Tennessee’s fourth quarter comeback wasn’t enough to close the gap as the Lady Vols were eliminated from the SEC Tournament in the second round on Thursday in Greenville, S.C.
8-seed Vanderbilt will advance to the quarterfinal round on Friday after defeating 9-seed Tennessee by a score of 84-76 in the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Vanderbilt burst out to a 10-2 lead out of the gates and turned that into a 27-20 advantage by the end of the first quarter. While Tennessee’s defense did settle in more during the second quarter, the Lady Vols still trailed at the halftime break by six points.
Kim Caldwell’s squad started the second half on a 9-4 run, but trouble soon struck. The Commodores outscored the Lady Vols 20-6 over the next 6:09 to take a 63-48 lead into the final frame.
Credit to Tennessee, the Lady Vols didn’t pack their bags early. Tennessee kept the fight going in the fourth and put up a game-high 28-point quarter in the final 10 minutes, outscoring Vanderbilt by seven, but it still wasn’t enough to overcome the lead that the Commodores had built up.
Tennessee guard Ruby Whitehorn led her team with 14 points while Talaysia Cooper, Jewel Spear, and Samara Spencer all finished the game with 13 points. Zee Spearman had a team-high 10 rebounds while Cooper led the team with three assists.
For the first time in program history @VandyWBB defeats the Lady Vols twice in the same season 😱 pic.twitter.com/xxUedFjG9I
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 6, 2025
More from RTI: Rick Barnes: Tennessee Basketball Played ‘Soft’ In Loss At Ole Miss
Vanderbilt guard and recently named SEC Freshman of the Year Mikayla Blakes had a game-high 24 points with 19 of those coming in the second half. Iyana Moore had 23 points on a perfect 4-of-4 three-point shooting while Khamil Pierre put up 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Commodores.
Tennessee had the edge in points off turnovers, 21 compared to 9, but Vanderbilt won the second-chance points battle 21-6 thanks to a +8 rebounding advantage.
With Tennessee’s run in the SEC Tournament over, the Lady Vols will now look ahead to Selection Sunday to see where they fall in the NCAA Tournament seeding. It does not appear likely that Tennessee will host after the loss to Vanderbilt.
The Selection Show will take place at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 16.
9-Seed Tennessee advanced to Wednesday’s second-round game with a 77-37 win over 16-seed Texas A&M on Tuesday morning, but will head home after falling to Vanderbilt for the second time this season.
Final from Greenville. pic.twitter.com/vWkzL4lS7I
— Lady Vols Basketball (@LadyVol_Hoops) March 6, 2025
