Lady Vols fire away in 30-point third quarter

KNOXVILLE — Tamari Key tied her career high with 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting, grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked six shots to lead No. 16 Tennessee to an 86-64 win over Mississippi State in Southeastern Conference women’s basketball Thursday night.

Sophomore swing player Tess Darby added a career-high 17 points for the Lady Volunteers (226, 11-4), who were up just 30-27 at halftime before scoring 30 points in the third quarter. Graduate player Alexus Dye scored 13 points in the game, pushing her past 1,000 for her career at Troy and Tennessee, and also had eight rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block.

Key, a 6-foot-6 junior center, posted her 10th double-double of the season and now has 105 blocks in 2021-22. That breaks a tie for second in a season with Candace Parker, and Key is eight blocks behind Kelley Cain’s school record of 113 and 12 blocks behind Parker’s career record of 275.

Anastasia Hayes scored 18 points and Caterrion Thompson 16 for the Bulldogs (15-12, 6-9), who used only seven players in the game, their fourth straight loss. Hayes, who’s from Murfreesboro, spent her freshman season at Tennessee and played the past two years at Middle Tennessee State before transferring back to the SEC.

Rae Burrell, who scored 11 points for the Lady Vols, opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer. After a Mississippi State basket, Darby had 3-pointers to start and end an 11-0 run. After another Bulldogs score, Jordan Walker hit a 3-pointer, Key had two baskets and Darby hit a 3 to complete a 10-0 run by Tennessee for a 54-31 lead.

“I wish I could say it was something magic that I’m telling them at halftime, but I think it’s just their mindset when they come out to start the second half,” Lady Vols coach Kellie Harper said in her postgame news conference. “They’ve had an aggressive attitude and outlook, and I think it’s helped us.”

Walker had nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Burrell had six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Tennessee was 5-of-6 from 3-point range and 12-of-17 from the field in the third quarter. The Lady Vols finished 8-of-15 from distance, shooting 54% overall. They also had a 50-27 rebounding advantage and matched their season high with 27 assists on 35 baskets.

The Lady Vols close the regular season by hosting No. 8 LSU (23-4, 11-3) at 2 p.m. Sunday. LSU won 58-50 on Thursday night against Alabama (14-12, 5-10), and Sunday’s matchup at Thompson-Boling Arena will be for the No. 2 seed at the SEC tournament, which starts next Wednesday in Nashville. South Carolina has clinched the No. 1 seed