Several commission seats were up for grabs in Knox County, the Election Commission says almost 27,000 early voting and absentee ballots were cast ahead of Super Tuesday. Most were for the Republican Party Primary Election.
The District 8 seat on the Knox County Board of Education. The winner of that election, Travis Wright, took the seat immediately because the man who previously had it, Mike McMillan, died at 74 years old.
Wright will likely start his term on Thursday, at the Knox County Schools’ regular meeting.
ennessee (17-11, 10-6 SEC) is the No. 5 seed for the 2024 SEC Tournament and will open play on Thursday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.
The Lady Vols tied Alabama (23-8, 10-6 SEC) for fourth in the league standings, but the Crimson Tide earned the No. 4 seed after UT fell to No. 1 South Carolina in Columbia on Sunday, 76-68, and Bama prevailed at Texas A&M, 78-71.
Tennessee is scheduled to play the second game on Thursday at approximately 2:15 p.m. ET, following the noon contest between No. 8 Mississippi State and No. 9 Texas A&M. The Lady Vols will face the winner of Wednesday’s tilt between No 12 Kentucky (11-19, 4-12 SEC) and No. 13 Georgia (12-18, 3-13 SEC).
UT went 1-0 vs. UGA in 2023-24, defeating the Lady Bulldogs, 95-73, on Feb. 1 in Athens. The Big Orange women, meanwhile, were 1-0 vs. UK, handling the Wildcats, 87-69, in Knoxville on Jan. 7.
UT is 8-3 vs. the Wildcats and 10-3 vs. the Lady Bulldogs, respectively, in previous SEC Tournament meetings.
Eric Frede (PxP), Tamika Catchings (Analyst) and Brooke Weisbrod (Reporter) will have the call for SEC Network.
All games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
The contest can be heard on Lady Vol Network stations and by audio stream, with Brian Rice providing play-by-play. Jay Lifford is the studio host.
A link to the live audio stream can be found on the Hoops Central page or the schedule on UTSports.com.
For a list of Lady Vol Network affiliates, please click on the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then select the Vol Network Affiliates tab.
Air time is typically 30 minutes before tip-off.
SEASON RESET
After functioning without All-America and SEC Player of the Year candidate Rickea Jackson for eight games from Nov. 13 to Dec. 10 and posting a 4-4 record during her absence, Tennessee has been a drastically different team since she was cleared following a lower leg injury.
The Lady Vols are 13-5 since Jackson returned to action, finished tied for fourth in the SEC standings and sit at No. 33 in the NET after facing one of the nation’s most challenging schedules, including match-ups with No. 1/1 South Carolina twice and vs. No. 9/7 LSU in three of the last five games of the regular season.
As of March 4, Women’s Bracketology has UT as a No. 8 seed for the NCAA Tournament, facing No. 9 Kansas in the first round in Los Angeles, in the Portland 4 Regional. The winner would play the victor of No. 1 seed UCLA vs. #16 Hawaii.
A Tennessee appearance would be a record 42nd, standing as the only team to make every tournament.
Among UT’s triumphs are top-64 NET victories over No. 27 Oklahoma, No. 43 Auburn, No. 45 Texas A&M, No. 46 Mississippi State, No. 56 Vanderbilt (twice) and No. 61 Florida. The win over Oklahoma in November was without Rickea Jackson.
Tennessee led at the half and was tied after three quarters vs. No. 1/1 South Carolina on Feb. 15 in a game featuring 14 lead changes and 11 ties that USC ultimately won, 66-55, for its second narrowest margin of victory in SEC play this season.
The Lady Vols also were within three in the last five minutes at undefeated South Carolina on March 3 before limiting the Gamecocks to their closest margin of victory at home all season, 76-68.
UT also had a 75-60 setback vs. LSU, in which the Lady Vols trailed by one with 7:30 remaining in the game.
In addition to getting Jackson back in the lineup, Tennessee has been bolstered by the continued improvement of 6-foot-6 center Tamari Key. The school’s all-time leading shot blocker was sidelined after eight games a year ago due to blood clots in her lungs and understandably needed time to reacclimate to the rigors of the game.
