Lady Vols Head To Sweet Sixteen After Beating Bruins In Narrow Finish

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Pictured: Lady Vol Sara Puckett being guarded by Bruins’ Destinee Wells and Madison Bartley. Photo: Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics

In one of the most intense games of the NCAA Tournament, the Lady Vols of Tennessee held out to beat Belmont 70-67 on Monday night (March 21) at Thompson-Boling Arena.

With the win, Tennessee advances to the Sweet Sixteen, for the first time since 2016.

“I am super excited to be playing more basketball with this team,” said Tennessee head coach Kellie Harper in a postgame press conference. “Hats off to Belmont. That is one heck of a team. We knew they were going to fight for 40 minutes… I’m just so happy for this group. I’m really proud of them.”

Harper will be taking her second team to that NCAA stage, having led Missouri State to the 2019 Sweet 16 before being hired by UT in 2020.

The Lady Vols took a strong and early command over Belmont, solidifying a 35-23 lead going into halftime. The team was led by graduate Alexus Dye, who posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Tamari Key and freshman Sara Puckett were also in double figures with 18 and 12, respectively. Key and the rest of the UT team overwhelmed the Bruins with its size and athleticism.

“I was ready just because I knew my teammates had all that confidence in me,” said Puckett in a postgame press conference. “That just made me feel so free out there to be able to do the gift that God gave me to do: to shoot the basketball.

It wasn’t until the third quarter when Belmont sophomores Destinee Wells and Tuti Jones came alive and were able to tie it up at 46-46 with less than a minute to go in the quarter. Wells worked tirelessly to find shots wherever she could, and ended leading the Bruins in scoring with 22 points, while Madison Bartley contributed 16. Jones, who only scored one point in the first half, went on to score 17 points, finishing with six rebounds and two steals. Her second half performance was key for the Bruins comeback.

Belmont’s Tuti Jones. Photo: Courtesy of Belmont Athletics

The game came down to the wire with a lot of back-and-forth, but defensive plays from Key and a 3-pointer from Puckett with just 18 seconds left in the game sealed Tennessee’s fate.

“I can’t be more proud of a group than I am of our group,” said Belmont head coach Bart Brooks in a postgame press conference. “I’ve got the best job in the world, working for the greatest people in the world at the greatest university in the world. I still pinch myself when I walk across campus and say I get to work here every day. The best part of it is the people I get to work with, and these young ladies.” He continues, “This has been a hard and exhausting year. But, man, it has been fun to coach this group, and it beats working for a living, that’s for sure.”

The Bruins finished their season 23-8 with an OVC title, a March Madness win, and a fantastic performance against Tennessee. Though the team will be losing a handful of seniors, including Conley Chinn and Jamilyn Kinney, other power player such as Jones, Bartley and Wells have two more years at Belmont.

Joining the Missouri Valley Conference next season, the Bruins have set a foundation with this specific team.

“I would definitely say we’re going to leave here with our heads high,” Jones shared. “Like Bart said, it’s been a long season. We’ve grown so much together and we’ve grown a lot as a team. It was tough losing, of course, but we’re definitely going to leave with our heads high. We’re so proud of each other.”

Next up, the Lady Vols head to Wichita to take on No. 1 Louisville on Saturday, March 26 at 3 p.m. CT. Louisville is one of the best teams in the country, only losing four games all year and being ranked No. 4 nationally. Fans can catch the game on ESPN 2.

Steven Boero
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