LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Lady Vols wrapped up their non-conference slate with a commanding win over Liberty on Sunday, rolling to a 90-55 victory in Liberty Arena.

Fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson led UT (7-5) with 21 points and seven rebounds, while senior Tess Darby had a strong showing, turning in a career-best 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from behind the arc. Junior Kaiya Wynn tied her career high of 12 points and added a career-best seven assists with no turnovers. Junior Karoline Striplin was also in double figures with 10.

Emma Hess was the top scorer for LU (5-10) with 12 points, and Asia Boone was close behind with 11.

Striplin put the Lady Vols on the board just over a minute into the game, sinking an eight-foot jumper off an inbounds pass after Jackson stole the ball and was fouled on the fast break. By the 7:30 mark, Tennessee had racked up four steals and extended its lead to 8-0. Boone was first to score for the Lady Flames, draining a three with just over seven minutes left in the quarter. UT responded with five unanswered points before Jordan Hodges scored her first points of the game to set the score at 13-5 by the media timeout. Liberty narrowed the gap to six before Jackson drained a long-range two and Tess Darby followed it up with a trey. The Lady Vols outscored Liberty 12-2 over the final four minutes to give UT a 25-9 lead after one.

Tennessee maintained its 16-point advantage through the first four minutes of the second frame, but a three-pointer by Ella Wigal and free throw by Brooke Moore pulled LU within 12 with 5:24 left in the half. Darby responded with a pair of threes less than a minute apart to send the Big Orange up 37-20 by the 4:12 mark. The teams traded buckets into the final minute when Wynn scored on back-to-back plays, sending the game into halftime with UT on top, 43-24.

Hess and Jewel Spear opened up the second half with five quick points for their respective teams before Jackson swished a three to put Tennessee up by 22 with 8:12 to go in the third. That margin would hold through the 3:44 mark when Darby drained her fifth three of the game, and Jillian Hollingshead followed it up with a layup to spark a 14-2 Lady Vol run that forced an LU timeout with 1:00 to go in the period. Moore fired in a three-pointer following the timeout, but Tennessee had the last bucket of the quarter in the form of a Hollingshead layup, making the score 76-43 as the game headed into the final stanza.

An old-fashioned three-point play by Sara Puckett opened the fourth for the Lady Vols, and five straight points by Edie Darby put Tennessee on top by 39 with 6:14 to play. That would prove to be UT's largest lead of the day, as the Lady Flames outscored UT 8-4 over the closing minutes for a final score of 90-55.

NEXT UP: The Lady Vols will open 2024 and Southeastern Conference play on the road on Jan. 4, playing at Auburn at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET (SECN+).

CAREER DAY FOR TESS: Tess Darby fired in a career-high six three-pointers on nine attempts and finished with a career-best 18 points vs. Liberty. That tied the Liberty Arena record for treys with the Flames' Emily Lytle, who had that same amount vs. Stetson on Feb. 28, 2021.

DARBY MOVES UP CAREER THREE-POINTER LIST: With her six long balls vs. Liberty, Tess Darby moved into eighth on the Lady Vols' career three-pointer list with 148. She surpassed Taber Spani (143) and Shannon Bobbitt (147) on Sunday afternoon and stands 13 behind seventh-place Brittany Jackson (161, 2001-05).

ANOTHER GAME WITH 10 THREE-POINTERS: For the second consecutive game and the third time this season, Tennessee hit 10 or more three-pointers, finishing with a season-best 12 vs. Liberty. The last time the Lady Vols fired in 10+ in back-to-back contests was at the start of the 2016-17 season, when they made 10 at JMU on Nov. 11 and knocked down 12 vs. Navy on Nov. 13.

BIGGEST CROWD FOR LU WOMEN'S HOOPS: With a significant contingent of orange-clad fans helping the cause on Sunday, Liberty women's basketball was able to draw its biggest crowd of the season to Liberty Arena. A total of 2,105 were on hand to surpass the previous best of 1,631 for a contest vs. Florida Gulf Coast on Feb. 24, 2022.

SURPASSING 50 REBOUNDS ONCE AGAIN: For the second straight game and fourth time this season, the Lady Vols pulled down 50+ rebounds. Their 52 ranked as the third-most in a game in 2023-24. During the Harper era, UT has recorded 50 rebounds in a contest on 44 occasions in 139 total games.

JACKSON MOVES PAST 600 REBOUNDS: With the first carom she grabbed early in the first quarter, Rickea Jackson reached 600 rebounds in her collegiate career. She quickly surpassed it with three more boards in the first frame and finished with seven to run her tally to 606 while also tallying game-high points (21) and plus/minus (29) in 24 minutes played on the day.

SHARING THE BALL: With 22 assists vs. Liberty and 23 the previous game vs. Wofford, the Lady Vols have dished 20+ dimes in back-to-back contests for the first time this season. Kaiya Wynn led the way off the bench with seven and no turnovers as well as tallying a career-high-tying 12 points.