KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 15/16 Tennessee women’s basketball team shot a season-high 55.7 percent from the field and scored its most points against an SEC foe in 14 years to roll past Auburn, 99-61, on Thursday night at Food City Center. 

The Lady Vols (18-6, 5-6 SEC), who carded their highest output since a 110-45 home win over Alabama on Jan. 6, 2011, were led offensively by fifth-year guard Jewel Spear, who knocked down five three-pointers and finished with a team-high 17 points. The Big Orange had four others in double figures, including junior guard Ruby Whitehorn with 15, junior forward Zee Spearman with 14, redshirt freshman guard Kaniya Boyd with 11 and redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper with 10. 

The Tigers (12-13, 3-9 SEC) were paced by DeYona Gaston, who recorded a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds. Yuting Deng chipped in 13 points, with 10 of those coming in the first quarter before the Lady Vols limited her to 1-of-4 shooting the rest of the way.

Auburn opened the game in good form, hitting 50 percent over the opening six-plus minutes to grab a 7-2 lead behind 3-of-7 marksmanship from Deng. A Jillian Hollingshead kiss off the glass and a Spear three-pointer, however, narrowed the deficit to three, 14-11, by the 3:44 media timeout. The Lady Vols warmed up after the break, grabbing their first lead, 15-14, with 2:35 remaining. After AU jumped up 18-15, UT finished the frame on a 7-2 burst, getting a Boyd backdoor layup, a spinning Whitehorn layup and then a trey from Whitehorn to close out the period with a 22-20 edge.

Tennessee continued its momentum into the second stanza, building a 28-20 gap by the 8:29 mark on a Spearman free throw, Cooper three and Whitehorn layup. The Lady Vols then got an Alyssa Latham bank shot and Sara Puckett inside bucket to push ahead, 37-26, by the 4:31 media timeout, shooting 66.7 percent from the field to begin the quarter.  UT continued to pad its lead, moving up 41-28 on a Tess Darby trey, 44-30 on a Spear three and 48-32 on a Puckett layup before a Spearman put-back sent her team into the locker room with a 50-34 cushion behind 73.3-percent marksmanship in the second stanza. UT carved out a 28-14 advantage in paint points during the opening half.

Auburn was the aggressor early in the third frame, tallying four straight points to open the period and outscoring Tennessee, 12-8, to cut the deficit to 12, 58-46, by the 4:54 media timeout. The Tigers crept to within 11, 61-50, with 2:48 left, but a three-pointer from Hollingshead as the shot clock was winding down and an old-fashioned three-point play from Cooper moved the gap to 17. Then, a turnaround jumper by Cooper and a layup from Boyd sent the home team into the final frame with a game-best 71-52 margin.

Tennessee built its lead to 20, 74-54, on a three by Darby with 8:32 left and then extended it to 80-59 on back-to-back treys from Samara Spencer and Darby, forcing Auburn to ask for time with 5:29 remaining. A Boyd driving layup pushed the margin to 31, 90-59, with 3:15 to go, and an Avery Strickland driving layup with 39 seconds on the clock pushed her team within one of the century mark and closed out the scoring.

UP NEXT: Next on the schedule for the Lady Vols is a noon ET home matchup with RV/RV Ole Miss on Sunday at Food City Center. The contest will be streamed by SECN+ and also will be broadcast on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com. The matchup will be UT’s Black History Month game.

A JEWEL SPEAR SPECIAL:Jewel Spear tallied 17 points against Auburn on Thursday night, connecting on five of eight three-point attempts for her fourth game of 5+ treys this season. The fifth-year guard also finished with four assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals. Spear has carded 14 games thus far with 10 or more points, running her total to 108 for her career. The Colony, Texas, native has logged three consecutive games of ten points or more, dating back to Feb. 6 against UConn.

BIG ORANGE PRESSURE: The Tennessee defense forced Auburn to turn the ball over a total of 21 times. Fifteen of the Lady Vols foes thus far have committed at least 20 miscues. The Tennessee press resulted in a 10-second violation, and the inbound play defense forced a five-second infraction. The Big Orange has harassed opponents into 22 10-second violations thus far. The 10-second call happened at the 7:46 mark in the third quarter. UT forced a season-most five violations against Western Carolina on Nov. 26. 

TENNESSEE TREYS: Tennessee carded its 15th performance in 2024-25 with ten or more three-pointers in a single contest, knocking down 14 against Auburn. The 14 threes tie for sixth place in program history. Previously, UT also was first with 30 vs. N.C. Central, tied for third with 15 makes vs. Middle Tennessee and tied for sixth with 14 vs. Liberty and Tulsa. The Lady Vols have surpassed the previous school best of six for most games with double-digit three-pointer production.

HIGHEST FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE OF THE SEASON: Tennessee tallied its highest field goal percentage of the season, shooting 55.7 percent versus Auburn. The previous best was 53.0 vs. Winthrop on Dec. 29. The Lady Vols made 39 of 70 field goal attempts and bottomed 14 three-pointers. The Big Orange fired off a 73.3-percent showing in the second quarter and a 64.7-percent result in the final stanza. Ruby Whitehorn led the crew in field goals, sinking seven of 11, while Zee Spearman was six of eight and Jewel Spear five of nine, including a 5-of-8 night from the arc.