Tennessee also has had to overcome the loss of reserve point guard Destinee Wells, who suffered a lower leg injury just prior to the Wofford game and is out for the season. Fifth-year standout Jasmine Powell impressively picked up more of the load, and junior Kaiya Wynn has stepped up and provided a spark off the bench on both ends of the floor.
With the players available for the past 18 contests stepping into and accepting their roles, the Lady Vols have competed cohesively as a team, with different players each game emerging to provide valuable contributions in starring and support capacities.
TRENDING TOPICS
Tennessee enters the tournament playing its best basketball of the season, putting together six consecutive commendable efforts after suffering a disappointing loss at Alabama on Feb. 8.
The Lady Vols have gotten dominant wins over Arkansas and Vanderbilt and picked up a revenge victory over Texas A&M after the Aggies won the first round in College Station on Jan. 14.
Even in its three losses to South Carolina (twice) and LSU, UT demonstrated an ability to go toe-to-toe with this year’s favorite and last year’s champion, taking games into the fourth quarter with those squads.
UT cut the gap to three with under five minutes to go in Columbia on Sunday and fell, 76-68, but limited USC to the narrowest margin of victory on its home court all season long.
Tennessee’s defense has been part of the late season improvement, holding South Carolina to 40.0 percent shooting in Knoxville and 33.3 percent in Columbia and allowing LSU only 33-percent marksmanship on Rocky Top.
LADY VOL STANDOUT STATS
Two-time All-SEC First Team selection Rickea Jackson is averaging 23.0 ppg. over her last five games and is coming off a 29-point, eight-rebound effort vs. No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday. She also had a season-high three blocks vs. USC.
Jackson has scored in double figures in 45 straight games as a Lady Volunteer and in 53 of her 55 contests as part of Tennessee’s program.
The fifth-year forward now has 25 efforts with 20 or more points in those 55 games in only two seasons at UT. The Lady Vols are 21-4 in those contests.
Tennessee is 16-1 when it out-rebounds its foes, with the only loss in that scenario coming at #18 Florida State on No. 9.
Jasmine Powell, who has carded three straight seasons of 100+ dimes, enters Sunday’s game needing three assists to surpass last year’s career best of 116.
Powell was third in SEC play in 2023-24, dishing out 4.94 assists per contest.
Jewel Spear, who leads Tennessee with 55 three-pointers, is sixth among SEC players this season at 1.96 threes made per contest.
RECAPPING THE LAST GAME
Tennessee continued its strong play to close out the regular season, challenging No. 1 South Carolina fiercely in front of a sold-out Senior Day crowd of 18,000 at Colonial Life Arena before falling, 76-68, on Sunday.
The Lady Vols (17-11, 10-6 SEC), who fell behind by 15 in the third period and entered the fourth down 11, never surrendered and trimmed the deficit to three with 4:58 to go. The Gamecocks, though, managed to stave off the valiant effort by the Big Orange and improve to 29-0 overall on the season and 16-0 in SEC play.
UT, however, did manage to hold USC to its smallest margin of victory at home all season and the only one by single digits. It also stands as the third-closest win margin of the year behind a six-point triumph at No. 9 LSU on Jan. 25 and a seven-point victory at No. 24 North Carolina on Nov. 30.
Tennessee, which had played the Gamecocks to an 11-point setback in Knoxville on Feb. 15, was led in scoring by fifth-year forward Rickea Jackson, who shined in the spotlight with 29 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Jewel Spear and Jasmine Powell also were in double figures, each tallying 12 points on the afternoon.
South Carolina featured five players scoring in double figures, led by the 18-point, 14-rebound effort of 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso. Te-Hina Paopao tossed in 14, with MiLaysia Fulwiley, Bree Hall and Ashlyn Watkins contributing 13 each.
POSTGAME NOTES VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
STIFLING THE GAMECOCKS: The Big Orange defense held the Gamecocks to just 33.3 percent from the field, its worst mark of the season. After holding USC to a 40-percent field goal percentage in Knoxville, the Lady Vols have limited South Carolina to two of its four worst shooting games this season. Entering the contest, USC ranked second in the nation in field goal percentage with a rate of 50.9 percent.
