Lady Vols basketball routs Eastern Kentucky; Jordan Horston surpasses 1,000 career points

The bank is open on Sunday for Jordan Horston.

The senior starter saw her chance behind the arc and took it. Horston made the shot off the glass for the first three points of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball's 105-71 rout of Eastern Kentucky (4-3) at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Five minutes into the second quarter, Rickea Jackson found Horston on a pass down the length of the court for an easy transition bucket for the Lady Vols (4-4). The two points made Horston the 48th player in Lady Vols history to surpass 1,000 career points.

Horston's freshman year was Lady Vols coach Kellie Harper's first season. Harper said there's a lot of trust and loyalty between her and the player who helped elevate the program the last few seasons.

"It's not easy to come into a program and play for a coach that did not recruit you, and she did," Harper said. "Our connection early on was really positive. She knows I love her and would do anything to help her and vice versa. I know she's got my back as well ... I'm just proud of who she's become and who she wants to be."

Jackson and Horston had nearly identical statlines. Jackson led the Lady Vols with 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists and a steal. Horston had 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal.

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Puckett shines off the bench

The Lady Vols got high-quality minutes from sophomore Sara Puckett, who had the highest plus-minus score behind Horston, Jackson and Jasmine Powell at +17. Puckett had six points, four rebounds, two assists and a block in 11 minutes.

"She does the little things," Horston said of Puckett. "She's a hard worker and she gives it her all ... Everything she gets, she deserves it, because she's just such a great person. We need her, she's a glue player for us."

Puckett consistently makes good choices with the ball, which is something Tennessee needs from reserves.

Lady Vols jump out to early lead on 3-point shooting

Tennessee scored 33 points in the first quarter and 18 of them were from 3-pointers.

The Lady Vols shot 60% on 3-pointers in the first to build a 33-11 lead. Justine Pissott made 2-of-3 and Horston hit 2-for-4 from behind the arc.

Tennessee shifted focus to dominating in the paint the rest of the game against undersized EKU. The Lady Vols' 3-point shooting went cold in the second half and they ended up making 8-of-24.

Tennessee post players take advantage of mismatches

Tamari Key, Jillian Hollingshead and Jasmine Franklin had their way on Sunday.

EKU didn't have the size to match up with the Lady Vols with only four players standing 6-foot or taller. Key got some confidence-building minutes as Tennessee looked to feed her under the basket. The 6-6 senior had 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks in nine minutes.

"I thought she did some really good things on the boards," Harper said. "I thought she went and attacked the boards a few possessions and that aggressiveness we've not seen consistently, so that was good."

Hollingshead followed up a strong performance Friday against Colorado with efficient minutes off the bench Sunday. Hollingshead had 13 points, eight rebounds, an assist and a block in her 16 minutes. She showed the effort in the little things, like getting back on defense to get a rebound on a missed transition layup by EKU.

Franklin got good minutes with the starters when she replaced Key, tallying four points, six rebounds, an assist and a block in 12 minutes.

When Franklin and Hollingshead got minutes together, the pair posed a tough, athletic defensive challenge in the paint. It's a combination that could be a great pairing for Tennessee. Harper said both players' ability to guard inside and out gives them freedom to be creative with matchups.

"I think now they're more comfortable playing together," Harper said. "We liked that, I thought they did some good things together. They're two pretty powerful players when you talk about what they can do offensively and on the boards."

Looking at the numbers

Tennessee crushed EKU in almost every statistical category.

The Lady Vols outrebounded the Colonels 62-31, with 25 offensive rebounds leading to 34 second-chance points. They also played a clean game, only turning the ball over 12 times and forcing 15 to score 21 points off turnovers.

UT had 70 points in the paint, 25 points in transition and 26 assists on 44 field goals. Horston and Jackson are two of the best passers on the team and their unselfishness has benefitted the Lady Vols.

"I can run plays to get them the ball, or they can find it within the offense and it not kill your offense in terms of ball movement," Harper said. "They can find and will pass to the open man. They are confident in their ability, but they're also confident their teammates' ability as well. So I think when you have players like that, it makes you want to play with them."

Tennessee's reserves got significant minutes and contributed 58 points. All players available saw the court and played six or more minutes.

The only category the Lady Vols faltered in was their free-throw percentage, which was abysmal. They only shot 47% from the line on 19 attempts.

Up next

Tennessee gets a week off after playing five games in a nine-day stretch. The Lady Vols will have ample time to prepare for a home game against No. 9 Virginia Tech in the Jimmy V Classic on Dec. 4 (1 p.m. ET, ESPN2).