Lady Vols: Along with her scoring, Meme Jackson plays part in record defensive effort

Tennessee's Mercedes Russell put together her usual stat line but teammate Meme Jackson did not.

In both cases, it worked to the Lady Vols' advantage in a 77-34 women's basketball victory over Central Arkansas Thursday night before a crowd of 7,311 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Russell scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for No. 13/12 Tennessee (7-0). Jackson, meanwhile, scored in double figures for the first time in nearly a year with 11.

"It's definitely huge," Russell said of Jackson's scoring. "If all of our guards are hitting shots from the outside, (the opposition) can't just stay in the paint."

Jackson reached double figures with a pull-up jumper in the second quarter. It was the first time the junior guard had achieved that scoring feat since scoring 10 points against Vanderbilt on Jan. 5, 2017. She didn't score more than six points in any of the 18 games thereafter last season and didn't score at all in four of them.

UT coach Holly Warlick was big on Jackson's defense. She had four steals and played a part in two defensive records. The Lady Vols held Central Arkansas (3-2) scoreless in the fourth quarter and to just 10 points in the second half.

The Sugar Bears, who were ranked eighth nationally in field goal shooting percentage (50.5 percent) shot 23.7 percent from floor (14 for 59).

More:Lady Vols basketball back from Cancun, focusing on defense

"She and I talk a lot about her defensive presence," Warlick said of Jackson. "Meme has the capability of shutting down anybody's best player. It's a mindset for Meme. I thought tonight she did an outstanding job."

The fourth-quarter shutout was a defensive first for Tennessee. The 10-point second half broke a record that had existed since UT held Puerto Rico Mayaguez to 12 points in the second half of a 136-26 rout on Nov. 29, 2002.

"Our mindset is just on getting defensive stops," Jackson said. "I don't think we were really aware of them not scoring."

The fourth-quarter shutout was largely the work of Tennessee's reserves. The starters played just 13 combined minutes in the quarter with Jackson logging six.

UT emptied its bench in the second half against South Dakota last Saturday in Cancun and Warlick wasn't happy with the performance.

"Our bench is solid," Warlick said. "We didn't have great effort (last Saturday) and we talked about it. And I thought tonight, not only did we maintain, we took another step up." 

More:Lady Vols have enough in reserve to finish off South Dakota

Central Arkansas deployed three reserves during the final quarter with the intent of gaining more experience. The Sugar Bears played at No. 9 Baylor on Nov. 14, losing 86-55. Sugar Bears coach Sandra Rushing refrained from any comparisons — at least for public consumption.

More:Lady Vols: Overtime win over Marquette adds value to Tennessee's Cancun experience

"I did talk to Holly," Rushing said. "She knows how I feel. I'll keep it at that."

Fast start

The Lady Vols continued their trend of dominating the first quarter.

After a sluggish start, they closed the first 10 minutes with a 17-2 scoring run, opening a 22-8 lead. UT now has outscored the opposition 152-87 in the opening quarter this season,

Kushkituah out

Lady Vols freshman center Kasi Kushkituah sat out Thursday's game and was wearing a boot on her left foot.

Warlick said Kushkituah tweaked her foot in practice on Wednesday and listed her as day to day.

Up next

Tennessee hosts Alabama State at 2 p.m. Sunday in the second of four consecutive home games.