Photo Credit: Faith Wood/ Tennessee Athletics
By Chloe Levering
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 19 Tennessee reigned victorious over Troy Sunday afternoon, 100-73. All 9 dressed-out Lady Vols found their way to the scoresheet after only 4 players had scored at halftime. It was a slow start for Tennessee in the first half, as Troy stayed close behind the Lady Vols and even ahead in one instance. However, Jillian Hollingshead, Karoline Striplin, and Destinee Wells would lead the Lady Vols to a 20-point lead early in the second half which only increased from there.
Tennessee was short-handed with Rickea Jackson still being out day-to-day and also lacking Jasmine Powell with a wrist injury.
“We are a deep team and I think that everyone just rose to the occasion when we saw that we are short-handed. I think it just shows our toughness and our togetherness,” said senior forward Striplin following the game.
Striplin had her first career double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds, the lead scorer for the day. Hollingshead and Wells followed close behind with 18 points each. Hollingshead also recorded a double-double with her 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Wells was close with 18 points and 8 assists.
“When we brought Destinee (Wells) in, this is what we envisioned. This was who we knew she could be, we knew the opportunities that she was going to have here to be able to create,” head coach Kellie Harper said after the game.
This week, Tennessee will travel to Florida for the Fort Myers Tip-Off. First up they take on No. 21 Indiana on Thanksgiving Day and will also play No. 22 Oklahoma on Saturday. Other teams in the tournament are Princeton on Tennessee’s side of the bracket and Arkansas, Boston College, Marquette and Wisconsin on the other.
“We’re going to play some terrific basketball teams coming up that are physical and disciplined. They’ve got size, they’ve got speed and they’ve got skill, so it’s a great opportunity for our team to go out and compete and give us an opportunity to gameplan a little bit and see what we can do,” said Harper.
The Lady Vols will take on Indiana in the Fort Myers Tip-Off in Suncoast Credit Union Arena on Thursday at 6:00 PM ET. The game will air on the Womens Sports Network, which can be accessed through streaming apps such as Tubi, FuboTV, and on smart tvs.