Kellie Harper raves about Tennessee trio Rickea Jackson, Tamari Key, Jewel Spear ahead of SEC Tournament

Following a rocky start to the season, Tennessee women’s hoops rebounded for a strong finish in SEC play and tied for fourth but earned the five-seed and a Thursday game in the conference tournament.

The Lady Vols awaited the winner of No. 12 seed Kentucky vs. No. 13 seed Georgia on Wednesday, and during halftime of that matchup, Tennessee coach Kellie Harper joined the broadcast to discuss the players who stepped up to lead a Volunteer turnaround in SEC play.

First, she praised star fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson when asked about her contributions.

“Well, she’s so talented and she can do a little bit of everything out on the court. So our job is to put her in position to be successful and the beauty of that is… we can move her all around the court and she’s just been fun, she’s been a lot of fun.”

Jackson’s averaging more than 19 points per game, but there’s a player averaging 4.6 that’s also made a big impact, per Harper, and that’s senior center Tamari Key.

“She steps on the court and she makes a difference on both ends of the court. She’s such a presence in the paint defensively, it alters game plans,” Harper said of Key. “The other thing with her, she gives us a big post presence inside. We need that balance, that helps other players play their best.”

Key only played eight minutes a night in the non-conference for Tennessee. But in SEC play, she’s playing just over 20 minutes per game, starting seven of them as a key piece of the rotation.

Harper was also asked about the team’s second-leading scorer, Jewel Spear.

“I think, for her, there’s… finding her role, finding her fit, finding the comfort. She’s such a rhythm player and I think we’ve been able to help her along with that,” said the Lady Vol coach. “When she scores for us, we’re a better basketball team, there’s no doubt. She’s really broadened her game, can put the ball on the floor, gets rebounds, so we’re really excited about her progress.”

Jackson and Spear are clearly great, and Kellie Harper discussed Tamari Key’s impact, but she was then asked for another important Tennessee player who may fly under the radar. “We got several others,” said the head coach, listing them:

“I do think Jasmine Powell and the load she has to handle. She has to handle the ball, she has to defend, you know, get downhill. Sara Puckett makes a lot of plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet. Tess Darby has been awesome for us as of late, Jillian Hollingshead, let me just keep on going, they’re all so important.”

Coach Harper certainly appears to love where her team is at as March begins, as she also noted that the Vols are playing some of their best basketball the past few weeks, thanks to Jackson, Spear, Powell, Key and the rest.