Vols dominate in Caldwell’s debut

photo from UT Athletics

The Lady Vols forced 43 turnovers and 30 steals, hit 19 3-pointers and eclipsed 30 points in each quarter en route to a 135-49 exhibition victory over Carson-Newman in Kim CaldwellTennessee’s debut as head coach.

With an announced crowd of 9,613 watching at Food City Center, Big Orange tied for the second-highest point total in exhibition games in program history. No. 1 on the list is a 144-52 win over Dynamo kyiv on Nov. 5, 2000, and tonight’s production matched a 135-55 UT win over Carson-Newman on Nov. 6, 2008. The only best Tennessee women’s basketball production of all time. -The time came via a 136-26 regular season beating of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez on November 29, 2002.

junior guard white horn ruby He was sensational in leading six Big Orange players in double figures, scoring 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting. fifth year guard Jewel Spear and junior forward Zee Spearman contributed 17 each, while redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooperjunior forward Sara Puckett and redshirt freshman Kaniya Boyd chipped at 16, 14 and 13, respectively. Spear finished 5 of 11 from beyond the arc, while Whitehorn was 4 of 6 from deep.

Cooper also led Tennessee with eight steals, while Boyd was a senior guard in rebounds with seven. Samara Spencer He distributed eight assists without turnovers in his debut. UT finished with 26 assists on 49 baskets, committing just nine turnovers on the night.

Carson-Newman, picked to win the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Conference, was led by Jennifer Sullivan with 15 points.

Tennessee jumped out to a 6-0 lead on consecutive 3-pointers by Whitehorn and Spear and took a 10-5 lead into the first quarter media break, as the Lady Vol defense rushed the Lady Eagles to 2 of 12 shots during the first hours. UT came out of the timeout meeting with a spring in its step, outscoring CN the rest of the period with a 25-3 run that included 22 straight points at one point. Whitehorn finished 5 of 7 for 13 points in the frame.

The Lady Vols extended their lead to 47-19 at the second quarter media timeout at the 4:57 mark, with the home team shooting 70 percent from the field during that span. Tennessee forced Carson-Newman into six turnovers and extended its lead to 28. In the final minutes of the first half, Tennessee outscored the Lady Eagles, 17-4, to take a 64-23 lead into intermission . Cooper and Whitehorn scored 10 and nine points in the period, respectively, and Cooper’s five steals helped UT force 14 CN turnovers late in the quarter and also went on a 19-0 run in that stanza.

Carson-Newman scored 12 points on 55.6 percent shooting before the third-quarter media break, but the Lady Vols countered with 20 of their own on 57.1 percent shooting during that period to increase their lead. to 84-35 with 4:52 left. in the period. A 21-5 charge the rest of the way propelled the Big Orange to a 105-40 lead to close the third frame, with Avery Strickland three at the 51-second mark, putting UT over the century mark with just over 10 minutes left in the contest.

Tennessee continued to scorch the nets in the final frame, shooting 61.5 percent in the first six minutes to outscore the Lady Eagles, 21-9, and increase the score to 126-49 entering the media timeout from 4:05. UT scored the final nine points of the game and held CN scoreless for the final four minutes to account for the final score.

Following: The Lady Vols will face Samford in the regular season opener Tuesday night at Food City Center. The contest is scheduled to start at 6:30 pm with coverage on SECN+.

Exhibition history: UT is now 53-5 in preseason exhibition games, with the only losses coming to the Soviet National Team (1979), Athletes in Action (1992) and the US National Team (1995, 2007, 2023 ). In the post-Pat Summitt era, UT is 13-1 in preseason exhibition games, defeating Carson-Newman 11 times (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) and Georgia. College (2021) and Coker (2012) on one occasion each. The only loss was to the United States Women’s National Team in 2023.

First time in orange and white: Transfers white horn ruby, Samara Spencer, Talaysia Cooper, Please help him and Alyssa Lathamand redshirt freshman Kaniya Boyd They made their Lady Vol debut during the exhibition contest. The six new faces combined for 84 points, 30 rebounds, 17 assists and 22 steals during Tennessee’s win.

Ruby on a roll: Junior white horn ruby impressed during her inaugural performance as a Lady Vol, scoring a total of 29 points. The guard scored 13 points in the first quarter, nine in the second quarter, two in the third and five in the fourth. The Detroit, Michigan native showed great touch from the arc, making four of six three-point attempts.

Falling thirty: Throughout tonight’s game, the red-hot Lady Vols scored 30 points or more in every quarter of play. The Big Orange scored a total of 31 points in the first quarter, 33 in the second quarter, 41 in the third quarter and 30 in the fourth to end the game. The Lady Vols also surpassed 100 points for the 15th time in 19 exhibition games against the Lady Eagles.