Feb. 13, 2012

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Postgame Notes

Numbers of Interest
3: Third time's a charm with this linuep combination. The starting five previously lined up for the opening tips of losses at Virginia and Vanderbilt.

25: Meighan Simmons tagged 25 points on UK, a season- and SEC-best for the sophomore. Her career-best mark of 28 points came against Lamar (12/1/10).

37: The 37-point UT win marks the largest margin of loss for Kentucky this season. Its largest margin of defeat coming into tonight was 12 points at MTSU (12/28).

91: Tennessee's 91 points were the second-most put up by the Lady Vols this season (92 v. Miami, 11/15). The total was also the second-most allowed by UK this year (92 v. UND).

25,000: Before the game, Holly Warlick was presented with a check in the amount of $25,000 for her foundation, Champions for a Cure, supporting breast cancer research.

To Note
The Series
• With the win, Tennessee moves to 49-8 in the all-time series versus Kentucky dating back to the 1975-76 season.
• Tennessee has won 17 of the last 20 meetings against the Wildcats.
• Kentucky has yet to secure a win in Thompson-Boling Arena with the Wildcats' last win in Knoxville coming in 1985 when the Lady Vols played in Stokely Athletics Center.

For Starters
• Today's starters: Ariel Massengale, Meighan Simmons, Taber Spani, Shekinna Stricklen and Glory Johnson.
• This is the third game with these five lining up for the opening tip. The Lady Vols are now 1-2 sporting this lineup combination.
• These starters lined up for the opening tip of the Lady Vols' road losses at Virginia (11/20) and Vanderbilt (2/9).

Live Pink, Bleed Orange
• The Lady Vols wore pink in tonight's contest as a part of the Women's Basketball Coaches' Association (WBCA) Play 4Kay initiative.
• The initiative serves to promote breast cancer awareness.

At the Half
Lady Vols Look Good
• The Lady Vols led Kentucky at halftime, 46-28. Tonight's 18-point lead at intermission was the second-largest halftime lead by UT against an SEC team this season. UT led Arkansas by 20 at the half on Jan. 8.
• UT's total of 46 points in the first half is also the second-best SEC mark on the season, as they posted 47 points.
• Tennessee has led at the half in 17 contests. The Lady Vols have trailed at intermission of five games and have been tied in the other three contests.
• Tennessee is now 16-1 when it leads going into the locker room, with the lone loss coming to Baylor (11/27).

Noting UK's First Half
• Tonight's 18-point deficit tonight marks Kentucky's largest halftime deficit of the year. The Wildcats previous mark came when they trailed Notre Dame by six points on Dec. 18.
• Shooting 60 percent from the floor in the first half, Tennessee put up the best first-half field goal percentage by a UK opponent this season. Notre Dame shot 59.4% against the Wildcats (12/18).

Wouldn't You Like to Know
Double Time
• Three Lady Vols tallied double-digit scoring efforts in the loss to Vanderbilt: Simmons (25), Stricklen (18) and Johnson (10).
• No Lady Vol collected double-digit rebounds. Johnson and Vicki Baugh each pulled down seven off the boards in the win.

UT For Three
• Tennessee kicked it up another notch from beyond the arc, hitting 6-of-13 trey attempts in the win (46.2%) with Simmons hitting three shots from downtown.
• UT struggled from beyond the arc versus Auburn and South Carolina; the Lady Vols were 3-of-13 (23.1%) from three in the win over Auburn and 1-of-8 from three in the loss to South Carolina (12.5%).

Simmons' Stellar Shooting
• Meighan Simmons tagged 25 points on UK, a season- and SEC-best for the sophomore. Her career-best mark of 28 points came against Lamar (12/1/10).
•Her 10 field goals tie her personal-best. She previously made 10 buckets in the win over Lamar.

All About "We"
• All 11 Lady Vols saw action with 10 of them scoring in the win over Kentucky.
• Interestingly enough, the Lady Vols did not wear their own names on the backs of their jerseys for the first time this season in the win.

TBA - The Place To Play
• UT is scoring 80.6 points per game in Thompson-Boling Arena while only allowing 57.2 points per game to their opponents -- a 23.5 Lady Vol scoring advantage.
• TBA is still the toughest women's basketball arena in the nation to secure a win. The Lady Vols have fashioned a 352-22 (.941) all-time record on their home court.

Summitt's Staples Return
Defense...
• After allowing 93 points in the loss at Vanderbilt, Tennessee held UK to 54.
• The Lady Vols also held the Wildcats to 30 percent shooting in the first half.
• UT forced 20 Kentucky turnovers in the win, converting UK giveaways to the tune of 32 points.

...And Rebounding
• After losing the board game to Vanderbilt, Tennessee came back with a vengance, outrebouding UK, 45-27.
• Tennessee collected 19 offensive boards which it converted to the tune of 22 second chance points.

On the Horizon
Glory, Glory - Look Who's Boarding
• Glory Johnson is currently second on the all-time rebounding list with 1,093 boards.
• She needs 203 rebounds to catch program-leader Chamique Holdsclaw, who pulled down 1,295 rebounds in her Lady Vol career.

Massengale Dishes `Em
• With seven assists versus Kentucky, freshman point guard Ariel Massengale is nearing the rookie assist mark.
• She is 15 assists shy of the Lady Vol record for assists in a season by a freshman. Loree Moore dished out 133 helpers for Tennessee in 2001-02.

Up Next
• UT hits the road again for contests at Mississippi St. (2/16 at 9 p.m. ET) and Ole Miss (2/19 at 2 p.m. ET).