OPENING WITH DEFENSE: For the second time this season, the Lady Vols were able to contain one of the nation’s top offenses in the first half. South Carolina was 35 percent from the field in the first half on Sunday after shooting just 33 percent during the earlier match-up in Knoxville. Outside of its two games against UT, the Gamecocks have been held below 40 percent from the floor in the first half just once in SEC play.
KEA CONTINUES TO DAZZLE: With 29 points on Sunday afternoon, Rickea Jackson moved to sixth on the all-time Lady Vol scorers list, including transfers, surpassing Candace Parker (2,137, 2005-08). Jackson has tallied 2,150 points in her career and notched her 45th consecutive game in double figures. The senior also has scored 20 or more points in 25 games during just two seasons as a Lady Vol, ranking fifth all-time on Rocky Top.
COMMON THREADS WITH KENTUCKY
This could mark the eighth time a Lady Vol head coach has faced a former UT teammate leading another program.
Kellie Harper is 5-2 vs. UK’s Kyra Elzy in the previous seven meetings of that nature.
UT’s Kellie (Jolly) Harper (1995-99) was teammates from 1996-99 at Tennessee with Kentucky head coach Kyra Elzy (1996-2001) and assistant coach Niya Butts (1996-2000). The trio played together on the second and third of UT’s three consecutive NCAA titles in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Elzy served a stint on UT’s staff that included roles as assistant coach and associate head coach from 2012-16.
Elzy, in her fourth season, took over at UK after Matthew Mitchell retired. He was a G.A. at Tennessee in 1999-2000.
Kentucky strength and conditioning coach Lee Taylor was a member of the UT women’s basketball staff in the same role from 2013-19.
Kentucky’s Brooklynn Miles played two years at Tennessee before the Frankfort, Ky, guard transferred to her home state school after the 2022-23 season.
COMMON THREADS WITH UGA
Kellie Harper and Katie Abrahamson-Henderson share the distinction of each playing in the SEC as well as serving as head coaches at Missouri State.
Harper played point guard for Pat Summitt and led Tennessee to three NCAA titles during a career spanning from 1995 to 1999 before holding the head coaching job at Missouri State from 2013-19.
Playing two years at UGA for Andy Landers from 1985-87, Abrahamson-Henderson went on to lead Missouri State from 2002-07.
University of Tennessee Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White was the A.D. at UCF from 2015-21 and has guided Tennessee Athletics from 2021 to present. He hired Abrahamson-Henderson and was her boss from 2016-21.
UGA assistant coach Nykesha Sales played at UConn from 1994-98 and left Storrs as the program’s all-time leading scorer.
Sales’ and Harper’s playing careers overlapped, with Sales winning an NCAA title at UConn as a freshman in 1995 and Harper claiming three straight from 1996-98 from her freshman through junior seasons. The battles between the schools at that time were epic events in women’s sports that drew in even casual sports fans.
FAMILIAR FACES IN DIFFERENT PLACES
Tennessee junior Jillian Hollingshead was a member of the Georgia women’s basketball program in 2021-22 before transferring during the offseason to the Lady Vols after her former coach, Joni Taylor, took the head coaching job at Texas A&M.
UGA’s head coach, Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, may be a familiar face to UT women’s hoops observers.
“Coach ABE,” as she is known, came to Athens in 2022-23 following six seasons (2016-22) as the head coach at the University of Central Florida (UCF).
Her Knights lost only four times in 2021-22 en route to American Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles and an NCAA Second Round bid, and one of those setbacks came at the hands of Harper’s Tennessee squad in Orlando, 49-41, on Nov. 12 in the Lady Vols’ third game of the season.
Prior to that, she was at the University at Albany and brought her sixth and final team from that program to Knoxville on Nov. 27, 2015, when the Lady Vols defeated the Great Danes, 63-55, during a season in which Abrahamson-Henderson also took that school to America East regular-season and tourney titles on its way to an NCAA Second Round showing.
As a highly-regarded high school recruit from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Katie Abrahamson spent two seasons playing basketball for Andy Landers at Georgia from 1985-87 before finishing in her home state at the University of Iowa and graduating in 1990.
