GAMEDAY Womens Basketball
Tennessee 95, Saint Louis 50
By TERESA M. WALER
AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Jordan Horston scored 21 points and Rickea Jackson added 18 as the fourth-seeded Tennessee Lady Vols remained perfect when opening the NCAA Tournament on their home court, routing No. 13 seed Saint Louis 95-50.
The Lady Vols (24-11) improved to 25-0 in first-round games on their home court to reach second-round where they will play either No. 5 seed Iowa State or 12th-seeded Toledo. Tennessee improved to 6-2 all-time as a No. 4 seed.
Jordan Walker added 11 points and Tess Darby had 10 for the Lady Vols. They will try to advance to a second straight Sweet 16 in the Seattle 3 region.
The first NCAA Tournament appearance ended quickly for Saint Louis (17-18). The Billikens snapped the six-game winning streak that helped them win the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament after starting the season 6-16.
Brooke Flowers led Saint Louis with 17 points, and Kyla McMakin, who followed coach Rebecca Tillett from Longwood as a transfer, added 11. Camree Clegg added 12 off the bench.
The Billikens led twice in the first couple minutes, the last on a McMakin jumper at 4-3. Walker tied it at 4 with a free throw, then finished a fast break with a layup putting the Lady Vols ahead to stay with 6:51 left. Darby added a 3, and Horston's jumper capped an eight-point spurt for Tennessee.
The Lady Vols led by as much as 10 before McMakin bankd in a buzzer-beating 3 that pulled Saint Louis within 20-15 at end of the first quarter. Flowers hit two free throws to pull Saint Louis within 20-17 to start the second quarter.
Then Tennessee seized control and scored the final 21 points for a 48-24 lead at halftime. The Lady Vols scored the first eight of the third and led 67-41 at the end of the quarter. They polished off the big win outscoring Saint Louis 28-9 in the fourth with coach Kellie Harper pulling her starters with 6:24 left.
BIG PICTURE
Saint Louis: The Billikens' future seems bright with Tillett picking up where she left off after leading Longwood to the NCAA Tournament a year ago from the Big South. She joined Lisa Bluder (Drake and Iowa) as the only Division I coaches to lead teams in different conferences to tournament titles in consecutive years. This loss was just their second in the final 13 games for a program that last won 11 of 12 in the 1978-79 season. Not bad for a program picked to finish 12th in the A-10.
Tennessee: The program that has appeared in all 41 NCAA Tournaments improved to 32-2 in the first round. The Lady Vols used their height advantage for a 54-22 scoring edge in the paint. They also took care of the ball with only 10 turnovers and turned the Billikens' 20 turnovers into 30 points.
March 18, 2023
| Saint Louis | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| B. Flowers | F | 39 | 7-11 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 2-9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| M. Nicastro | F | 12 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| K. McMakin | G | 38 | 5-14 | 0-1 | 1-7 | 2-3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 11 |
| K. Calhoun | G | 28 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| J. Martinez | G | 26 | 1-8 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 2-4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| C. Clegg | 21 | 4-8 | 2-2 | 2-6 | 0-1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 12 | |
| P. Kennedy | 21 | 1-7 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |
| B. Johns | 6 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| K. Bess | 5 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| N. Haidara | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| S. Gul | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| I. Tillett | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| A. Liber | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals | 200 | 19-58 (.328) |
9-11 (.818) |
3-20 (.150) |
11-28 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 20 | 16 | 50 | |
| Tennessee | ||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Min | FG-FGA | FT-FTA | 3P-3PA | OR-TR | Ast | Blk | Stl | TO | PF | Pts |
| R. Jackson | F | 26 | 8-13 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
| K. Striplin | F | 16 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| J. Horston | G | 23 | 9-11 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 2-8 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 21 |
| J. Walker | G | 22 | 4-6 | 2-4 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| T. Darby | G | 19 | 3-7 | 1-2 | 3-5 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| S. Puckett | 19 | 0-6 | 2-2 | 0-3 | 2-5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| J. Hollingshead | 17 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| J. Powell | 15 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| J. Franklin | 13 | 3-4 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| J. Pissott | 12 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-4 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| K. Wynn | 9 | 1-5 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| B. Miles | 6 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| E. Darby | 3 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| Totals | 200 | 37-70 (.529) |
15-19 (.789) |
6-19 (.316) |
16-39 | 16 | 0 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 95 | |
Officials: Cameron Inouye, Robert Scofield, Krystle Apellaniz
