By Lohan Sutton
Tennessee women’s basketball improved to 3-0 on the season with an 83-40 victory over New Haven Monday night.
The Lady Vols controlled the game for long stretches but had to work through early shooting struggles.
After building a 37-24 lead at halftime, Tennessee opened the scoring with a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Vols outscored New Haven 28-7 in the final quarter to claim the decisive win.
Early on, both teams struggled with the tempo and execution. After winning the opening tip, Tennessee had a relatively quiet start, with the action remaining sluggish through much of the first quarter.
Talaysia Fauntleroy and Naomi White provided an early spark from beyond the arc, helping the Lady Vols take a 17-10 lead in the first.
Defensively, Tennessee was effective at eliminating space and limiting easy looks at the basket.
The second quarter was much like the first as the Tennessee offense remained inconsistent from the field.
At the end of the half, the Lady Vols shot 9-for-26 from the field.
Despite the lackluster scoring, Tennessee controlled the lead 37-24.
“We intentionally had them call their own sets and didn’t call a lot of plays for them, for them to try to work their way through it. And I think that was part of the result of the slow start,” said head coach Kim Caldwell.
Jada Eads and Fats Janneh opened the third quarter with a pair of threes that grew the Tennessee lead to 55-33 by the end of the third.
The fourth quarter was clear separation. Tennessee dominated the opening minutes with a 12-0 run and maintained control of the rest of the game.
“There was not one second today that they didn’t play hard. It was sloppy. It was ugly. But the mistakes they made were aggressive mistakes. And I’m okay with that,” said Caldwell.
The Lady Vols also controlled the rebounding margin throughout and eliminated New Haven’s second-chance opportunities.
The free-throw issue from the first half remained a point of emphasis, but the defensive effort, rebounding, and bench production were clear positives in the Lady Vols’ third win of the season.
UP NEXT: There’s no time for Tennessee to relax with the Lady Vols back in action later this week on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m. ET versus MTSU inside Food City Center