and 16 rebounds. Cooke and Henderson scored 15 points each, while Tennessee kept the Gamecocks with 38.2% of shots for the game.
“The biggest problem was that we couldn’t make a basketball move, whether it was a simple pass on the high beam or doing readings,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. “We took the ball to the high post, but we couldn’t figure out how to get to the low post.”
Davis leads the comeback
The second quarter almost cost Lady Vols the game. Tennessee and South Carolina were tied for 16 – all at the end of the first quarter, but the Gamecocks beat Lady Vols by 21-9 in the second quarter. South Carolina had a 37-21 lead at halftime, as a result of holding UT in 31% of field shots.
Tennessee started the third quarter on fire. After being defeated by 12 in the second half and losing by up to 16, Lady Vols overcame South Carolina by 28 to 17 in the third to erase the deficit and lose by just one going to the fourth period.
“We did nothing schematically differently in the second half,” said Harper. “It was all about the interior. I challenged them and got a little agitated at the break, a lot of emotion. They obviously responded. I called them moles and said they needed to put on their big girl pants. They went out and did that. “
Davis led the attack for Tennessee. After going scoreless in the first half, the senior striker scored all 24 points of her game in the second half. She scored 11 of her points in the fourth game, when Lady Vols beat Carolina 22 to 13 in the fourth, to take the turnaround.
With his 24 points, Davis overtook Glory Johnson on the all-time scoring list, ranking 14th with 1,666 points. Her 12 rebounds also put her ahead of Dana Johnson for 15th place on the all-time rebound list, with 885. In addition, she recorded the 36th double-double of her career, drawing with Johnson in fourth place of all times in the UT doubles list.
“She (Harper) said we were playing soft, and I took it personally,” said Davis. “My first half – I just wasn’t doing enough for the team. I took it personally and so did my teammates. We got there and thought we had grown up in the second half.
“It’s very good for us to beat a team as good as South Carolina. I told the team before the game that this was our turning point for the season. We could have lost three in a row. Every year, since I got here, we lost to South Carolina, and today we moved forward and did what we needed. We didn’t get everything 100% right, but we kept fighting. I think it will take us further than anything this season. “
Fun with statistics
Tennessee’s 16-point comeback is the biggest comeback of the Harper era. Lady Vols came 13 down in the second quarter to defeat Ole Miss on January 28 and did the same against Missouri last season in the SEC Tournament. It was the program’s biggest recovery since Lady Vols erased a 20-point deficit in the third quarter with Stetson on December 5, 2018.
With the victory over the runner-up in South Carolina, Lady Vols has already defeated four ranked teams, the highest number of victories over ranked opponents since the 2017-18 season. It is also Harper’s victory as head coach. At NC State, she bet on. 5 Duke on March 2, 2012, 75-73.
Next
The Lady Vols return to action on Sunday with a trip to Athens to face No. 22 Georgia (16-4, 8-4 SEC) for a tip at 12 pm ET on the SEC Network. Georgia beat Lady Vols 67-66 earlier this season in Knoxville on January 14.