The Lady Vols stayed perfect in the SEC with an 88-45 victory over Mississippi State on Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena. The ninth-ranked team in America moved to 17-4 overall and 8-0 in league play. The Bulldogs dropped to 9-12 overall, 1-7 in the SEC.
Junior Meighan Simmons tallied a game-high 21 points, her 18th game this season in double-figures including the last 10 games in a row. It was also her seventh game this season with 20-plus points.
In her first start in two years, senior Kamiko Williams posted her second-career double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. She also had a career-high six steals and tied her career-high with six assists.
Senior Taber Spani netted 15 points and hauled down seven rebounds. She has scored in double-figures in eight of the last nine games. Spani is averaging 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in SEC play.
Freshman Bashaara Graves had 10 points and seven rebounds. He 18th game in double-figures this year.
In her return to action after missing the last eight games with a fractured hand, sophomore Cierra Burdick played 16 minutes and scored four points.
The 43-point margin of victory was the fifth largest of the season. Tennessee beat both Alcorn State and Rice by 53 points and both North Carolina and Missouri by 45.
The Lady Vols won their 34th consecutive game against Mississippi State -- every meeting between the teams. Only four of the meetings have been decided by five points or less. The 34 wins rank as the seventh-longest active streak in any series in the NCAA.
The Bulldogs were led by Martha Alwal, who had 16 points.
The win was the eighth wire-to-wire win this season and third in SEC play.
Tennessee jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes and never looked back. Jasmine Jones' jump shot with 7:48 left in the half extended the lead to 25-10.
The highlight of the first half came when Burdick returned to the court after being sidelined since New Year's Day. Burdick played the final six minutes of the half in her SEC debut this season. She scored her first bucket on a layup with three minutes left in the first half, making it 35-16.
Simmons' jumper finished the first half scoring as she hit 10 points and gave the Lady Vols a 42-18 lead at intermission.
The second half was more of the same as Tennessee outscored the Bulldogs, 46-27 in the final 20 minutes.
Williams knocked home a jumper with 10:40 left to secure that second-career double-double and put Tennessee ahead, 64-31.
The lead ballooned to 40 on a pair of free throws by Nia Moore with 6:46 left, putting the Lady Vols ahead 74-34.
The Lady Vols played without Isabelle Harrison, who was injured in Monday's game vs. No. 2 Notre Dame. She is still being evaluated as far as when she will return from her left knee injury.
The Lady Vols head to the road for their next two games as Tennessee takes on Missouri on Sunday at 2 p.m. (CSS/ESPN3) and LSU on Thursday at 9 p.m. (CSS). Both games as always can be heard on the Lady Vol Network.
Official Basketball Box Score
Mississippi State vs Tennessee
01/31/13 7:00 p.m. at Knoxville, Tenn. (Thompson-Boling Arena)
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VISITORS: Mississippi State 9-12, 1-7 SEC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
23 Carnecia Williams... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 5 0 2 3 0 1 32
10 Martha Alwal........ c 7-12 0-0 2-7 2 7 9 3 16 0 2 2 2 40
02 Darriel Gaynor...... g 3-8 2-5 0-0 2 4 6 0 8 2 4 0 1 30
11 Katia May........... g 2-13 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 3 5 4 7 0 0 24
14 Kendra Grant........ g 4-19 1-3 1-4 2 3 5 3 10 2 3 0 2 38
05 Sherise Williams.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 2 0 1 1 0 8
12 Candace Foster...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
21 Jerica James........ 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 2 5 0 0 16
44 Jessy Ward.......... 1-1 1-1 1-2 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 2 9
TEAM................ 4 2 6
Totals.............. 18-57 5-12 4-13 12 20 32 18 45 14 26 3 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-33 21.2% 2nd Half: 11-24 45.8% Game: 31.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 41.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 2-5 40.0% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 30.8% 5
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HOME TEAM: Tennessee 17-4, 8-0 SEC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
12 Graves, Bashaara.... f 5-10 0-0 0-0 2 5 7 0 10 1 2 0 2 31
04 Williams, Kamiko.... g 4-7 0-1 2-2 3 10 13 1 10 6 2 1 6 32
05 Massengale, Arie... g 1-5 1-3 2-2 0 2 2 1 5 2 2 0 1 26
10 Simmons, Meighan.... g 9-19 1-5 2-4 4 2 6 2 21 3 3 1 0 31
13 Spani, Taber........ g 6-14 1-4 2-2 2 5 7 0 15 1 1 1 2 32
01 Phillips, Jasmine... 3-4 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 0 8 1 1 0 2 9
02 Jones, Jasmine...... 2-2 0-0 3-4 2 0 2 5 7 1 2 0 1 11
11 Burdick, Cierra..... 2-4 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 3 4 3 1 0 1 16
21 Moore, Nia.......... 2-6 0-0 4-4 0 3 3 2 8 0 1 1 0 12
TEAM................ 1 2 3
Totals.............. 34-71 3-13 17-20 18 31 49 14 88 18 15 4 15 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-37 43.2% 2nd Half: 18-34 52.9% Game: 47.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 23.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 8-10 80.0% 2nd Half: 9-10 90.0% Game: 85.0% 2
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Officials: Beverly Roberts, Brian Hall, Mary Day
Technical fouls: Mississippi State-None. Tennessee-None.
Attendance: 13011
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Mississippi State............. 18 27 - 45
Tennessee..................... 42 46 - 88
Points in the paint-MS 18,UT 40. Points off turnovers-MS 14,UT 27.
2nd chance points-MS 9,UT 20. Fast break points-MS 2,UT 22.
Bench points-MS 6,UT 27. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-MS 2nd-01:30, UT 2nd-01:12.
Largest lead-MS None, UT by 43 2nd-02:14.