KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With guards Talaysia Cooper and Kaniya Boyd sidelined with injuries, No. 20/22 Tennessee employed a “next-player-up” mentally to take care of Arkansas, 85-50, and remain unbeaten in SEC play on Sunday afternoon in front of a season-best crowd of 11,335 at Food City Center.
The Lady Vols (12-3, 4-0 SEC), who won their fifth-straight game and improved to 7-0 at home this season, were led in scoring and rebounding by senior forward Zee Spearman with 20 points and eight boards, along with three assists, three steals and two blocks. Freshman guard Mia Pauldo continued her strong play, firing in 18 points, while senior forward Janiah Barker and freshman guard Jaida Civil chipped in 13 and 12, respectively.
Arkansas (11-8, 0-4 SEC), which was forced into 26 turnovers on the day and held to 27.3-percent shooting, was led by 13 points and nine rebounds from Jada Bates. Ashlynn Chlarson added 10 points.
Both teams shot over 55 percent during the early stages of the game, but Tennessee generated twice as many attempts and makes en route to 60-percent accuracy. A Spearman layup and three-pointer and Barker step-back jumper provided UT a 9-5 lead by the 8:13 mark. Layups by Civil and Barker pushed the gap to 15-7 with 6:15 to go, and a Jersey Wolfenbarger layup and Mia Pauldo trey sent the Big Orange into the 4:16 media break with a 20-9 cushion. A Nya Robertson deep ball out of the timeout and a Spearman layup delivered the Lady Vols their largest lead so far at 25-11 with 3:17 remaining, and a Lauren Hurst put-back and Mia Pauldo layup helped the home team close out the first quarter with a 29-18 advantage and UT’s highest opening-period point total of the season.
Arkansas whittled the deficit to seven by the 4:54 media timeout, 33-26, as Tennessee went a cold 18.2 percent from the field over the first five minutes of the second stanza. The Lady Vols buckled down, though, getting a Civil free throw, a Barker jumper, Spearman three and a pair of free throws from Barker in succession to restore the lead to 13, 41-28, with 2:41 to go. A Mia Pauldo jumper with six ticks on the clock sent the Big Orange into the intermission with a 43-30 lead after holding the Razorbacks to 22.7-percent shooting and forcing them into eight turnovers in the period.
UT started its scoring in the third quarter with an old-fashioned three-point play by Mia Pauldo and got pairs of free throws from Deniya Prawl and Civil, followed by a Civil three to zoom ahead by 19, 53-34, with 6:33 remaining. A Spearman layup off a steal and assist from Civil sent the Lady Vols into the 4:27 media timeout with a 55-37 lead. A Mya Pauldo trey right after the break began a 10-4 burst by the Big Orange, and Alyssa Latham’s three-ball capped it, helping their team wrap up the third with a 65-41 advantage.
Barker extended the Tennessee margin to 27 at the outset of the final stanza, 68-41, and the Lady Vols maintained a 68-43 gap when Arkansas asked for time with 7:39 remaining in the game. A Hurst three ignited a 12-0 run with Mia Pauldo knocking down another deep ball to bookend that spree and send the Big Orange into the 4:38 media timeout with an 80-46 lead. Mia Pauldo’s third trey of the contest and a layup by Spearman ended the scoring for UT and helped Kim Caldwell‘s squad remain as one of three 4-0 teams in SEC action.
