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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
15-7, 3-6
Tennessee
24-1, 10-0
No. 2 Tennessee Downs Mississippi
2/8/2001 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2001
By ELIZABETH A. DAVIS
AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Kara Lawson scored 22 points, including five 3-pointers, and April McDivitt scored 19 points as No. 2 Tennessee beat Mississippi 119-52 Thursday night.
The Lady Vols (24-1, 10-0 Southeastern Conference) have won 13 straight since losing to Connecticut on Dec. 30 and 32 in a row at home against SEC opponents.
The win was not Tennessee's biggest rout of the season. That was a 72-point win over Kentucky on Jan. 21.
Ashley Robinson added 12 points and eight rebounds and Michelle Snow and Tasha Butts each added 11 for Tennessee. McDivitt hit 4-of-5 3-pointers.
Sherika Wright scored 14 points and Saundra Jackson added 13 to lead the Lady Rebels (15-7, 3-6), who have lost eight straight to Tennessee since Feb. 4, 1996, in Oxford, Miss.
Tennessee started off with a 7-0 lead and Ole Miss couldn't get any closer than five the rest of the way. By halftime, the Lady Vols were up by 28.
Ole Miss could not overcome Tennessee's hot shooting. The Lady Vols were 12-of-20 from beyond the arc and 44-of-69 from the floor. Tennessee also outrebounded the Lady Rebels 46-21.
Lawson started off shooting well, hitting her first three 3-pointers. Her third with 15:45 left in the first half put Tennessee ahead 17-6.
Her next 3 gave Tennessee a 51-23 lead at halftime.
Lawson had increased her scoring average to 14 points per game from 9.4 in the seven games since Tamika Catchings went down with a torn ACL on Jan. 15.
Turnovers and poor shooting were the Lady Rebels' downfall. Tennessee scored 25 points off 18 of the Lady Rebels' turnovers in the first half.
Despite the Lady Vols' big height advantage, one of the smallest players on the court, the 5-foot-6 Wright, was successful driving to the basket for easy layups.
Even though Ole Miss got deeper and deeper into a deficit, the Lady Vols continued to pour on the defense and scrap for loose balls.
The offense didn't stop either.
Butts lobbed a pass over the basket, and fellow rookie Courtney McDaniel caught it and placed it in the basket to give the Lady Vols an 86-41 lead with 8:27 remaining in the game.
McDaniel injured her left ankle eight seconds later when she crashed to the floor along the sidelines. Her condition was not immediately known.
