Game Recap: Women’s Basketball | January 12, 2025
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper led four players in double figures with her eighth 20-point effort of the season, as No. 16/15 Tennessee rolled past Arkansas, 93-63, on Sunday afternoon at Bud Walton Arena.
Cooper scored exactly 20 points vs. the Razorbacks on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and added a game-high four steals to lead the Lady Vols (14-2, 2-2 SEC). Junior forward Zee Spearman knocked down a career-best trio of three-pointers to tally 18 points and eight rebounds, while junior guard Ruby Whitehorn supplied 17 points and senior forward Sara Puckett was a rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine boards. In her return to Fayetteville, where she spent her first three college seasons, senior point guard Samara Spencer directed UT’s offense with eight assists and no turnovers while adding four rebounds and three steals.
Arkansas (8-11, 1-3 SEC) was paced by Izzy Higginbottom, who led all scorers with 26 points. Carly Keats was the only other Razorback scoring in double figures, tossing in10.
Spearman got the Lady Vols on the scoreboard first, nailing a three-pointer from the left corner to put her team up 3-0 just 26 seconds into the contest. Arkansas pushed back, building a three-point lead at 9-6 with 7:53 to go on an old fashioned three-point play by Higginbottom. UT, though, would use a 10-2 surge on a pair of buckets by Whitehorn, a put-back by Cooper and a steal and layup by Kaniya Boyd to build a 16-11 lead by the 4:43 media timeout. Cooper struck again, knocking down a trey with 3:22 to go to provide Tennessee its largest lead, at 19-12, and a three by Puckett at the 1:51 mark ended the scoring in the first frame with a 22-16 Big Orange advantage.
Spencer began the second stanza for the Lady Vols with a three-ball at the 9:04 mark, and Puckett followed suit with a deep-ball with 8:37 remaining to make it 28-18 for the visitors. A Cooper steal and layup and a Puckett free throw ballooned the UT lead to 31-18 with 6:16 to go. Arkansas would not go quietly, tallying the next six points to cut the deficit to 31-24 by the 3:49 media timeout. The Razorbacks extended a mini run to eight, trimming the gap to 31-26 with 3:49 remaining, but an 11-2 burst by the Lady Vols expanded the advantage to 14, 42-28, at the 1:52 mark, with a trio of free throws by Jewel Spear and steals and layups by Whitehorn and Alyssa Latham forcing an Arkansas timeout. A Cooper layup and a Spear three-pointer helped the Big Orange carry a 47-33 lead into the intermission.
A quick four points by Cooper, a put-back by Whitehorn and a three-pointer from Tess Darby expanded the lead to 19 points at the 7:41 mark of the third period, forcing Arkansas to ask for time. Tennessee continued to hit its stride, getting a pair of Cooper charity tosses, a Spearman layup, another Darby trey and a Jillian Hollingshead layup to grow the gap to 24 by the 3:46 media break. UT closed out the frame with an 8-6 differential, with Spearman netting a three, pair of layups and a free throw to account for all of UT’s scoring and send the Lady Vols into the final stanza with a 73-47 cushion.
Tennessee carried a 78-52 lead into the 5:28 media timeout in the fourth quarter, getting a Cooper jumper and free throw and a Spearman layup. UT continued to pour it on, using a 9-3 burst to force a UA timeout with 3:34 remaining after a trey and-one by Hollingshead, a layup by Puckett and the third three-pointer from Spearman to make it 87-55. Head coach Kim Caldwell subsequently cleared the bench, and her squad closed out at 30-point road win.
UP NEXT: The Lady Vols return home to host Mississippi State on Thursday night at Food City Center in Tennessee’s “We Back Pat” game. Tip-off between the Big Orange and the Bulldogs is set for 7 p.m. with SEC Network televising the action. The game also will be available on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com.
JEWEL JOINS THE 2K CLUB: Jewel Spear became the 10th player in program history to reach and surpass 2,000 career points. Spear sank her 2,000th point on a free throw at the 2:38 mark in the second quarter. The fifth-year guard finished with six points, two rebounds and six assists against Arkansas. Spear became the fifth transfer to hit 2K, joining fellow transfers Rickea Jackson (Mississippi State), Cindy Brogdon (Mercer), Jill Rankin (Wayland Baptist) and Patricia Roberts (Emporia State), who also reached that plateau. Sunday’s contest against the Hogs marked Spear’s 136th career game, her 47th as a Lady Vol.
ANOTHER COOP 20-PIECE: Talaysia Cooper netted her eighth 20-plus performance of the season and her career, tallying a team-leading 20 points. Cooper hit seven of 14 field goals and knocked down one of three three-pointers. The redshirt sophomore finished with three rebounds, two assists and four steals. Cooper’s last 20-point scoring affair came against LSU on Jan. 9, when she carded 24 points.
SPENCER DROPPIN’ DIMES: Senior point guard Samara Spencer carded eight assists with no turnovers vs. her old school. It tied her second highest total of the season and pushed her totals to 88 assists vs. 26 turnovers on the season. Her flawless effort with the ball was her third this year without turning the ball over.
HOT FROM THREE: Tennessee carded its 12th performance of knocking down ten or more three-pointers in a single contest, hitting 12 against the Hogs. Eight Lady Vols made a three-pointer, with Zee Spearman leading the charge with three. Tennessee notched its highest three-point game against N.C. Central, draining an NCAA, SEC and school-record 30 treys. The Lady Vols have tallied 10 or more three-pointers against the following programs: N.C. Central (30), MTSU (15), Liberty (14), Tulsa (14), Memphis (12), Arkansas (12), LSU (11), Western Carolina (10), Winthrop (10), Texas A&M (10), Oklahoma (10) and Samford (10).
DANGEROUS ON DEFENSE: The Lady Vols forced Arkansas to turn the ball over a total of 22 times during Sunday’s win, posting a 28-2 advantage on points off turnovers and racking up 15 steals for its 12th double-digit effort in that category. Arkansas’s two points were the fewest points Tennessee has allowed off of turnovers all season long. Twelve of Tennessee’s foes thus far have committed at least 22 miscues: NC Central (44), Samford (37), Western Carolina (37), Oklahoma (31), UT Martin (31), Iowa (30), Winthrop (30), Texas A&M (25), Liberty (25), Tulsa (23), Arkansas (22) and MTSU (22). Tennessee also collected a 10-second violation versus the Hogs. This season UT’s press has resulted in 17 10-second violations by opponents through 16 games.
