Puckett scores 22, Lady Vols pull away in second half to top Kentucky 76-62 in SEC second round

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Harper, Spear credit UT's poise, depth in second-round win

On SEC Now, Kellie Harper says the Lady Vols are at their best when sharing the basketball while Jewel Spear shouts out Sara Puckett, saying "we always feed the hot hand."

Updated: Mar 7, 2024, 09:47 pm

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- — Sara Puckett scored 22 points, Tess Darby had her first double-double and fifth-seeded Tennessee pulled away from 12th-seeded Kentucky in the second half for a 76-62 win in the SEC Tournament on Thursday.

The Lady Vols (18-11) face fourth-seeded Alabama in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Darby, a senior, came off the bench and scored all 10 of her points in the second half to go with a career-high 10 rebounds. Jewel Spear also had 10 points.

Saniah Tyler had 17 points for the Wildcats (12-20). Ajae Petty scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her 18th double-double of the year and 20th for her career. Eniya Russell added 11 points.

Darby hit a 3-pointer to cap a 10-0 run through the middle of the third quarter for a 45-35 lead. Spear also had a 3. Darby added another 3 and had eight points in the quarter for a 53-44 lead heading into the fourth.

The Lady Vols got the lead to 14 but Tyler scored five points to cut the deficit to 63-54 with 4 1/2 minutes to go. Rickea Jackson and Jillian Hollingshead answered and the lead stayed in double figures.

After a horrible shooting first half, Tennessee shot 61% in the second half (19 of 31), including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Kentucky finished 4 of 17 behind the arc and shot 35.5% (22 of 62).

The first half was a bit of a struggle for both teams, with neither leading by more than five or having a run longer than five. The Lady Vols led 19-18 after one quarter and 28-26 at halftime. Puckett was the only player with more than six, scoring 12. She was 4 of 7 from the floor, 2 of 3 behind the arc, while her teammates were 4 of 24, 1 of 8.

Kentucky shot 34% (11 of 32) with two 3s and just 2 of 2 at the line in the first half. Tennessee shot 26% (8-31) but had three 3s and was 9 of 10 from the foul line.

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