Texas women earn upset victory at No. 4 Tennessee

Texas goes to 5-0, snaps Tennessee’s 27-game home winning streak.

Lashann Higgs scored 18 points and led an efficient 3-point attack Sunday as the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns defeated No. 4 Tennessee 64-53 to remain unbeaten.

The freshman guard from Cedar Ridge High School shot 3 of 5 from 3-point range and posted her highest point total of the season to help Texas (5-0) end Tennessee’s 27-game home winning streak.

Texas was 6 of 13 on 3-pointers.

Tennessee (5-1) hadn’t lost at home since a 75-71 defeat by Kentucky in February 2014.

Diamond DeShields had 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead Tennessee.

Tennessee cut an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to four when Lady Vols guard Andraya Carter made two free throws with 1:18 left. Carter then made a midcourt steal to start a fastbreak, but Te’a Cooper missed a contested layup with a minute remaining.

The Lady Vols didn’t get any closer, missing their last nine field-goal attempts. Tennessee shot just 30.4 percent.

Brooke McCarty had 12 points and Imani Boyette had 11 points and nine rebounds for Texas.

Tennessee’s Jasmine Jones and Cooper collided head-to-head while chasing a loose ball with 7:41 left in the fourth quarter.

Jones was helped to the locker room and didn’t return to the game.

DeShields gave Tennessee an early lead by scoring 10 points in the first 11½ minutes of the game, but she picked up her second foul with 6:35 left in the second quarter and didn’t score the rest of the first half.

While DeShields dominated the first quarter, the second quarter belonged to Higgs, who hadn’t scored more than 12 points in her first four college games.

Higgs scored 13 points in the second quarter alone Sunday to help Texas grab a 29-24 halftime lead.

When Higgs wasn’t making 3-pointers, she was driving into the lane.

Texas built a 10-point lead in the third quarter by shooting 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

The Lady Vols got the margin down to five on three occasions in the third, but each time Texas answered with a 3-point basket or a 3-point play.

This marks the first time the Longhorns have won back-to-back games against the Lady Vols since winning four straight from February 2002 to November 2004. Texas beat Tennessee 72-59 in Austin last season.

Texas will host No. 8 Mississippi State at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

WADE PAYNE / AP Texas freshman guard Lashann Higgs beats Tennessee’s Meme Jackson for a layup on Sunday. Higgs led the Longhorns with 18 points.

WADE PAYNE / AP Tennessee guard Diamond DeShields looks to pass as she’s guarded by Texas’ Empress Davenport on Sunday. DeShields had 24 points and 11 rebounds.