Bashaara Graves' perfect night lifted #4 Tennessee to a 74-66 win over Penn State on Wednesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The senior led the Lady Vols (2-0) with a career-high tying 24 points and 13 rebounds. She was peerless in all shooting aspects in the game, finishing 8-of-8 from the floor and 8-of-8 at the foul line in her season debut.
There has never been a more 'perfect' game in Tennessee history as Graves made the most field goals without a miss to go without missing a free throw on 16 shots. The closest historically was Sheila Frost in 1987 at Oregon State, who made all nine field goals and two free throws in a game.
Sophomore Mercedes Russell also posted a double-double for the second consecutive game with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Te'aCooper added a 14 points for the Lady Vols' third scorer in double-figures.
Penn State (2-1), playing without their top scorer (Brianna Banks) -- who was injured minutes into the game -- and mired in foul trouble all night, gave Tennessee all it could handle. The lead changed hands 12 times and was tied nine times before the Lady Vols took control in the final minutes, finishing the game on a 10-2 run.
The Lady Vols have now won 24 games in a row at Thompson-Boling Arena overall and 14 in a row vs. non-conference foes. Tennessee has also won 41 consecutive games vs. unranked non-conference teams.
With the game tied at 64 with five minutes left in regulation, the Lady Vols reeled off six consecutive points to take a lead their would never relinquish.
Diamond DeShields' second basket of the night broke a 64 all tie on a tip-in with4:55left in regulation. Penn State had tied the game on a 3-pointer by Lindsey Spann just moments earlier.
Cooper's free throws and Andraya Carter's putback layup put Tennessee up 70-64 with3:26left in the fourth. Graves finished her perfect night with a pair of free throws with with 29 seconds left to push the lead to 72-66.
Penn State was led by Peyton Whitted, who had 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Teniya Page added 15 and Spann tallied 14.
The Lady Vols led 54-51 after three quarters with the Lady Lions outscoring Tennessee 21-19, setting the stage for the decisive fourth quarter.
Down 19-18 early in the second quarter, Tennessee connected on six consecutive field goals to take a 32-23 lead on a Graves' layup -- her third in a row -- with2:46left in the first half. Penn State went on a 6-0 run late in the first half to cut the Lady Lions halftime deficit to 35-30.
The first quarter was tight with neither team leading by more than four points as Tennessee held a narrow 16-15 edge after the first 10 minutes.
The Lady Lions suffered a significant blow went senior leading scorer Brianna Banks was injured just minutes into the game and did not return.
Tennessee and Penn State, two of the greatest brands in college sports, had not played on the hardwood since the 2003 NCAA Tournament. The Lady Vols now lead the all-time series 9-1.
The Lady Vols return to action on Friday night as Syracuse comes to Knoxville. That game tips off at 7 p.m. ET and can be seen on SEC Network + and heard on the Lady Vol Network.