Lady Vols basketball dug itself into a hole it couldn’t come back in its SEC home opener and lost for the first time this season.
Jewel Spear almost got No. 13 Tennessee (13-1, 1-1 SEC) over the finish line, hitting three 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the game, but the Lady Vols fell 87-86 to the No. 10 Sooners (13-2, 1-1) at Food City Center on Sunday. The game came down to the final shot, but Sara Puckett missed the 3-pointer to win it.
Tennessee fought its way back into the game and outscored Oklahoma 27-12 in the fourth quarter after falling behind by 19 points in the third quarter. But giving up 29 points to Oklahoma in the third was too much to overcome.
Spear ended with a game-high 28 points on 11-for-17 shooting – including 6-for-11 from 3-point range – and added five rebounds and three steals. Samara Spencer and Talaysia Cooper both added 16 points, and Cooper had a team-high seven rebounds and nine steals. Spencer logged five assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Oklahoma dominates the boards
The Sooners are disciplined rebounders, and it showed. Oklahoma outrebounded Tennessee 27-15 in the first half, and 22 were defensive rebounds to keep the Lady Vols, the top offensive rebounding team in the nation, from capitalizing on second chances.
Tennessee averages 21.6 offensive rebounds, and it ended with only 12 for 12 second-chance points. Oklahoma outrebounded the Lady Vols 42-33, including 34 defensive rebounds.
Sooners in killed Tennessee in transition
Tennessee had too many breakdowns that led to easy scoring in transition for the Sooners.
Oklahoma scored 25 fast break points in the first half and ended the day with 41 total, which led to its 54% shooting percentage.
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In stretches where the Lady Vols were struggling to score, they gave up too many easy shots in the halfcourt, allowing Oklahoma to gradually build a lead.
The third quarter was a poor defensive showing in particular when Oklahoma scored 29 points. Tennessee was without Cooper for the first half of the quarter, and her absence was felt.
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: Jewel Spear scores 28 points in Lady Vols’ first loss of season to Oklahoma
