Hoops Central: No. 10/11 Lady Vols vs. UAB in Bahamas

BIMINI, Bahamas — It will be a battle of unbeatens on Saturday, as the No. 11/11 Lady Vols (4-0) meet UAB (4-0) at 2 p.m. in the championship game of the Junkanoo Division at the 2018 Women’s Junkanoo Jam at Resorts World Bimini in the Bahamas. The tournament is being played at the Gateway Christian Academy gymnasium.

Tennessee advanced to Saturday’s winner’s bracket after using a 13-2 fourth-quarter run to overtake Clemson (2-3), 78-66, on Thursday in the opening game of the tournament. The Tigers provided further proof of their improvement, having held No. 11/11 UT and No. 13/12 South Carolina (69-57) to within 12 points. UT has produced a +38.0 scoring margin (86.0-48.0) and +16.0 rebounding margin (48.5-32.5) in its first four games.

UAB, meanwhile, enters on the heels of an 89-84 victory over Oklahoma (3-1) on Thursday evening in the other opening-round game of the Junkanoo Division. The Blazers are averaging a +25.0 scoring margin, out-pointing opponents 86.0-61.0 in four games. The five-point game vs. OU was UAB’s closest of the season, just as UT’s vs. CU was.

UT is making its second appearance in the Junkanoo Jam title game, winning the 2013 Lucaya Division crown in Freeport. The losers of the first two games, Clemson and Oklahoma, meet on Friday at 7:45 p.m. ET, playing for third place in the Junkanoo Division.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Tom James (play-by-play) and Ray Giacoletti (analyst) are describing the action for the Junkanoo Jam online broadcasts for FloHoops.
Mickey Dearstone is handling the call for IMG College/Lady Vol Network radio/online broadcasts for the 20th season. A link to the live audio stream can be found on each game’s Hoops Central page or the Lady Vol schedule on UTSports.com.
PLEASE NOTE: Since Tennessee advanced to Saturday’s winner’s bracket game, the contest features an online broadcast only on UTSports.com (free), due to the football radio broadcast of the Vols vs. Vanderbilt. The Lady Vol pregame and postgame shows may be abbreviated.

JUNKANOO JAM NOTES

The Women’s Junkanoo Jam, hosted annually over Thanksgiving, features Clemson, Eastern Kentucky, Florida State, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee, UAB and West Virginia.
This year’s field is split into two divisions of four teams, the Junkanoo and Bimini Divisions, and each division will crown a champion.
The Lady Vols are in the Junkanoo Division with Clemson, Oklahoma and UAB.
In UT’s bracket, OU (NCAA First Rd.) and UAB (WNIT Second Rd.) are coming off 2018 postseason appearances, as is Tennessee (NCAA Second Rd.).

ANOTHER TROPICAL THANKSGIVING BREAK BREAK

Just as they did a year ago and have done several times in the past, the Lady Vols are visiting somewhere tropical for Thanksgiving to play several games in a short period of time.
Tennessee is making its third in-season trip outside the U.S. during the Holly Warlick era and fourth international excursion during the past seven years, holding an 9-0 mark on foreign soil soil under Holly Warlick, including 6-0 in games that count toward season records.
Last year, Tennessee went 3-0 at the Cancun Challenge, defeating #20/20 Marquette (101-99, OT), Oklahoma State (79-69) and South Dakota (69-49) to take the Riviera Division crown at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Convention Center in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico.
UT was 2-0 at the 2013 Junkanoo Jam in Freeport, Bahamas, defeating Virginia (76-67) and SMU (87-47) to win the Lucaya Division title.
UT also went 3-0 during a tour of Italy during the summer of 2015.
This marks the program’s eighth all-time international excursion, and UT is 20-7 on foreign soil.
During the Pat Summitt era, the Lady Vols had previous summer trips to Brazil in 1987, Belgium/France/Switzerland in 1999 and Italy/Greece in 2003. They also went to Great Britain in January of 1992.

LADY VOL NOTABLES

MEME LEADING THE WAY: Senior Meme Jackson’s work during the offseason is apparent. She leads the team at 14.3 ppg. and is tops in steals (12), threes (11) and blocked shots (3) and second in assists (13) and FT pct. (.750). Jackson has led UT in scoring the past three games.
TURNING THEM OVER: Tennessee has forced its first four opponents to commit 20 or more turnovers per game. The last time a Lady Vols team did that in the first four games of a season was in 2004-05, when UT forced its first six foes to commit that many.
PRESSURE DEFENSE: Using a high-pressure defense, Tennessee is holding foes to 48.0 ppg., 32% on FGs and 25% on 3FGs while forcing 28.5 turnovers per game.
COUNT OF 10: UT forced four backcourt violations all last season. The Lady Vols already have prevented foes from crossing the timeline on six occasions in 2018-19 (4 vs. Presbyterian).

UT’S LAST GAME

No. 11/11 Tennessee used a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull away and defeat Clemson, 78-66, in the opening game of the 2018 Women’s Junkanoo Jam on Thursday at Gateway Christian Academy.
Entering the final period knotted up at 54, the Lady Vols outscored the Tigers 24-12 in the final stanza to improve to 4-0 on the season. Clemson, which lost by 12 in Columbia to No. 13/12 South Carolina last week, fell to 2-3.
Senior guard/forward Meme Jackson led UT in scoring, riding 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc to tally 14 points. Junior forward Rennia Davis was right behind Jackson with 13 points, followed by freshman Zaay Green with 12, senior forward Cheridene Green with 11 points and eight rebounds, and sophomore center Kasiyahna Kushkituah with 11 points and six boards.
UT shot 60 percent (9-15) from the field in the fourth to close out the game, with Zaay Green (8), Davis (6) and Cheridene Green (5) scoring 19 of UT’s 24 final-stanza points. The Lady Vols, meanwhile, held Clemson to 5-of-13 shooting and forced six fourth-quarter turnovers to seal the deal.

ABOUT UAB

UAB is led by Randy Norton, who is in his sixth season as head coach. He owns a 95-68 career record, all at UAB, through the Nov. 22 win over OU.
The Blazers returned four starters and six total letterwinners from a year ago. They also welcomed four newcomers to the squad.
Returning starters include Miyah Barnes, Rachael Childress, Deanna Kuzmanic and Angela Vendrell, with Kuzmanic and Childress earning All-C-USA FIrst Team honors and Barnes landing second-team accolades.
UAB set a school record for wins, going 27-7 overall and 13-3 in C-USA play with a regular season title in 2017-18.
The Blazers were C-USA tournament runners-up and wound up in the WNIT, advancing to the second round before bowing out last season.
UAB has a veteran lineup, with six juniors and two seniors.

THE BLAZERS’ LAST GAME

The UAB women’s basketball team is headed to the championship game of the Junkanoo Jam after defeating Oklahoma, 89-84, on Thursday.
The win improved UAB to 4-0 on the season, marking the fifth 4-0 start in school history and first since the 1994-95 season.
Katelynn Thomas was one of five Blazers in double figures, as she led the team with a career-high 22 points on a 10-of-11 night from the field. The Birmingham native also reeled in eight rebounds and added a pair of free throws.
Rachael Childress finished second on the team in scoring with 18 points, connecting on four 3-pointers to go along with seven made field goals.

-UT Athletics