KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 23/18 Tennessee closed out the pre-conference portion of its schedule and headed to the holiday break by lighting up The Summitt with18 three-pointers in an 89-44 victory over Southern Indiana on Monday night at Food City Center.
The Lady Vols (8-3) were paced by three players in double figures, including senior guard Nya Robertson with 20 and freshman guard Mia Pauldo with 19, with those players swishing six and five treys each, respectively, as UT notched the No. 2 total of deep balls in school history and tied for third all-time in the SEC. Junior forward Alyssa Latham was in double figures for the second time in three games, tossing in 10 points via 7-of-8 accuracy at the free-throw line.
The Screaming Eagles (8-3), whose 29 turnovers led to 36 UT points, were led by Ali Saunders with 14 points and Chloe Gannon with 11.
Southern Indiana struck first on a Sophia Loden three-pointer, but the Big Orange quickly worked to wrestle back the lead on a pair of Latham charity tosses, a three from Robertson and two more free shots from Latham to make it 7-3 with 8:18 to go. UT suffered through a drought of nearly four minutes, and the Screaming Eagles tallied the next two buckets to even the score at 7-7 by the 4:31 media break. Tennessee responded out of the timeout with an 11-0 run, getting back-to-back threes from Janiah Barker and Zee Spearman, a pair of Barker free throws and a trey from Mia Pauldo to build an 18-7 lead and end the first frame up 18-8.
After shooting only 21 percent in the opening period, the Lady Vols found their range early in the second, getting consecutive treys from Kaniya Boyd and Mia Pauldo to extend their lead to 24-8 and force a USI timeout with 7:45 remaining. The Screaming Eagles regrouped during the stoppage, trimming the gap to eight twice, including 31-23 with 3:30 left, but a fourth trey from Pauldo, a Deniya Prawl layup and a Latham free throw sent the Big Orange into the intermission with a 37-23 cushion.
Robertson came out sizzling in the third period, nailing four treys, including three in a row, to help Tennessee build a 53-25 lead with an 11-0 run that forced a Southern Indiana timeout with 6:06 remaining. After the Screaming Eagles whittled the UT lead to 21, 53-32, with 3:47 left in the quarter, the Lady Vols closed out the stanza with 10-3 burst, fueled by a Mia Pauldo layup, a Latham free throw, Latham three-ball and a trey from Mya Pauldo to end the frame with a 63-35 advantage.
The fourth quarter was all Tennessee, as the Lady Vols shot a game-best 55.6 percent from the field (10-18) and knocked down four of nine three-point attempts. A trey by Robertson, two from Talaysia Cooper and another from Mia Pauldo came in succession as part of a 14-0 run that put the game away midway through the period.
NEXT UP: THE SEC OPENER
The Lady Vols will enjoy a few days off during the winter break before returning to prepare for conference play. Tennessee will play host to Florida in the SEC opener at 2 p.m. ET on Thurs., Jan. 1, at Food City Center. The contest will be broadcast on SECN+ and carried on Lady Vol Radio Network 99.5 FM WGRV beginning at 1:30pm.