MILESTONE WATCH
Rickea Jackson, who became the ninth Lady Vol to surpass 2,000 career points on Feb. 4 vs. Missouri, now has 2,150 (combining her time at Mississippi State and Tennessee) and passed Candace Parker (2,137, 2005-08) with 29 points in the South Carolina game on March 3 to move into sixth on UT’s all-time scorers list, including transfers.
In terms of Jackson’s points tallied at Tennessee, the 49th Lady Vol to reach 1K now has 1,065 and sits in 46th place after passing Taber Spani (1,053, 2009-13) vs. South Carolina.
Jackson is now six behind No. 45 Isabelle Harrison (1,071, 2011-15), seven behind No. 44 Cierra Burdick (1,072, 2011-15), 11 behind fellow Detroit native No. 43 Peggy Evans (1,076, 1990-93), 23 behind No. 42 Sidney Spencer (1,088, 2003-07), 31 behind No. 41 Tiffany Woosley (1,096, 1991-95) and 34 behind No. 40 Nicky Anosike (1,099, 2004-08).
Tamari Key became the 50th player to tally 1,000 career points for Tennessee, doing so against Texas A&M and pushing her total to 1,004. She now has 1,006 and has moved past Michelle Marciniak (1,004, 1993-96) into 49th and is 12 points behind Diamond DeShields in 48th (1,018, 2015-17).
Rickea Jackson’s 19.4 ppg. career average in two seasons at Tennessee is tied for No. 4 in school history with Candace Parker (19.4, 2005-08).
Tamari Key is in sole possession of sixth on the SEC all-time blocks list after passing South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston (330, 2019-23) with two vs. LSU. Key now has 335 swats and takes aim at Vanessa Hayden of Florida, who stands in fifth place with 357 from 2001-04.
On the glass, Tamari Key is two away (698) from registering 700 career rebounds and joining Jackson, who eclipsed 700 at Vanderbilt on Feb. 18.
Against Texas A&M, Tess Darby tied No. 5 Ariel Massengale (164, 2011-15) for three-pointers made in a career at UT. She needs one to claim fifth place for her own.
Darby currently ranks No. 8 in career three-pointers attempted at 438, standing behind No. 7 Brittany Jackson (443, 2001-05).
Kellie Harper reached double digits in conference wins for the third straight season, fourth time in five years at Tennessee and ninth occasion in her past 10 campaigns as a head coach.
TENNESSEE IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT
Tennessee is seeking to capture its league-leading 18th SEC Tournament championship trophy and is 17-6 in title games.
UT won in 1980, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
The Lady Vols have been runners-up on seven occasions, including 1982, 1990, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2015 and 2023.
UT last advanced to the title game a year ago as a No. 3 seed, defeating No. 14 seed Kentucky in the quarterfinals, 80-71; and No. 2 LSU in the semifinals, 69-67; before falling to No. 1 seed South Carolina, 74-58, in Greenville.
Tennessee enters the 2024 event with an 84-27 (.757) all-time mark in the 45th year of the tourney.
In SEC Tournament play, the Big Orange women are 8-3 vs. the Wildcats and 10-3 vs. the Lady Bulldogs, respectively, in previous SEC Tournament meetings.
Tennessee picked up its last tourney win vs. UK a year ago, as mentioned above and hasn’t faced UGA in the SEC Tournament since the Lady Vols cruised to a 75-41 in the 2015 quarterfinals in Little Rock.
The Lady Vols are 39-5 all-time in their opening game of the SEC Tournament and are 27-12 in their second contest of the tourney.
They have made 36 berths all-time in the semifinals and are 24-12 in those contests after toppling No. 2 seed LSU in 2023, 69-67.
The Big Orange women are 29-11 in SEC Tournament play since 2007-08.
Tennessee has had 15 SEC Tournament MVPs through the years.
Isabelle Harrison (2014), Glory Johnson (2012), Shekinna Stricklen (2011) and Alyssia Brewer (2010) were the past four MVPs from Tennessee.
The Lady Vols won the very first SEC Tournament title in 1980, defeating Ole Miss, 85-71, at Stokely Athletics Center in Knoxville.
