KNOXVILLE — The Lady Vols closed out the home portion of their basketball schedule with a victory over Ole Miss Thursday night.
Tennessee beat the Rebels by more than 50 points when the two teams met earlier in the season in Oxford and held Ole Miss to 28 points.
But this time the Lady Vols escaped Thompson-Boling Arena with a 77-66 victory and the game was tight as the Rebels trailed just 45-42 with 4 minutes, 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter and the Rebels’ box-and-one defense held UT’s Rennia Davis to just three points with just under six minutes remaining in the third stanza.
Davis, a junior and Tennessee’s leading scorer, finished the game with 19 points. She also had 11 points for the Lady Vols (19-9 overall, 9-6 in the Southeastern Conference).
Tamari Key had a career-high 17 points. Rae Burrell finished 14 for Tennessee, which jumped to a 20-9 lead against Ole Miss (7-21, 0-15 SEC) in the first quarter.
But the Rebels never went away thanks to 22 points from Deja Cage and 21 by Milicia Reid.