Rickea Jackson's 21 points lead Lady Vols to dominant win over Arkansas at home
Rickea Jackson didn't even need to look before sending the ball out to the wing to Kaiya Wynn in transition.
She knew Wynn would be with her on the fast break, and she rewarded her. Wynn drove into the paint and hit a short jumper, keeping Lady Vols basketball solidly in the lead in the fourth quarter. Jackson's shot wasn't falling in the second half like it was in the first, so she found other ways to lead Tennessee to a dominant win Monday.
The Lady Vols (15-8, 8-3 SEC) throttled Arkansas 81-55 at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. It was a crucial bounce-back win after losing to Alabama on Feb. 8, their third conference loss, all on the road.
They were led by Jackson's 21 points, and she added nine rebounds and two assists. Senior guard Jewel Spear had 13 points, eight rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
Arkansas (17-9, 5-6) was led by freshman guard Taliah Scott's 23 points.
Tennessee builds lead off Arkansas' shooting struggles
Tennessee came out energized against the Razorbacks. The Lady Vols were aggressive offensively and shot 42.9% in the first half to build a 40-24 lead.
Their defensive execution at times suffered in the second quarter when the pace picked up. But they caught a break with Arkansas' poor shooting night — it shot just 23.7% in the first half and went 6-for-21 from 3-point range.
The Lady Vols also were able to capitalize on turnovers, scoring 12 points off six Arkansas turnovers. The Razorbacks scored just six points off nine Tennessee turnovers in the first half.
Jillian Hollingshead logs double-double off the bench
Jillian Hollingshead's ability to defend and switch benefited the Lady Vols against Arkansas forward Maryam Dauda, who often plays out on the arc and can shoot from deep. Hollingshead has been a consistent rebounder, but has struggled offensively in conference play. However, she found opportunities to score and was aggressive on the offensive end Monday, finishing with 14 points on 66.7% shooting, plus 10 rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes.
Tennessee outrebounded Arkansas 56-29.
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Tennessee's offense returns to form
The Lady Vols rebounded from a poor offensive showing at Alabama and scored more than 20 points in two quarters Monday.
Part of that was due to easier competition, but Tennessee executed well, too, with 19 assists on 28 made field goals and outscoring Arkansas in the paint 34-16. The Lady Vols were smart with the number of 3-pointers they took, going 8-for-15, compared to Arkansas, which went 8-for-35.
Tennessee also was able to get out in transition, and scored 23 of its points off fast breaks.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lady Vols basketball uses Arkansas as bounce-back SEC win
