It took her some time to emerge onto the scene despite being a five-star freshman in 2019 and an immediate contributor, but Tennessee Lady Vols center Tamari Key has really come into her own recently. This past week, she finally had her breakout moments and was acknowledged by the Southeastern Conference in the process.
Key was named SEC Co-Player of the Week for her performances last week in helping Kellie Harper’s team hold off the Ole Miss Rebels and then the Florida Gators. In reality, she earned this recognition for a historically great performance in one game.
In the Tennessee Lady Vols’ 79-65 win over the Florida Gators this past Sunday, Key had a rare triple-double. Honestly, all triple-doubles are rare in women’s college basketball, but Key’s stat line was an extra layer. She had 23 points, 10 rebounds and an insane 10 blocks.
By the way, Key was also efficient in her scoring, going 10-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. She also had an assist and a steal in that game, putting together one of the best performance for a post player in a long time.
Against the Ole Miss Rebels, Key only had seven points, but she still had two blocks and five rebounds. Her issue in that game was getting into foul trouble early. Getting multiple blocks is always impressive, though. Coming away with 10 is just historically great.
Joining Key in being recognized by the SEC was Chelsea Dungee of the Arkansas Razorbacks, and she did earn it with 37 points in a huge upset win over the UConn Huskies for the program. Both had historical performances.
If Key keeps up her dominance down low, the Tennessee Lady Vols could truly be an unstoppable team. Jordan Horston is the perfect athletic combo guard who has dramatically cut down on her turnovers, and Rennia Davis and Rae Burrell can score in any way from anywhere. The emergence of Key has been a huge boost for this team.