Johnson Scores Game High 19, TSU Falls at No. 7 Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Kentucky – Jayda Johnson led all scorers with 19 points, posting her second highest scoring performance of the season, as Tennessee State fell to No. 7 Kentucky on Monday evening. The Wildcats improved to 11-0 with an 81-39 victory over the Lady Tigers (5-7) in front of a crowd of 5,586 at Memorial Coliseum.

The two teams went back-and-forth to start the game with Johnson hitting a pair of buckets. Maxine Beard hit a jumper at the 6:27 mark to bring the Lady Tigers within one, 7-6.

The Wildcats extended its lead to 13-6 over the next three minutes before Johnson could convert on an old fashioned three-point play, cutting the deficit to four at 13-9. TSU would be held scoreless for the remaining of the first quarter and for just over four minutes into the second stanza.



The drought would allow UK to go on a 20-0 run, as they began to pull away building a 33-9 advantage. Johnson ended the Wildcats run with a bucket at 5:58 of the second period, which led to a 6-0 run for the Lady Tigers.

Johnson scored the second of her two buckets of the stretch on a fast break layup after I’mani Davis blocked a shot and fed Johnson for the easy two. Davis capped off the scoring for TSU with a layup giving the Big Blue six points in a 30 second span making the score 33-15.

That would be the closest TSU would get the rest of the night as they went into half time trailing 38-17.

UK shot 43 percent opposed to the Lady Tigers 24 percent in the first half. The Wildcats would heat up even more in the second half as they shot 52 percent from the field and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the three-point line.

Kentucky attacked TSU with a balanced attack with six players in double figures, led by Evelyn Akhator’s 14 points.

Davis finished short of her second double-double of the season, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds.

The Lady Tigers will close out non-conference play as they continue their holiday road trip at Youngstown State on Wednesday, Dec. 30.

BOX SCORE

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION