Brewer has 20 points, 10 rebounds to help No. 5 Tennessee beat last-place Alabama 74-67

Brewer scores 20, No. 5 Lady Vols edge Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alyssia Brewer had 20 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 5 Tennessee beat Alabama 74-67 on Thursday night, surviving a scare against the Southeastern Conference’s last-place team.

The league-leading Lady Vols (24-2, 12-1) struggled to shake a team that hadn’t beaten them since 1984. Alabama (10-15, 2-11), which opened with an entirely new starting five, closed to within 54-49 midway through the second half.

Then, Tennessee finally kicked into gear with 10 straight points en route to a 67-51 lead on Alicia Manning’s basket with 6:13 left. The Lady Vols missed five straight free throws and made just 11 of 24 attempts from the line to help keep it close.

Brewer’s one problem in the game: 6-for-12 shooting on free throws.

Shekinna Stricklen had 14 points and Angie Bjorklund added 13 for Tennessee, which forced 24 turnovers.

Tide freshman Celiscia Farmer had a career-high 21 points in her first start on 10-of-15 shooting. She came in averaging just 4.9 points a game but wound up being the team’s only double-figure scorer.

Forward Tierney Jenkins was held to two points — 10 below her season average.

It was the closest meeting between these teams since Tennessee’s 67-63 win in 1998. Some of the careless mistakes late in the game left coach Pat Summitt either glaring at her team, hands on hips, or screaming loud enough at one point that her voice resonated through Coleman Coliseum.

Lady Vols center Kelly Cain missed the game, staying in Knoxville because the marketing/logistics major didn’t want to miss more classes.

Without her, Tennessee was outrebounded 45-33 after coming into the game leading the league in rebounding margin.

Alabama had lost five of its last six games and was coming off a 29-point defeat at Georgia. Tennessee had dominated Florida 83-44 but couldn’t put together a similar performance.

Alabama coach Wendell Hudson shook up his lineup with a new starting five because of recent practice effort from his players, and it worked.

Tennessee finally scored 10 straight points to go up 33-23 late in the first half. But Alabama rallied, then the Lady Vols missed two shots in the final seconds for a 37-31 halftime edge.

They started out shooting just 4 for 13 before warming up.