Tennessee's 26-0 early first-half run kick-started a 85-51 romp over Lipscomb at Allen Arenaon Sundayafternoon. The Lady Vols won their second game in a row in blow out fashion to move to 6-2 on the season. The Bison dropped to 2-6.
Three Lady Vols finished in double figures on the afternoon, led by 16 points apiece from seniors Cierra Burdick and Isabelle Harrison. True freshman Alexa Middleton added 12 points along the way. The trio led a well-balanced attack Tennessee attack that finished the game at 44.6 percent from the field.
Burdick, who posted her second consecutive double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds, did her damage on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and a stellar 8-of-9 from the stripe. As a team, UT was 20-of-25 from the free throw line -- good for an even 80 percent -- on its way to its first road victory of the season.
After Tennessee fell behind 3-2 less than three minutes into the game, the Lady Vols ripped off 26 consecutive points to take a 28-3 lead with8:09left in the first half on back-to-back buckets by Middleton.
Tennessee held Lipscomb without a point for a span of10:19during the decisive spurt.
The Lady Vols held a 39-15 lead at intermission with Burdick scoring 12 points in the first 20 minutes for her first game in double-figures this season. UT's defense held Lipscomb to 20.8 percent shooting from the floor in the first half and forced the Bison into 15 turnovers.
In the second half, Tennessee maintained its efficient shooting touch, connecting on 47.2 percent of its attempts from the field, including a quartet of three-pointers.
Pulling away late in the game, UT used a 7-0 run, capped by a corner three from Middleton, to take a 65-33 lead. Less than five minutes later, Kortney Dunbar connected from distance to up the advantage to 73-39 with3:51still to play. The bucket accounted for all three of Dunbar's points on the day.
The Lady Vols finished the contest 7-of-21 from beyond the arc, with four of those treys coming in the second half.
An 8-3 run over the final minutes gave Tennessee its largest lead of the contest at 85-49. Jaime Nared kick started the sequence when she found Harrison inside for an easy bucket. On the ensuing defensive possession, Nia Moore swiped a steal and dished to Middleton in transition for a layup. Nared dropped in a pair of free throws and Harrison capped the run with another lay-in.
The Lady Vols will have a week off before traveling to play at Rutgers nextSunday, Dec. 14 at 3 p.m.That game airs on ESPN2.