AUSTIN, Texas - Tiffany Jackson scored nine of her 19 points early in the second half as No. 4 Texas broke open a close game and went on to a 74-59 win over No. 1 Tennessee on Thursday night.
Jackson hit consecutive buckets and had three blocks in the first two minutes of the second half. Then she added a short jumper, followed by a midcourt steal and layup, to give Texas a 41-30 lead with about 14 minutes to play.
The Longhorns (2-1) held a double-digit lead for most of the second half.
Tennessee (3-1), which opened the season at No. 1 for the 11th time and the first time since 1998, never got in sync against the Longhorns, shooting just 33 percent and committing 18 turnovers. Shyra Ely, a preseason All-American, scored just four points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Brittany Jackson led Tennessee with 14 points.
The Longhorns have won four in a row over the Lady Vols and hold the nation's longest home winning streak at 38.
Annissa Hastings, a senior who missed all of last season with a torn Achilles tendon, scored 13 points for Texas on 5-of-6 shooting. Tiffany Jackson, who went 8-for-10 from the field, added a game-high nine rebounds.
It was Texas' first win over a No. 1 team since 1987, snapping a streak of seven straight losses against top-ranked opponents.
With 24 turnovers in the first half, both teams looked jittery in the nationally televised early-season matchup against an opponent they could meet again in the NCAA tournament.
Tennessee went just 8-of-26 from the floor as the Longhorns built a 29-18 lead late in the first half. But the Longhorns committed 10 turnovers during the last 8 minutes of the half. The Lady Vols cut the deficit to 29-23 on Sydney Spencer's layup just before the half.
Tennessee cut the lead under 10 only once in the second half before Kala Bowers hit a baseline jumper and Nina Norman hit a 3-pointer to boost the Texas lead back to 13.
The Longhorns' ability to maintain a comfortable lead against Tennessee was in sharp contrast to their 78-64 loss to No. 3 Georgia a few days earlier, when they gave up a 15-point lead in the first half.
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