The Lady Vols pulled away in the second half to top Kentucky 76-62 in the SEC second round.

In the SEC Tournament on Thursday, fifth-seeded Tennessee won 76-62 against 12th-seeded Kentucky with Sara Puckett scoring 22 points and Tess Darby having her first double-double. Tennessee pulled away in the second half to take the lead from Kentucky, which had fallen behind by four points at halftime.

In the second half, Darby scored all 10 of her points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her career high. Additionally, Jewel Spear scored 10 points.

Saniah Tyler had 17 points for the Wildcats (12-20). Ajae Petty scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her 18th double-double of the year and 20th in her career. Eniya Russell added 11 points. In the end, the Vols proved to be just too much of a challenge.

The Lady Vols had a 14-point lead, but Tyler scored five points to cut the deficit to 63-54 with 4 1/2 minutes to go. A double-digit lead was maintained with the help of Rickea Jackson and Jillian Hollingshead. Both teams shot terrible in the first half, but Tennessee shot 61% in the second half (19 of 31), including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Kentucky finished 4 of 17 from behind the arc and shot 35.5% (22 of 62). Which was the difference in the second half.

The Lady Vols (18-11) face fourth-seeded Alabama in the quarterfinals on Friday. This has all the makings of an exciting game with both teams looking to stay alive in the tournament.