Parker scores 34 for Lady Vols

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Candace Parker scored a season-high 34 points and Alexis Hornbuckle added 17 to help the top-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers beat Middle Tennessee 84-61 on Thursday night.

Alex Fuller added 16 points and 7 rebounds for Tennessee (8-0), which played its first game in more than a week after taking a break for exams. Amber Holt led the Blue Raiders (3-5) with 28 points and 5 assists. It was Middle Tennessee's first contest since Dec. 5.

The layoff didn't seem to bother Middle Tennessee early on. MTSU made its first four 3-pointers to put the Lady Vols in an early hole. Tennessee responded by holding MTSU scoreless for almost 6 minutes while taking their first lead at 16-14. The Lady Vols stretched their advantage to 9 points at the half and led by as many as 24 in the second half.

Still, it wasn't a comfortable victory for a short-handed Tennessee team, which saw its advantage cut to five points with 7:33 to play and was without starting point guard Shannon Bobbitt for much of the second half.

Bobbitt was bleeding from a forehead laceration that forced her to leave the court with 9:06 left and she didn't return. Tennessee, which dressed only nine players, then put the game out of reach with a 18-0 run sparked by Parker, who scored nine of 11 Lady Vols points at one stage of the second half.