HARPER IN THE LEAGUE TOURNEY
Kellie Harper is 5-4 in SEC Tournament games as Tennessee’s head coach, including 4-3 in Greenville and 1-1 in Nashville.
She has taken UT to at least the semifinals the past three seasons, including the title game in 2023.
The Lady Vols were the No. 6 seed in 2020, No. 3 seed in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and are fifth in 2024.
Kellie (Jolly) Harper had an 11-1 record at the SEC Tournament during her time as a student-athlete at UT with postseason tournament titles in 1996, 1998 and 1999. The only loss was in the 1997 semifinals.
Transfer Talaysia Cooper also has experience but is redshirting after playing in two games for South Carolina a year ago.
This marks the first SEC Tournament trip for two Lady Vols, including Jewel Spear and Avery Strickland, though those two have previous conference tourney experience in the ACC with Wake Forest and Pitt, respectively.
Two Lady Vols have been to the SEC Tournament with other teams, including Jillian Hollingshead with Georgia and Rickea Jackson with Mississippi State.
Jackson saw action in the SEC event in 2019-20 and 2020-21, while Hollingshead did not play in the 2022 tourney in Nashville due to injury.
Jackson made the SEC All-Tournament Team as a freshman in 2020 at MSU and in 2023 at UT.
A year ago, Jackson averaged 25.7 ppg. and 7.7 rpg. through three contests.
She poured in a season-high 34 points against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament, going a perfect 14 of 14 from the free-throw line to claim the program record for the highest free-throw percentage (100.0 pct.) with the most made attempts.
She produced a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds in UT’s SEC Tournament Semifinal win over No. 4/3 LSU.
Jackson finished with a 17/9 effort vs. South Carolina in the title game.
BACK IN GREENVILLE
This marks the seventh time Greenville has played host to the SEC Tournament.
UT stands at 8-5 in games played in the city after falling to USC during the 2024 final.
Kellie Harper is 4-3 as a head coach in SEC Tourney games played at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, taking her team to the championship game in 2023.
No. 2 seed Tennessee defeated #1 seed LSU in the tourney title game, 67-56, on March 6, 2005, the first time the event was held in Greenville.
Shyra Ely was named the SEC Tournament MVP that year, while Shanna Zolman and Brittany Jackson joined her on the all-tournament team.
UT beat Auburn in the second round (64-54) and Vanderbilt in the semifinals (76-73) that year.
UT-UK SERIES NOTES
UT leads the all-time series, 60-16.
Tennessee has won the past three match-ups and five of the last seven over Kentucky.
UT is 8-3 in SEC Tournament games vs. the Wildcats and 2-0 in other neutral site match-ups.
The Lady Vols own a 27-4 mark against UK in Knoxville and are 60-16 in all games.
UT is 22-9 vs. Kentucky in Lexington, including 21-7 all-time at Memorial Coliseum and 1-2 in Rupp Arena.
The Big Orange women are 3-1 in overtime games vs. Kentucky, including 3-0 in Lexington and 0-1 in Knoxville, with the last OT contest coming in 1994.
Tennessee has faced only one other team as many times as the Wildcats – Vanderbilt in 90 meetings.
Kellie Harper is 5-4 all-time vs. Kentucky, but she is 5-2 head-to-head vs. former Tennessee teammate Kyra Elzy as the Wildcats’ skipper.
KENTUCKY’S MOST RECENT GAME
Ajae Petty had 13 points and 15 rebounds, her 16th double-double of the season, but it was not enough as the Kentucky women’s basketball team lost at No. 9 LSU 77-56 on Sunday inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to close out the regular season.
Kentucky got 14 points from both Amiya Jenkins and Saniah Tyler. However, the Cats committed 23 turnovers that LSU turned into 26 points.
UK IN THE 2024 SEC TOURNAMENT
Kentucky (11-19, 4-12) earned the No. 12 seed and opens the SEC Tournament on Wednesday vs. No. 13 seed Georgia at 11 a.m.
LAST UT/UK CONTEST
Tennessee outscored Kentucky, 48-20, in the second half to overcome a 17-point second-quarter deficit and take an 87-69 victory against the Wildcats in front of a season-high crowd of 8,823 in Food City Center on Jan. 7, 2024.
