The Lady Vols closed a 16-point deficit against LSU on Thursday night but couldn’t quite make it to the right end of the scoreboard to close the night in Knoxville.
No. 6 LSU escaped the Food City Center with a last-second 89-87 win over No. 16 Tennessee as the Lady Vols have now lost two straight conference games by a combined three points.
The Tigers took control of the game in the second quarter with a 16-point lead but the Lady Vols did a nice job of closing the gap to only make it a 7-point deficit at the half. While the third quarter looked like it was going LSU’s way once again, Tennessee fought back and only trailed by five heading into the final frame.
Tennessee took the lead with five minutes left as the two SEC teams battled it out to the finish line. With the Lady Vols and Tigers tied at 87, LSU’s Kailyn Gilbert hit a layup with just one second left on the clock to take the lead by two points. Tennessee attempted a play at the basket with 0.9 seconds left but it did not go in.
Tennessee’s Jewel Spear led all scorers in the game with 25 points while Talaysia Cooper added in 24 points and six rebounds of her own.
After the game, Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell and LSU head coach Kim Mulkey met with the media to give their reactions to the game. Tennessee’s Spear and Cooper also met with the media during Caldwell’s press conference.
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Check out both press conferences after the game on Thursday below:
Tennessee HC Kim Caldwell, Jewel Spear, Talaysia Cooper
LSU HC Kim Mulkey
The Lady Vols (13-2, 1-2 SEC) will return to action on Sunday with a road SEC game at Arkansas (8-10, 1-2 SEC) at 1:00 p.m. ET.
