GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Tennessee overcame 15 fouls and 22-percent shooting in the first half and an 11-point second-quarter deficit to walk away with a hard-earned 86-78 road victory over Florida on Sunday at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

The Lady Vols (21-6, 8-6 SEC) trailed 37-26 just before the half, but they flipped the script with a 37-point third quarter to claim their fourth-consecutive victory. Redshirt sophomore Talaysia Cooper, who was restricted to two minutes of playing time over the first 20 minutes due to foul trouble, fired in 15 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 18. Junior forward Zee Spearman tossed in 16, while senior guard Samara Spencer contributed an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double, and fifth-year guard Jewel Spear and junior guard Ruby Whitehorn added 10 points each.

The Gators (14-14, 5-9 SEC) were paced by Ra Shaya Kyle with 19 points and 10 boards. Laila Reynolds and Liv McGill each contributed 17, while Jeriah Warren chipped in 10.

Florida grabbed early 2-0 and 4-2 leads, but the Lady Vols punched back with an 8-0 run, getting a put-back by Jillian Hollingshead, a three-pointer by Cooper and an old-fashioned three-point play by Kaniya Boyd to snare a 10-4 lead with 6:46 remaining. Florida evened it up at 10, though, with a 6-0 spurt before the 4:21 media timeout. As an 8-2 foul disparity mounted for Tennessee, Florida closed out the period with a 6-of-10 effort at the charity stripe to fuel a 6-2 push and claim a 16-12 lead after one.

The Gators crept ahead by six again, 18-12, at the outset of the second stanza, but Sara Puckett capped an 8-2 run to even the score at 20 with 7:01 to go. The teams exchanged baskets midway through the frame, with UF inching ahead by three until a Spearman turnaround jumper drew the Big Orange to within one, 27-26, by the 4:18 media break. Florida remained the aggressor after the timeout, peeling off 10 consecutive points before Whitehorn hit a jumper with 28 seconds remaining that cut the deficit to nine, 37-28, at the intermission

Tennessee emerged from the locker room recharged, scoring first on a Hollingshead layup and then proceeding to outscore the Gators 11-4 to trim the gap to 41-39 and force a UF timeout with 7:30 remaining after an and-one by Spear and a three-ball by Spearman. The Lady Vols kept pushing tempo and turning up the pressure, getting a Spencer three, a Cooper paint jumper, an old-fashioned three-point play from Spear and a Cooper layup to put together a 10-4 run into the 4:41 media timeout and build a 49-45 lead.  UT outscored UF, 11-6, with a Cooper layup giving her team a game-best nine-point lead, 60-51, with 1:47 to go. Before the end of the period, UF would cut the gap to five, 60-55, with 57 seconds left, but a pair of Cooper free throws sent the Big Orange into the final frame with a 65-57 advantage.

The Lady Vols elevated their lead to 11, 68-57, on a Cooper three just 13 seconds into the final frame, but Florida trimmed the margin to five, 68-63, forcing a Tennessee timeout with 7:13 to go. The Gators were able to slice their deficit to four at the 5:16 and 4:16 marks, but a Whitehorn bucket in the paint boosted her team back to a nine-point advantage, 82-73, with 1:38 remaining. A three from Alexia Dizeko and free throws from Laila Reynolds brought the home team back within four, 82-78, with 56 ticks on the clock. A Spearman and-one play with 44 seconds to go and a Spencer free throw with 13 seconds remaining, though, allowed the Big Orange to persevere on a day where nothing came easy.

UP NEXT: Next on the schedule for the Lady Vols is a 7 p.m. ET Thursday contest vs. #14/14 Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. The contest will be televised on SEC Network and also will be broadcast on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com.

DEFENSIVE SUCCESS: The Big Orange defense played a key factor in the outcome, as it forced 21 turnovers. Sixteen of Tennessee’s foes thus far have committed at least 20 miscues. The Lady Vols capitalized with a 24-15 points-off-turnovers edge against the Gators. The Tennessee press resulted in one 10-second violation by the Gators, occurring with 56 seconds left in the first quarter for the 25th infraction of the season by an opponent. 

KNOCKIN’ DOWN THREES: Tennessee carded its 16th performance of knocking down ten or more three-pointers in a single contest this season, hitting 10 against the Gators. Seven Lady Vols knocked down a three-pointer, with Samara Spencer, Alyssa Latham and Talaysia Cooper each draining two. 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), Auburn (14), Liberty (14), Tulsa (14), Mississippi State (12),  Memphis (12), Arkansas (12), LSU (11), Florida (10) Missouri (10), Western Carolina (10), Winthrop (10), Texas A&M (10), Oklahoma (10) and Samford (10).

30+ THIRD QUARTER: Tennessee carded a 37-point third quarter in the contest against Florida, which was its highest-scoring stanza in SEC play. Tennessee has scored 20 or more points in 81 of 108 quarters thus far. Tennessee has reached 30 points in a quarter on ten occasions, totaling 37 in the third quarter at Florida, dropping 34 in the first quarter and 30 in the second vs. Liberty, 31 in the second period vs. Western Carolina and 33 in the first, 36 in the second, 42 in the third vs. N.C. Central; 41 in the second vs. Tulsa and 35 in the first and 31 in the fourth vs. Winthrop.

SAM SECURES A DOUBLE-DOUBLE:Samara Spencer’s contributions on both sides of the ball propelled the Lady Vols over Florida. Spencer charted 11 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and a steal. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native notched her third double-double of the season and the sixth of her career. Spencer’s other double-double efforts came against N.C. Central and Ole Miss.