No. 22 Lady Vols trounce Tennessee State 86-36 to end skid
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tennessee ended a two-game skid decisively enough to give its top players an early rest before its toughest challenge of the season.
Jaime Nared and Mercedes Russell each scored 16 points despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter Wednesday in the 22nd-ranked Lady Volunteers' 86-36 blowout of Tennessee State.
Diamond DeShields also got to rest for most of the fourth quarter as the Lady Vols (4-2) tuned up for Sunday's home game with No. 4 Baylor.
"It was just a good little opportunity for us to come out and make it strictly about us," DeShields said. "We knew we were the better team tonight. We knew we were going to win by a lot of points, but honestly it wasn't even about that. It was just about us.
"When you're playing a Baylor, you don't have as many opportunities to make mistakes. Everything's got to be flowing the right way if you want to come out on top of a team like that, so for us I think it was just important for everybody to work on what's been going wrong the last two games."
The Lady Vols were back home for the first time since Nov. 13 after going 1-2 during a three-game road stretch that included consecutive losses to Penn State and Virginia Tech.
Tennessee utilized its height advantage to avoid its first three-game losing streak since February 1986. The Lady Vols outrebounded Tennessee State 61-38 and outscored the Lady Tigers 48-12 in the paint.
"We didn't play anywhere near the way we're capable of playing, and I give Tennessee all the credit," Tennessee State coach Larry Joe Inman said. "When we say 'tall order,' literally they were a tall order."
Nared and DeShields each posted double-doubles, with Nared having 16 points and 10 rebounds while DeShields added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Kortney Dunbar had 13 points and nine rebounds. Alexa Middleton had nine points and 11 assists. Schaquilla Nunn added eight points and 15 rebounds.
Maxine Beard scored seven points to lead Tennessee State (1-5).
THE TAKEAWAY
Tennessee State: The Lady Tigers' continued their shooting slump by going 5 of 22 from 3-point range and 8 of 43 from inside the arc. Tennessee State is shooting 35.3 percent overall and 26.1 percent from 3-point range amid a grueling early-season schedule featuring plenty of teams from bigger conferences. Tennessee State's five losses have come against Xavier, Oklahoma State, UNLV, Wisconsin and Tennessee.
Tennessee: The Lady Vols responded to their two-game skid by shuffling the lineup. Sophomore guard Meme Jackson made her first career start for Tennessee and Nunn was back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench for two of Tennessee's last three games. They replaced the injured Reynolds as well as Middleton, who moved into a reserve role.
INJURY NEWS
Tennessee was playing without usual starting point guard Jordan Reynolds, who hurt her hamstring Sunday at Virginia Tech. Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick expressed confidence that Reynolds would be available Sunday against Baylor.
Tennessee State played without injured guard/forward I'mani Davis, who was averaging 11.7 points per game.
HONORING GATLINBURG
Tennessee participated in pregame warmups wearing special T-shirts with the word "Gatlinburg" over the Lady Vols logo to honor victims of the wildfires that have killed seven people and have destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses in the Great Smoky Mountains area.
Warlick said she spoke this week with Lisa McGill Reagan, a Lady Vol from 1976-79 who lost her home in the fire.
"I've lived here pretty much all my life and I've never seen anything so devastating that's close to home," Warlick said.
NEXT UP
Tennessee State: At Lipscomb on Dec. 11.
Tennessee: Hosts No. 4 Baylor on Sunday.