KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest at Tennessee on Sunday, as the Commodores fell at Food City Center, 73-64.
In a game that featured seven ties and five lead changes, it was a late run by Tennessee that sealed the victory. Vanderbilt pulled to within a point of the Lady Vols after graduate student Jordyn Cambridge’s jumper made it a 65-64 game with 3:16 left to play . Tennessee closed the game by scoring eight-straight points to claim a nine-point victory over the Dores.
Cambridge and junior Iyana Moore each scored double-digit points in Sunday’s loss. Moore tallied a game-high 19 points, while Cambridge added 12 points. Moore also dished out a team-high five assists, while Cambridge added a team-best six rebounds and three steals to her stat line.
The loss to Tennessee brings Vanderbilt’s overall record to 17-3, while the Commodores are now 4-2 in SEC play.
The Dores drilled nine 3-pointers in the game and shot 41.7 percent from the field against the Lady Vols. There were only two free throws missed in Sunday’s contest, as Vanderbilt went 5-of-6 at the charity line, while Tennessee made 17 of its 18 free throws.
After Vanderbilt took a 4-3 lead to open the game, the Lady Volunteers doubled up the Dores at 12-6. Vandy pulled even with Tennessee at 12-all after a pair of free throws from Moore coming out of the media timeout. The Lady Vols got back-to-back baskets after Moore’s bucket to take a 16-12 advantage. Cambridge drilled a 3-pointer to pull the Dores to within a point of Tennessee at 18-17, but the Lady Volunteers closed out the frame with a bucket to push Vanderbilt’s deficit to 20-17 going into the second quarter.
Tennessee pushed its advantage to seven points in the early stages of the second stanza. Vanderbilt chipped away at the Lady Vol lead and got to within two points at 29-27 after a 3-pointer from freshman Aga Makurat. The Dores pulled even once again after a layup from junior Sacha Washington knotted the game up at 31-31 with 1:20 left to play before halftime. Tennessee took a brief lead after Washington’s bucket, but Vanderbilt answered with a layup from graduate student Jordyn Oliver at the buzzer as the teams went into the locker room tied at 33-all.
Sophomore Justine Pissott sank her second 3-pointer of the contest to open the third quarter to give Vandy a 36-33 lead. Tennessee reclaimed a 39-36 advantage, but Pissott brought the Commodores even again, as her third trifecta of the game pulled Vanderbilt even at 39-39 with seven minutes left to play in the third. The two teams would trade blows from that point, but it would be Tennessee taking a four-point lead into the fourth quarter at 51-47.
Cambridge opened the fourth with a 3-pointer that pulled the Commodores within a point of the Lady Volunteers at 51-50. Tennessee extended its lead to 58-52 to force the Commodores to call a timeout at the 7:03 mark of the fourth. Vanderbilt got back-to-back baskets out of the time out to pull within a bucket of UT at 58-56. The Lady Vols reclaimed a six-point advantage, but Vanderbilt’s defense would answer the call. Vandy would get back-to-back steals that led to transition layups that tied the score up at 62-62 and forced UT to call a timeout with 4:04 remaining in the game.
Tennessee answered with a 3-pointer out of the break to reclaim the lead at 65-62. Vanderbilt responded with a jumper from Cambridge to make it a one-point game at 65-64 with 3:16 remaining. UT would go on an 8-0 run from that point to take a lead that UT would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game.
Head Coach Shea Ralph on the Result
“We want to win every game we play but I think there are still some great things to take from today’s game. I felt like we fought hard and we were competitive. Towards the end of the game, we just missed some chances to have an opportunity to win the game. There are other things that we will learn and clean up. When we leave here today, I’m going to tell my team that we fought hard and competed. We had a chance to win all the way until the end of the game and it just didn’t happen. I’m proud of them (for fighting) and is certainly something we will take away and build on.”
Up Next
It’ll be a full week before Vanderbilt’s next contest. The Commodores will head to No. 1-ranked South Carolina on Sunday, Jan. 28. Tipoff against the Gamecocks is set for 2 p.m. CT and will air live on SEC Network.
Dore Notes
- Junior Iyana Moore registered double-digit points for the 12th time this season with a 19-point performance at Tennessee
- Moore has now scored 10 or more points in six of her last seven games
- Graduate student Jordyn Cambridge scored double-digit points for the 15th time this season with a 12-point effort
- Cambridge collected three steals to give her 314 career steals. She is just 25 steals away from setting the record for most steals in program history
- Sophomore Justine Pissott made 3-plus or more 3-pointers for the sixth time this season
- Vanderbilt falls to 17-3 on the year and 4-2 in SEC play
- The Commodores are now 78-10 all-time vs. Tennessee and 1-37 in Knoxville
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