KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Freshman guard Zaay Green logged 19 of her career-high 25 points in the second half, powering Tennessee past Auburn, 73-62, at Thompson-Boling Arena on Thursday night.
The triumph gave UT a season sweep of the Tigers (18-7, 6-6 SEC). The Big Orange (16-8, 5-6 SEC) had won at AU in the SEC opener back on Jan. 3, 78-69.
The Lady Vols recorded their third-straight home win, as the duo of senior Cheridene Green (16 points and 11 rebounds) and sophomore Rennia Davis (15 points and 10 rebounds) each tallied double-doubles on the evening. Sophomore Evina Westbrook, meanwhile, dished out 10 assists and added nine points and five rebounds in the victory.
Cheridene Green recorded her fifth double-double of the season, while Davis charted her seventh on the year and her third in the past four games.
Junior guard Daisa Alexander led Auburn with 22 points. Sophomore Unique Thompson paced the Tigers on the boards with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Janiah McKay also chipped in 12 points.
A deep ball from Westbrook gave the Lady Vols their first lead of the game at the 7:39 mark of the first quarter at 7-5. Tennessee forced four turnovers over the next two minutes and shot 5-of-7 from the field to take a 15-11 lead with four minutes left to play in the opening stanza. Auburn stormed back with a 7-0 run and a 3-pointer to knot things up at the end of the quarter, 18-all. Each member of the Lady Vol starting five notched three or more points during the game’s 10 minutes.
Each team started 1-of-7 from the floor to begin the second quarter, as things were tied at 23-23 with five minutes remaining until the half. A pair of quick buckets from the Tigers helped them regain a four-point lead, 25-23, as Tennessee suffered a two-minute scoring dry spell. A Zaay Green layup with under two minutes remaining in the first half ended another drought, this one five minutes long, making it 29-25 Auburn. The Tigers ended up taking a 32-27 advantage into the locker room, with Rennia Davis fueling Tennessee over the opening 20 minutes with seven points and eight rebounds. The Lady Vols out-rebounded AU by a 20-19 margin through the first two quarters.
Zaay Green recorded 10 points in the first six minutes of the third quarter to power a 14-3 Tennessee run and give the Lady Vols a 39-35 lead. Tennessee, meanwhile, locked down the Auburn offense, holding it to 1-of-9 shooting from the floor to begin the second half. Zaay Green and Davis combined for 16 of the Lady Vols’ 22 points in the third quarter, as the Tigers shot below 30 percent from the floor while scoring 10 points. As a result, UT took a 49-42 lead into the final frame.
Meme Jackson kept the Lady Vols’ hot streak going with a deep 3-pointer to kick off Tennessee’s fourth-quarter scoring. The Tigers didn’t register their first points of the period until after more than two minutes had gone by. The Lady Vols continued applying pressure with a 10-2 run to give them a 64-51 lead (their largest of the game) with four minutes remaining. Auburn kept fighting, but a 3-pointer from Zaay Green with two minutes left pushed the lead back to 71-60 and dashed any hopes of an AU comeback.
Up Next: The Lady Vols head to Columbia for a rematch with #RV/RV Missouri on Sunday. The game will tip at 5 p.m. ET (4 p.m. CT) and be televised by ESPN2.
Seeing Double: Rennia Davis and Cheridene Green each posted double-doubles. Cheridene had 16 points and 11 rebounds to log her fifth double-double of the season and seventh of her career. With 15 points and 10 rebounds, Davis recorded her seventh double-double of the season and the 16th of her career. Davis has the second-most career double-doubles of any current underclassmen in the SEC, trailing only AU’s Unique Thompson, who has 18.
Evina Dishin’: Westbrook finished the game with 10 assists, moving her total of games with five or more assists to 15 on the season. This is the second time Westbrook has had double-digit assists during her career with the first being 12 against Troy during the 2017-18 season. Prior to that, the last Lady Vol to tally 10 or more assists was Alexa Middleton, who had 11 against Tennessee State on Nov. 30, 2016.
Big Night For The Greens: Freshman Zaay Green led UT in scoring, firing in a career-high 25 points, while Cheridene Green had a season-high 16 points and tied her career high of four steals.
Cleaning The Glass: UT out-rebounded the Tigers, 45-30, and is averaging 45.4 rpg in SEC play while holding opponents to an average of 34.8 rpg. UT has now outworked 20 of 24 opponents on the glass this season, including 10 of 11 in SEC play.
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