By Tom Kendra
LocalSportsJournal.com

KNOXVILLE, TN–Jordan Walker from Mona Shores helped orchestrate the best offensive performance of the season for the Tennessee women’s basketball team.

Unfortunately, Sophia Wiard from Oakridge and her Toledo teammates were on the receiving end of the Volunteers’ offensive explosion.

Walker scored nine points and directed a Tennessee offense that overwhelmed visiting Toledo with its depth and 3-point shooting in a 94-47 victory in an NCAA Women’s Tournament second-round game at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn.

The game was televised on ESPN2.

The fourth-seeded Volunteers (25-11) took control of the game by making 8-of-13 on 3-point attempts (62 percent) in the first half to build a 50-22 lead at halftime, with their bench scoring 28 of those points.

Toledo, which finished 29-5, is normally a strong 3-point shooting team, but managed just 1-of-7 from behind the arc (14 percent) in the first half.

Tennessee, which has played in all 41 NCAA Women’s Tournaments and has now advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the 36th time, will play regional top seed Virginia Tech on Saturday in Seattle, Wash.

The Volunteers may be seeded lower in that upcoming matchup, but they have won their first two tournament games by an average of 46 points, snapping Toledo’s 17-game winning streak in the process.

Jillian Hollingshead and Sara Puckett each scored 13 points to lead Tennessee, which had five players in double figures.

Walker, a 5-8 senior guard who is in her sixth season of college basketball (three at Western Michigan and now three at Tennessee), finished with nine points, eight rebounds and three assists.

She scored the very first point of the game on a free throw and also tallied the first two buckets of the second half. Walker, who guarded Wiard for much of the first half, then buried a wide-open 3-pointer a minute later.

Wiard, a 5-7 senior guard, was scoreless in the first half and broke through with a jumper 3 minutes into the second half. The former basketball and softball star at Oakridge finished with two points, three rebounds and three assists.

Wiard, a senior honors student who is working on her master’s degree in finance, plans to return for the Rockets next season, using her extra year of eligibility due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Quinesha Lockett scored 19 points and was the lone Toledo player to reach double figures.