No. 18/16 Lady Vols improve to 9-0 with 90-75 win at Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — No. 18/16 Tennessee put six players in double figures in its first true road game of the season, earning a hard-fought, 90-75 victory over Memphis at FedExForum on Wednesday night.

Fifth year guard Jewel spear was back in the lineup after a one-game absence due to injury, season highs of 18 points, six rebounds and four assists to help her team improve to 9-0. Junior forward Zee Spearman had co-scoring honors and produced her first double-double as a Lady Vol, working the paint with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Talaysia Cooper added a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double and was joined in the 10-plus scoring club by Tess Darby and Samara Spencer with 12 each, and Ruby Whitehorn with 10.

Tilly Boler poured in 23 points to pace the Tigers (2-8), while Tanyuel Welch had 16 and Michigan State transfer DeeDee Hagemann chipped in 19 in her UM debut. Hagemann, an All-Big Ten selection for the Spartans, was a difference-maker for his new team with 14 points in the first half.

After Memphis got on the scoreboard first, Darby gave the Lady Vols their first lead at 3-2 with 9:18 left on a long-range bucket. The Tigers scored back-to-back baskets to take back the lead, 7-3, before Sarah Puckett and Spear tied things at seven with 6:32 left. After the Tigers regained the lead, a Whitehorn putback pulled her team to within one, 10-9, before UM scored to take a 12-9 edge at the 4:53 media break. Memphis pushed its lead to six, 15-9, at the 4:02 mark before a Kaniya Boyd putback and Darby three pulled their team to within one, 15-14, with 3:05 left. With 51 seconds left in the frame, Spear tied it at 19, converting an old-fashioned three-point play. A three-pointer by Whitehorn put her team ahead, 22-19, and UT held a 22-21 advantage heading into the second stanza.

Tennessee took its biggest lead at 27-23 to open the second quarter on a Spear three and Spearman layup, forcing a Tigers timeout at the 8:46 mark. Memphis came out of the break scoring 11 straight points to take a seven-point lead, 34-27, with 5:45 left. The Big Orange cut the lead to two on a Cooper driving layup with 3:35 left, but UM pushed the margin back to six, 41-35, with 2:06 left. The Lady Vols showed resilience, putting together a seven-point run on a pair of Spearman buckets, nailing a Spear three to send Tennessee into halftime with a 42-41 lead.

The Lady Vols mounted a 5-0 burst out of the locker room to extend their 14-0 run that bridged the halves and built their largest lead of eight, 49-41, before a foul call sent the teams into a media timeout with 8:40 left. Memphis scored twice out of halftime to pull within four, but Tennessee used a 9-2 run to build a 58-47 gap at the 4:34 media timeout, with threes from Spencer and Darby helping create separation. A Spearman layup pushed the lead to 13, 60-47 right out of halftime, and Darby extended it to 12, 63-51 with a dagger beyond the arc with 2:04 left. Four straight Spearman free throws lifted her team to a 67-52 advantage with 55 seconds on the clock, and Spear sent her team into the final frame with a 69-54 lead via a layup.

Memphis would not go away and scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to eight, 69-62, with 8:19 left. However, the Lady Vols steadied themselves with a Spencer three to stem the tide. Back-to-back layups by Cooper and Spearman sent the Big Orange into the 4:14 media break with a 79-66 cushion. The Tigers got as close as 10 down the stretch, but Cooper tallied six points over the final four minutes to set the Big Orange up to start their three-game road trip with a win.

UP NEXT: Tennessee leaves after the game for Florida, where the Lady Vols will play in the West Palm Beach Classic this weekend. UT faces Richmond on Friday at 2:15 p.m. ET and follows with an 11:00 a.m. ET tilt on Saturday vs. Tulsa before they go home. Baller TV will stream both games, and Lady Vol Network stations across the country and UTSports.com will have the radio broadcast.

BANGIN’S ON THE BOARDS: The Lady Vols posted their second-best rebound total of the season with 53 against the Tigers. Zee Spearman led the charge with a season-high 12 boards, while Talaysia Cooper followed with 11. The Big Orange combined for a final tally of 23 offensive and 30 defensive rebounds. Tennessee’s highest number of rebounds came against UT-Martin when the team tallied 54 on Nov. 7.

JUWEL BREAKS IT OUT: Fifth year guard Jewel spear returned from a one-game absence to let it fly from the arc, draining a trio of three-pointers and six total field goals. Spear finished with a season-high 18 points, tied her season best with six rebounds and added a season-high four assists. The Colony, Texas, native logged his fourth double-digit game of the season. Her second 18-point contest came against Samford on Nov. 15.

DOUBLE THE FUN: Lady Vols Talaysia Cooper and Zee Spearman both compiled a double-double performance during the win against Memphis. Spearman carded an 18-point contest with 12 rebounds for her first double-double as a Lady Vol and her seventh of her collegiate career. Cooper had 12 points and 11 boards, which tied her for second on the season and in her career.

SUCCESS IN THE VOLUNTEER STATE: The Lady Vols are now 266-62-1 all-time vs. four-year college team from the Volunteer State through the 90-75 win against Memphis on Wednesday night. The Lady Vols are 3-0 this season after winning at Memphis (Dec. 18) and beating MTSU (Nov. 12) and UT Martin (Nov. 7) at home. The Big Orange has one in-state game remaining against Vanderbilt (Jan. 19). UT went 3-1 in 2023-24 (win vs. Memphis, loss vs. MTSU, wins vs. Vanderbilt and at Vanderbilt). UT has won 22 of 24 over in-state schools and 38 of the last 40, with the lone setbacks during the streak being a 76-69 loss to Vanderbilt in Knoxville on Feb. 28, 2019, and a 73-62 loss to Middle Tennessee in Huntsville, Ala., on Dec. 6, 2023.