Tennessee Lady Vols advance to first Sweet 16 since 2016 off Sara Puckett game-winner

The streak of second-round exits in the NCAA Tournament is finally over for Tennessee women's basketball.

Freshman forward Sara Puckett hit a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in the game to give the Lady Vols a one-point lead over Belmont on Monday.

The possession before, Belmont's Jamilyn Kinney missed two free throws with Belmont up by two with 25 seconds left, giving the Lady Vols another chance to tie or win the game. After Puckett's game-winning shot, Belmont (23-8) sent Tamari Key to the line twice and she hit 3-of-4 free throws, giving the the fourth-seeded Lady Vols (25-8) the 70-67 win at Thompson-Boling Arena.

"I think it's special," Key said of making the Sweet 16. "We've been saying it all year that this group is just, it's different. You feel the vibes with us ... it's a different atmosphere with this group."

It was a game Tennessee was in control of at halftime with a 35-23 lead, but 12th-seeded Belmont showed why it upset No. 5 Oregon on Saturday, coming back in the third to make it a game the rest of the way. But the Lady Vols grinded out the win on their home floor to advance to their first Sweet 16 since 2016.

Tennessee will travel to Wichita, Kansas, and play No. 1 Louisville on Saturday. The time and broadcast has yet to be announced.

Alexus Dye led Tennessee with her fourth straight double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds), and Key had 18 points and four rebounds.

"(Dye has) won rings every year that she's played basketball, and this is the year for us," Key said. "She's come on this team, and she has the winner's mentality, and she works really hard. We're glad that she's on our team."

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After Tennessee had the advantage on the glass in the first half, Belmont out-rebounded Tennessee 20-15 in the second half, 10 of them off the offensive glass. Belmont grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and scored 23 points off of them. Destinee Wells led Belmont with 22 points and Tuti Jones had 17, hitting crucial shots down the stretch to give Belmont a chance to win – the game was within three points the last six minutes of the game.

Tennessee is going to the Sweet 16 for the first time in coach Kellie Harper's third season. It's a milestone that's meaningful for everyone in the program, as none of the players on the roster have made a Sweet 16 and Harper's only Sweet 16 appearance as a coach was in 2019 with Missouri State.

Belmont's Cinderella run ends in the second round for the second year in a row.

Tamari Key breaks Candace Parker's block record

Key came into Monday's game with 115 blocks on season, 273 in her career. With her third block of the game in the fourth quarter, she hit No. 276 in career blocks to beat Candace Parker's career 275 blocks, which was No. 1 in Lady Vols history.

"Listen, any time that you are even mentioned in the same sentence as Candace Parker, you've probably done something right," Harper said.

It's just one of the block records Key has broken this season, surpassing Kelley Cain's 113-block season to become the No. 1 single-season blocker leader in program history. Key is also No. 1 in career block average with 3.09. Key broke Parker's record in 89 games – Parker set her record in 110.

Freshmen come up big

The last two minutes of the first quarter, all four freshman and sophomore Tess Darby were on the floor for Tennessee.

The young lineup held their own, outscoring Belmont 5-2 in that time, including a big and-one play from Brooklynn Miles, who got out on a fast break after grabbing a defensive rebound. Miles finished, drew the foul and hit her free throw, putting Tennessee up by six. Puckett got in on the and-one action in the second quarter and gave the Lady Vols a 10-point lead. Puckett had seven points by halftime and ended with 12.

"I'll tell you what, they've hung in there," Harper said of the freshmen. "They're really taking advantage of their opportunities when they get them. I'm telling you, they put so much time in outside of our practice. It's the culture here right now, but it is so strong with those freshmen."

The freshmen combined for 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Lady Vols defense comes out strong

Tennessee needs its best defense to keep winning games. The Lady Vols are now 24-2 when holding opponents to 70 or fewer points, and 1-6 when they don't.

By halftime, Belmont had scored only 23 points and Jones – who scored 22 against Oregon and was 4-of-4 from 3-point range – only had one point from a free throw. Tennessee was solid defensively, keeping guards in front of them and not letting up many easy looks from behind the arc. The Bruins shot 25% in the first two quarters and only made 4-of-16 from 3-point range.

The Lady Vols held Belmont to 10 points in the second quarter while scoring 19 of their own to hold a 12-point lead at halftime. Tennessee forced Belmont into eight turnovers and scored 16 points off of them.

Belmont refuses to go out easily

Tennessee held a double-digit lead until halfway through the third quarter. But a string of missed rebounds on the defensive end led to second chance points for Jones, who scored seven points in a 9-0 run to cut Tennessee's lead to 44-40 with 3:53 left in the quarter.

It was largely self-inflicted by the Lady Vols, with two of Jones' buckets coming after offensive rebounds and her third layup was after she intercepted an inbounds pass by UT. What was once a comfortable lead was diminished within minutes, but no one thought Belmont would go away easily.

"Hats off to Belmont, that is one heck of a team," Harper said. "We all knew it coming in. We knew they were going to fight for 40 minutes. I'll tell you what, what a great game to watch, I'm sure."

Jones struck again minutes later with a 3-pointer that made it 46-43 in Tennessee's favor and swung the momentum in Belmont's favor. Tennessee continued to give up rebounds on the defensive end, and Belmont tied it up 46-46 after grabbing three offensive rebounds and Jones converting an and-one play.

That trend continued in the fourth quarter, and three of the Bruins' four buckets to keep them ahead by one point were second-chance points.

Cora Hall: Covering UT women's athletics
Twitter | cora.hall@knoxnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee Lady Vols basketball beat Belmont, advance to Sweet 16