LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Lady Vols visited Lexington on Sunday afternoon to take on Kentucky. Tennessee was coming off of a win over Missouri on Thursday in the team's first SEC contest of the season. Meanwhile, Kentucky came into the game looking to get into the win column in conference play after dropping their opener in blowout fashion to South Carolina.
It was clear that Tennessee would have a height advantage over Kentucky. However, offensively Tennessee would need to protect the ball against a Kentucky team that liked to press.
While Tennessee definitely had the height advantage, turnovers proved to be a major issue from the jump for the Lady Vols. Tennessee finished Sunday's game with 21 turnovers. The Wildcats took advantage of those mistakes, scoring 28 points off of Lady Vol turnovers.
Tennessee's Rennia Davis scored 27 points to lead her team in scoring, however Kentucky's Rhyne Howard would not be out done. The native of Cleveland, Tennessee scored a career high 37 points. No one else on Kentucky's roster had more than 11 points.
Howard utilized her ability to make shots from outside, hitting seven three pointers in the game. To put that in perspective, Tennessee as a team hit just three shots from beyond the three point line all night.
While Tennessee held a narrow halftime lead, Kentucky used Howard's offensive explosion to propel the Wildcats to their first conference win of season, beating the Lady Vols 80-76. Tennessee will look to bounce back when they travel to Ole Miss on Thursday.
