Jewel Spear was barely past half court when she saw Tamari Key under the basket.
Spear stepped into a laser of a pass to Key, who turned and finished easily to give Lady Vols basketball a 14-point lead in the third quarter. It was one of Spear’s six assists in Tennessee’s 80-69 win over Missouri on Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center.
“I think just attacking the basket, making the easy play, making the simple play,” Spear said of her assists. “If I’m open, being aggressive and confident, whether that’s from three or getting downhill, and if people help, I’m going to make the right play.”
The Lady Vols (14-7, 7-2 SEC) recorded 18 assists on 32 made field goals against the Tigers (11-11, 2-7), and they also shot 50.8% from the field. It was their second straight game with 18 or more assists and 50% shooting – the only time this year they’ve done both in back-to-back games.
The Lady Vols’ offense is clicking, and they’re striking the right balance in scoring. Spear had 22 points and shot 64.3%, senior forward Rickea Jackson had 19 points on 57.1% shooting and junior forward Sara Puckett logged 15 points on 50% shooting.
“One of the things that I think is most impressive watching Tennessee is just how unselfish they are,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “I think they do a really good job with their ball movement, I noticed that in the Georgia game, and their ability to pass up a good shot for a great shot and making that (extra) pass.”
Puckett said the selfless play started in practice and has translated to their recent games. They’ve been playing deep into the shot clock, passing and cutting constantly to find the right shot. It’s been working in practice, and it’s been working in the last two games.
“We’re just trusting each other, because we know the work that we’re putting in outside of practice,” Puckett said.
“I would say just playing and not being robotic,” Spear added. “When a play breaks down, just knowing where everybody’s going to be … if two people are coming at us, we’re going to make the right play. So I think it’s just making the simple play and not being selfish at all.”
Senior point guard Jasmine Powell also had six assists, Jackson had three and Puckett, Tamari Key and Kaiya Wynn all chipped one in. Making the easy play also led to Tennessee tying its season-low eight turnovers. It recorded its best assist to turnover ratio of the season (2.25).
Lady Vols coach Kellie Harper said the most challenging part of getting the team to consistently make the simple play is patience.
“They get excited, and they want to do it right, they want to do well,” Harper said. “And the most challenging thing for them is to work and find it. But they’ve really improved in that area, being a little bit more patient. We want to be aggressive, but finding the balance of being aggressive while also being patient for something great.
“I think we’ve had a lot of good possessions that really demonstrate that. I’m proud of them, we’ve worked on it very, very hard this year. We wanted that to be a strength.”
It also helps the offense overall when Spear is shooting with incredible efficiency. She has shot 62.2% from the field over the last three games and 54.2% from 3-point range.
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Puckett said Spear’s confidence has stood out to her, and the team feeds off it. But it’s not just her offensive performance that has been a spark for the team, it’s her hustle plays, too – Spear logged three steals Sunday.
“She’s just playing really hard, diving on the floor for loose balls, and those are categories that aren’t necessarily on the stat sheet, but she is getting those, too,” Puckett said. “Just really proud of her effort, really proud of her leadership, how she’s just constantly talking on the court, making us all feel like we’re connected on the offensive and defensive end. She’s done a really great job.”
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lady Vols basketball’s ‘unselfish’ play unlocks new level on offense