The Lady Vols, who won their fifth-straight contest and ended UK’s four-game win streak, hit 32 of 60 attempts for a season-best field goal percentage of 53.3 on the day. The Big Orange, meanwhile, held Kentucky to 38.2 percent, including an icy 23.5-percent rate (8-34) in the second half.
Fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson led UT (9-5, 2-0 SEC) with 27 points, and senior Jewel Spear poured in a season-high 21 points. Fifth-year senior Jasmine Powell also had a productive outing, racking up nine points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
Kentucky (8-8, 1-1 SEC) was led by Eniya Russell, who finished with 16 points and Ajae Petty who posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Maddie Scherr and Saniah Tyler were also in double figures with 13 and 10, respectively.
UT-UGA SERIES NOTES
UT leads the all-time series, 55-19.
The Lady Vols are 24-5 in Knoxville, 16-3 at neutral sites and 15-11 in Athens vs. the Lady Bulldogs.
UT has won three straight and six of the past 10 vs. Georgia.
Tennessee is 1-3 vs. UGA in overtime games.
The Lady Vols have a 14-3 postseason record against Georgia after winning in the 2015 SEC quarterfinals. UT is 10-3 in SEC play.
This is Kellie Harper‘s seventh meeting with UGA as a head coach. She was 6-2 vs. the Lady Bulldogs as a player (1995-99) and is 4-2 as Tennessee’s skipper.
Tennessee (18) and Georgia (7) rank No. 1 and No. 2 in SEC regular season championships.
UT beat Georgia, 83-64, in the 1996 NCAA title game in Charlotte to begin a run of three straight crowns.
GEORGIA’S MOST RECENT GAME
The Georgia women’s basketball team lost to the Vanderbilt Commodores, 72-55, on Sunday in the regular season finale at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville.
Fifth-year senior forward Javyn Nicholson scored in double figures for the 28th time in 29 games to lead Georgia with 14 points and nine rebounds.
UGA IN THE 2024 SEC TOURNAMENT
Georgia (12-17, 3-13) earned the No. 13 seed and opens the SEC Tournament on Wednesday vs. No. 12 seed Kentucky at 11 a.m.
LAST UT/UGA CONTEST
The Lady Vols took a decisive road win on Feb. 1, 2024, defeating Georgia in Stegeman Coliseum, 95-73, the last time these teams met.
The 95 points marked the highest point total scored by a Tennessee team in SEC play during the Kellie Harper era.
Senior Jewel Spear had the hot hand for UT (13-7, 6-2 SEC), racking up 25 points on 57.1 percent shooting and five made threes. Fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, five assists and six rebounds, and fellow fifth-year Tamari Key tied her season high of 10 points and pulled down a game-high and season-best eight rebounds.
Georgia (10-11, 1-7 SEC) was led by De’Mauri Flournoy with 18 points. Asia Avinger was also in double figures with 15, and Javyn Nicholson and Jordan Cole posted 13 and 11, respectively.
COMING UP
The winner of the UT vs. UK/UGA game will advance to Friday’s quarterfinals and face Alabama at approximately 2:15 p.m. ET.
The contest will be televised by SEC Network and broadcast on Lady Vol Network radio stations and via live stream on UTSports.com.
CLEMSON, S.C. – No. 8 Tennessee won an extra-innings pitcher’s duel Tuesday at No. 10 Clemson, knocking off the Tigers 2-1 at McWhorter Stadium.
The win marks Tennessee’s second consecutive victory over a top-10-ranked Clemson team, following last season’s 1-0 win over the then fifth-ranked Tigers.
Tied 1-1 in the ninth inning, junior newcomer Sophia Nugent hit a game-winning double off the wall in center that senior Rylie West raced around from first to score on – beating the throw to home as she slid in for the go-ahead run.
Sophomore Karlyn Pickens came out of the bullpen in the fourth inning and shut down the Tigers as she held them to three hits. The Weaverville, North Carolina, native tossed six innings with four strikeouts and two walks.
Pickens earned the win – her eighth of the year – and is 2-0 versus Clemson in her career.
