TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The #7/9 Tennessee women's basketball team got back on the winning track with a convincing 86-56 victory at Alabama.
Shekinna Stricklen led four players in double-figures with 14. The Lady Vols improved to 15-5 overall with a 6-1 mark in the SEC. The Crimson Tide dropped to 10-11 and remain winless in the league at 0-7.
The Lady Vols unveiled a new starting lineup featuring Glory Johnson, Cierra Burdick, Briana Bass, Vicki Baugh and Ariel Massengale and it proved successful. Johnson tallied 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Burdick added nine while both Bass and Baugh tallied eight. Massengale was a sensational distributor handing out 11 assists to equal her career-high.
Coming off the bench, Kamiko Williams and Isabelle Harrison each chipped in with 10.
Kyra Crosby led Alabama with 15 points in defeat. She was Alabama's lone double-figure scorer. The Tide was held to just 1-of-14 from 3-point territory.
"We were happy with the pace we played," Tennessee assistant coach Holly Warlick said. "Obviously, we wanted to score. We wanted an up-tempo game. I thought the first half, Alabama hung tough with us."
Tennessee jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the game's first 2 minutes and was comfortably ahead for most of the opening half. The Vols led by 15 points at the break.
"To have a good start, I think that helps our team a lot, gives us a lot of confidence and warns people for next time," Johnson said.
The Vols had only four turnovers compared to Alabama's eight. Tennessee also won the rebounding battle 24-17.
"What I thought happened in the first half is if we'd made some free throws, maybe kept the score a little bit closer, it might've been a different type basketball game," Alabama coach Wendell Hudson said. "But from the effort standpoint, Tennessee is a very good basketball team, and I thought we competed."
Tennessee scored 25 points off 22 turnovers, including 11 steals.
The Vols shot 45 percent from the field (32-of-71) but just 21 percent on 3-point attempts (4-of-19). Alabama's performance from long range was much worse; the Tide went 1-for-14.
The Lady Vols finish a three-game road swing at Georgia on Sunday at 5 p.m.