Top-ranked Tennessee loses again
Top-ranked Tennessee lost consecutive games for the first time in nine years when Kentucky upset the Lady Vols 66-63 on Thursday night in Lexington, Ky.
Jenny Pfeiffer scored 16 points, including two free throws with 15 seconds left to put the Wildcats ahead by one. Sidney Spencer then missed a 3-pointer for Tennessee and fouled Nastassia Alcius, who hit two foul shots with 3 seconds to go for the final margin.
The Lady Vols (18-2, 4-1 Southeastern Conference), who figured to drop from the top spot anyway after their 22-point loss Monday against No. 2 Duke, will almost certainly fall further now. Tennessee had beaten Kentucky (15-4, 4-2) 24 straight times since January 1986 and entered with a 40-5 advantage in the series.
Tennessee had not dropped consecutive games since February 1997 against LSU and Louisiana Tech.
It also was the Lady Vols’ first loss to an unranked team since March 2, 2002, against LSU in the SEC tournament.
For the Wildcats, it was their first win over a No. 1 team.
(2) Duke 97, Clemson 65: At Clemson, S.C., Lindsey Harding scored 17 points and the Blue Devils (20-0, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) matched their best start with a victory over the Tigers (8-12, 2-4). … (4) LSU 75, (22) Vanderbilt 53: At Baton Rouge, La., Sylvia Fowles had 26 points and 22 rebounds, while Seimone Augustus added 28 points to lead the Tigers (17-1, 6-0 SEC) past the Commodores (13-7, 2-4). … (6) Maryland 79, Georgia Tech 71: At College Park, Md., Crystal Langhorne scored 19 of her 23 points in the second half as the Terrapins (18-2, 5-1 ACC) beat the Yellow Jackets (12-7, 1-5). Georgia Tech has lost six of seven. … (7) Ohio St. 73, Wisconsin 46: At Columbus, Ohio, Jessica Davenport had 19 points and 14 rebounds and became Ohio State’s career leader in blocked shots, leading the Buckeyes (16-2, 7-1 Big Ten) over the Badgers (7-13, 1-7) for their seventh win in a row. … (8) Purdue 73, (16) Michigan State 53: At West Lafayette, Ind., Katie Gearlds scored 23 points and Aya Traore added 17 to lead the Boilermakers (16-2, 8-0 Big Ten) to a win over the Spartans (14-7, 4-4). … (14) Minnesota 79, North Dakota State 70: At Minneapolis, Jamie Broback scored a career-high 33 points, 25 in the second half, to lead the Gophers (14-4) past the Bison (8-10). … (15) Georgia 75, South Carolina 64: At Columbia, S.C., Tasha Humphrey scored 18 points to lift the Lady Bulldogs (14-5, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) to a victory over the Gamecocks (10-8, 1-5). … Arkansas 69, (24) Florida 63: At Fayetteville, Ark., Leslie Howard scored a season-high 24 points, leading the Lady Razorbacks (13-6, 5-1 SEC) to a victory over the Gators (15-4, 3-3).