AUSTIN (KXAN) — Madison Booker hit the go-ahead bucket with 0:27 left and No. 7 Texas hung on to top No. 17 Tennessee 80-76 in Southeastern Conference women’s basketball action Thursday at Moody Center.
Booker’s clutch mid-range jumper was her 11th field goal of the game to finish with 26 points. Rori Harmon hit a pair of foul shots with three seconds left to ice the game after Texas forced Tennessee into a tough shot.
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The most gutsy performance came from Longhorns forward Taylor Jones. Fighting through a shoulder injury, Jones was unstoppable inside with 21 points and 14 rebounds. Nine of her rebounds were on the offensive end and the Longhorns dominated the Lady Vols on the boards 39-24 overall and 16-7 offensively. Those led to a 25-5 advantage in second-chance points.
“She got right back in the fray and showed some toughness,” Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer said of Jones. “She made some plays for us. She was down there fighting her tail off to get those rebounds.”
It was a back-and-forth game with 15 ties and 15 lead changes. In the fourth quarter alone, the game was tied six times with the lead changing twice. Texas led 62-61 at the end of the third quarter and scored the first four points of the fourth to stretch their lead to five, 66-61. Tennessee went on a 7-0 run to take a 68-66 lead but Jones connected on a short jumper to tie it with 5:04 remaining.
Jones made a jumper just inside the 3-point line at the end of the third quarter to give the Longhorns the lead heading into the final frame.
Both teams shot 50% from the field with the Longhorns making five more buckets than the Lady Vols 32-27. Tennessee was outstanding from the 3-point line, draining 9 of 17 attempts. Texas was 1-for-6 from 3-point range.
Texas scored on 61% of its possessions while Tennessee scored on 52%. Schaefer said his team found a way to win even if they didn’t play the cleanest game.
“They found a way. They fought,” he said. “Tennessee is a heck of a team and they just keep bringing people at you. We had plenty of blunders, but we still found a way to win. We had kids make plays down the stretch.”
Aaliyah Moore scored 11 points while Jordan Lee chipped in 10 off the bench for Texas. Harmon finished the night with eight points and eight assists.
Ruby Whitehorn led the Lady Vols with 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting and Zee Spearman contributed 14 points. Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell didn’t make the trip because she gave birth to her son, Conor Scott Caldwell, on Thursday. Assistant coach Jenna Burdette was the acting head coach.
Texas (19-2, 5-1 SEC) travels to face Ole Miss on Sunday. Tennessee (15-4, 3-4) hosts No. 2 South Carolina on Monday.
