Tennessee's Te'a Cooper brings the ball into the lane against Central Arkansas Sunday afternoon in the Lady Vols' season opener at Thompson-Boling Arena. Cooper scored 22 points and Tennessee pounded the Sugar Bears, 102-47.
photo by Dennis Norwood
KNOXVILLE – Nobody expected it to be a close game.
It wasn’t.
The fourth-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols opened their 2015-16 season in impressive fashion at Thompson-Boling Arena Sunday afternoon, thrashing a much smaller team from Central Arkansas.
The final score was 102-47, but it could have been much worse.
Racing to a 17-0 lead in the first three and a half minutes, the Lady Vols were never threatened as they dominated in every phase of the game.
The difference was 35-12 when the first quarter while the advantage had swelled to 63-20 by intermission.
Perhaps the biggest question remaining was how soon Tennessee would hit the century mark. That came with 1:43 to play when sophomore Kortney Dunbar scored on a layup, making the difference 100-38 at that point.
The Lady Vols dressed 11 players, but only six of them played. Tennessee coach Holly Warlick’s only response was that between injuries and violation of team rules, only six played and that was the end of that discussion.
“This was a great day and a fun win,” Warlick said as her record improved to 87-20 at the start of her fifth season as the head coach.
“I didn’t have to do a whole lot today. I got to sit down and didn’t say a lot. That’s a good sign. Our defense was solid and we set the tone with our defensive pressure at the start of the game. The six who played were outstanding.
“We got a lot of second-chance points, but Kortney (Dunbar) has done a fantastic job and we need to have her on the floor. She plays solid defense, but she also has the longest range for shooting.
She has a green light to shoot from anywhere and she played well today,” Warlick added.
The 6-2 standout was one of five Lady Vols in double figures as she finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
Freshman Te’a Cooper was next with 22 points while center Mercedes Russell added 20. She also matched Dunbar with 13 rebounds as Tennessee enjoyed a 47-43 advantage on the boards.
Alexa Middleton and Diamond DeShields finished with 15 and 12 points, respectively. DeShields also had a team-high seven assists as her team finished with 26. Cooper and Middleton both had six while Andraya Carter had six steals and five assists to go along with nine points.
But on a day when 9,709 Big Orange fans came out to see what the future looked like, they all left with smiles as the Lady Vols got off to a great start.
The Sugar Bears are now 1-1 following Sunday’s loss. Coach Sandra Rushing admitted that she’s been a Lady Vol fan for a long time and she was quite honored to be able to bring her team into such a big-time basketball environment.
“Wow,” she said to begin her post-game comments.
“I really don’t know what to say. Tennessee was big and they were really good, but what a great opportunity for us. My biggest disappointment is that we gave up 102 points. We let down at times and finished with 28 turnovers. You won’t win many games like that,” she said.
“How do you prepare for a team like Tennessee? I think we needed a few more inches. We knew we would be outsized, but there was no way for us to stop them inside. And we had no answer for Dunbar,” Rushing said.
While five Lady Vols scored in double figures, the Sugar Bears had two, including Taylor Baudoin with 13 points and Kendara Watts with 12. Baudoin also had 10 rebounds.
Tennessee ended up shooting 54.2 percent from the field on 39 of 72 while Central Arkansas shot a dismal 26.5 percent on 18 of 68.
Tennessee’s biggest lead came at 62 points when Carter’s layup at the 5:11 mark of the fourth quarter extended the difference to 94-32.
The Lady Vols return to action on Wednesday night with a home game against Penn State. Syracuse will visit on Friday before a big game with Chattanooga’s Lady Mocs on Monday, Nov. 23.
Central Arkansas will play at Murray State on Saturday in its next game.
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 12 8 12 15 -- 47
TENNESSEE 35 28 22 17 -- 102
CENTRAL ARKANSAS (47) – Watts 12, Logan 7, Mullins 5, Proffitt 3, Watkins, Paylor, Lane 5, Williams, Baudoin 13, McWilliams, Jackson 2, Novokreshhenova.
TENNESSEE (102) – Dunbar 24, Russell 20, Carter 9, Cooper 22, Middleton 15, DeShields 12.
REBOUNDS – Central Arkansas 43 (Baudoin 10, Watts 6, Watkins 5, Logan 4, Mullins 3, Paylor 1, Novokreshchenova 1, Team 10); Tennessee 47 (Dunbar 13, Russell 13, Carter 7, Cooper 2, Middleton 5, DeShields 4, Team 3).
FIELD GOALS -- Central Arkansas 18-68 for 26.5 percent; Tennessee 39-74 for 54.2 percent.
3-POINT GOALS -- Central Arkansas 7-24 (Watts 4-4); Tennessee 9-19 (Dunbar 4-6, Carter 1-4, Cooper 3-5, Middleton 1-2, DeShields 0-2).
ASSISTS – Central Arkansas 10 (Mullins 3, Watts 2, Logan 1, Proffitt 1, Watkins 1, Williams 1, Jackson 1); Tennessee 26 (Russell 2, Carter 5, Cooper 6, Middleton 6, DeShields 7).
STEALS – Central Arkansas 7 (Mullins 2, Watkins 2, Logan 2, Paylor 1); Tennessee 17 (Dunbar 2, Carter 6, Cooper 4, Middleton 3, DeShields 2).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
Sophomore forward Kortney Dunbar controls the ball for the Lady Vols in Sunday's game against Central Arkansas. Dunbar led all scorers with 24 points.
photo by Dennis Norwood