Graduate Payton Gottshall got the start for UT and went three innings, allowing one run on three hits. She fanned two batters and walked one.
Clemson (13-5) started Valerie Cagle – the 2023 USA National Collegiate Player of the Year – in the circle. She went the distance for the Tigers with 10 strikeouts and three walks. She allowed two runs on five hits, suffering the loss and dropping to 6-3 in 2024.
Senior Kiki Milloy opened the scoring with a double to right in the third inning before the Tigers loaded the bases and answered back in the fourth inning, scoring on a wild pitch. Pickens was able to work out of the jam and limit the damage to just one run.
STAT OF THE DAY Tennessee’s win is its first over a top-10 opponent since defeating No. 10 LSU on March 19 last season.
UP NEXT Tennessee is back at home March 8-10 as it plays host to Ohio State, Missouri State and South Dakota in the Tennessee Invitational.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A record-setting night from freshman shortstop Dean Curley led No. 7/8 Tennessee to an emphatic 15-5 win over Kansas State on Tuesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The California native tied UT’s single-game record with three home runs and finished with nine RBIs, a Tennessee freshman record and one shy of the program record of 10 set by Joe Randa against Louisville in 1991.
Curley nearly completed the home run cycle but flew out to the wall in right field in his final at-bat of the night. His first homer of the night was a grand slam in a six-run third inning for the Big Orange that busted open a 4-2 game. Curley followed that with a three-run blast in the fourth inning and capped his incredible night with a two-run shot in the sixth.
Despite the lopsided final score, the Vols (12-1) had to battle out of an early hole after falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first inning. The Wildcats’ lead was short-lived, as UT answered with three runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead for good.
Tuesday’s victory marked UT’s fourth straight contest scoring double-digit runs and the seventh time total this season through 13 games. Seven different Vols registered multi-hit efforts on the night as the team finished with 17 base hits for the second consecutive game, tying a season high.
On the mound, Nate Snead improved to 3-0 on the year after pitching four innings out of the bullpen while Andrew Behnke and Dylan Loy combined to strikeout out four batters across the final three innings.
Kansas State (7-4) was led by leadoff man Chuck Ingram, who finished 3-for-4 with an RBI. Starting pitcher Owen Boerema was tagged for nine runs on nine hits and two walks in three innings of work to fall to 1-1 on the year.
UP NEXT: The Vols continue their midweek slate with a Wednesday night matchup against Southern Indiana at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
STAT OF THE GAME: Tennessee continued its power surge with a season-high six home runs on Tuesday night, giving them 32 on the year. UT has homered in all 13 games this season.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A former Loudon County corrections officer was sentenced to prison on Monday for using excessive force.
A release from the Department of Justice says 32-year-old Brian Phillips, of Georgia, was sentenced to five months in prison as part of a plea agreement.
Phillips pleaded guilty to one count of use of excessive force under color of law in connection to an incident at the Loudon County Jail in January of 2021.
Court records indicate Phillips “hipslammed” a detainee headfirst into the concrete floor for getting a second dinner tray, which is not permitted.
Following his incarceration, Phillips will be on supervised release for two years.
Oak Ridge, TN (WOKI) Two people are arrested after a high speed chase through Oak Ridge.
Anderson County Deputies were called to the Marathon Gas Station on Oak Ridge Highway after a man was spotted at the gas pumps putting on a ski mask Monday morning.
When deputies arrived, the man fled the scene, and the chase went from Laurel Road through Oak Ridge ending on Southwood Lane.
ACSO: Two charged after leading police on high-speed chase in Oak Ridge (Courtesy: ACSO)
Twenty-three year-old Devon Pride and 24-year-old Destiny Simonds are charged with more than a dozen offenses including evading arrest, reckless driving and driving under the influence.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) There are only 30 hospitals in the country that offer a newly FDA-approved T-cell treatment for cancer, and the University of Tennessee Medical Center is one of them.
Through this new treatment process, UTMC staff are able to take the cells that your body naturally produces to fight cancer, reproduce more of the effective cells, then inject them back into a patient with the hopes of reducing or eliminating the tumor altogether.
This new treatment became FDA approved on February 16, and it has already brought multiple patients to UT hospital to seek this treatment out.
