Tennessee turns back Kentucky

By | Friday, January 9, 2009

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From combined dispatches

No. 7 TENNESSEE 69, KENTUCKY 64: Shekinna Stricklen scored 18 points, including two late free throws, as the Volunteers (12-2) beat the Wildcats (10-6) on Thursday night in Knoxville, Tenn., in the SEC opener for both teams.

Glory Johnson added 14 points for Tennessee, Alicia Manning scored a career-high 13 points, and Alex Fuller had 10. The victory gave Tennessee coach Pat Summitt 995 career wins.

Down 35-27 at halftime, Kentucky opened the second half with a 9-2 run to take a 40-39 advantage with 16:02 left.

The teams traded the lead for the next 13 minutes. The Lady Vols scored seven straight points, with a 3-pointer by Manning giving them a 61-58 lead with 2:47 left.

Amber Smith stole the ball from Stricklen and drove for a layup to pull within 64-60 with 1:27 left. Smith later fouled Stricklen with 51.3 seconds left, and the freshman calmly hit both shots to give Tennessee a 66-60 lead.

Smith and Victoria Dunlap hit two more shots in the last minute, but the Wildcats only got one more shot as the Lady Vols hit three more free throws.

Carly Morrow led the Wildcats with 16 points. Brittany Edelen added 13, and Smith had 12.

Kentucky, normally a 27.2 percent 3-point shooting team, made 57.1 percent of their shots from behind the arc against Tennessee.

No. 2 N. CAROLINA 83, CLEMSON 74: Rashanda McCants scored 17 points, and the Tar Heels (15-0, 1-0 ACC) rallied for a victory over the Tigers (10-5, 1-1) in Clemson, S.C.

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