Lady Vols Race Past Alcorn
Sunday, November 25, 2012
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The scoring started with a Meighan Simmons 3-pointer 24 seconds into the action and it never stopped as #20/15 Tennessee cruised to a 90-37 victory on Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena. Simmons led six Lady Vols in double-figures with 12 points.
All 11 Lady Vols scored for the first time all season for Tennessee (4-1). Five players finished with 10 points including three freshmen: Bashaara Graves, Jasmine Jones and Nia Moore. Also scoring 10 were Taber Spani and Isabelle Harrison.
The win by 53 points and defense limiting Alcorn to 37 points, equalled last season's 90-37 win over Old Dominion on Dec. 28, 2011.
Alcorn (0-4) was led by Tierro Frost, who had nine points. The game marked the return of former Lady Vols star Tonya Edwards, who is in her fifth year as the head coach of the Lady Braves. Edwards was the Most Outstanding Player in the NCAA Final Four when the Lady Vols won their first title in 1987.
Tennessee shot 55.7 percent for the game while Alcorn was limited to 22.6 percent from the floor. UT forced the Lady Braves into 34 turnovers, which the Lady Vols converted into 37 points.
Three Lady Vols grabbed seven rebounds: Jones, Spani and Harrison.
The Lady Vols opened the second half scoring the first 13 to build a 49-15 advantage.
Tennessee led 36-15 at halftime as Spani led all scorers with 10 points. The Lady Vols limited Alcorn to just 23 percent from the floor over the first 20 minutes.
The Lady Vols opened a 16-4 lead with 12 minutes left in the first half as Andraya Carter knocked home a 3-pointer as she finished a 9-0 run. UT's defense kept Alcorn scoreless for a span of more than six minutes.
Another run of 8-0 put Tennessee up 26-9 with 6:35 left in the first half. Alcorn was limited to single-figures for the first 16 minutes of the game before Carolinsia Crumbley hit a jumper to make it 26-11.
The Lady Vols continue their three-game homestand on Wednesday night as Middle Tennessee State comes to Thompson-Boling Arena for a 7 p.m., tipoff. That game can be viewed on UTSports.com and heard on the Lady Vol Network.