It is the only hospital in the state to offer the treatment, the next closest option being Louisville or Atlanta.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tennessee women’s basketball standout Rickea Jackson has repeated as an All-SEC First Team selection by the league’s coaches, the conference office announced on Tuesday morning.
Jackson, a 6-foot-2 forward, became only the fifth Lady Vol since 2012 to do that in back-to-back campaigns. The previous repeat first-teamers during that stretch were Meighan Simmons (2013, 2014), Isabelle Harrison (2014, 2015), Rennia Davis (2020, 2021) and Jordan Horston (2022, 2023).
The SEC’s active career scoring leader, who is in her second season at UT after beginning her career at Mississippi State, collected the third all-conference recognition of her career. She also was the recipient of second-team acclaim in 2019-20 while with the Bulldogs.
Jackson leads Tennessee and ranks second in the SEC this season in scoring at 19.7 points per game (19.9 in SEC play) and contributes a team-high 7.9 rebounds per contest while adding 2.2 assists per outing. She is shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 76.1 percent from the free throw line after overcoming an early-season injury that sidelined her for eight games. Jackson also is tied for the team lead in charges taken with five.
In match-ups against ranked teams, Jackson has elevated her play even more, putting up 23.8 ppg. and 10.3 rpg. in those contests. Over UT’s last five outings, which have included a pair of meetings with No. 1 South Carolina and one with No. 9 LSU, the Big Orange star has averaged 23.0 ppg. and 7.4 rpg. while shooting 50 percent from the field and 75 percent from the charity stripe.
A native of Detroit, Jackson has recorded three double-doubles this season and nine games with 20 or more points scored. The latter number has increased her two-year total on Rocky Top to 25, which ranks as the fifth-best ever by a Lady Vol behind only program legends Chamique Holdsclaw, Bridgette Gordon, Candace Parker and Tamika Catchings.
Also reflective of her scoring prowess, Jackson has tallied 1,065 points in only 55 games at Tennessee, ranking No. 46 on a list that primarily features players who spent three or four seasons in Knoxville. For career point production, she has generated 2,150 in 122 career contests, ranking sixth among anyone who has played at UT, including transfers. In recent games, she passed Tamika Catchings (2,113) and Candace Parker (2,137) and ranks behind only Cindy Brogdon (3,204), Chamique Holdsclaw (3,025), Jill Rankin (2,851), Bridgette Gordon (2,462) and Patricia Roberts (2,447).
Jackson and her teammates finished the regular season at 17-11 overall and 10-6 in league play, grabbing a tie for fourth place. They’ll be in Greenville, S.C., this week, where they will open play in the SEC Tournament as the No. 5 seed on Thursday vs. the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 12 seed Kentucky and No. 13 Georgia. Tip-off on Thursday will be at approximately 2:15 p.m. ET, with SEC Network televising and the Lady Vol Network broadcast available on radio stations statewide and via live stream on UTSports.com.
It’s day two (Tuesday) in the murder trial of a Fountain City woman accused of killing her young daughter.
Robin Howington is accused of shooting her 5 year-old daughter at a home on Balsam Drive in 2019. She’s charged with felony murder, child neglect, false reporting and tampering with evidence.
In court yesterday (Monday), Prosecutors say Howington changed her story multiple times saying she told police different things about what happened that night.
The Prosecution showed the jury security footage from a neighbor claiming she hid the gun while on the phone with 911.
The Defense made several arguments in its opening statement as well saying there were issues with the interviewing process.
A lawsuit is filed on behalf of a Meigs County woman who died in the back of a deputy’s vehicle last month.
On February 14th, the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office says Deputy Robert “RJ” Leonard accidentally took a wrong turn and drove into the River after arresting Tabitha Smith.
As the cruiser hit the water, Smith was handcuffed in the back seat and unable to free herself. Leonard’s body was found the next day in the river but not inside the patrol car.
The lawsuit was filed by Nathan Smith on behalf of his mother, Tabitha against the Meigs County Government and Deputy Leonard and alleges Leonard “was not properly trained by the County and his mother suffered a horrific death.”
The lawsuit requests a jury trial and $10 million in damages.
