KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 15/16 Tennessee women’s basketball team shot a season-high 55.7 percent from the field and scored its most points against an SEC foe in 14 years to roll past Auburn, 99-61, on Thursday night at Food City Center.
The Lady Vols (18-6, 5-6 SEC), who carded their highest output since a 110-45 home win over Alabama on Jan. 6, 2011, were led offensively by fifth-year guard Jewel Spear, who knocked down five three-pointers and finished with a team-high 17 points. The Big Orange had four others in double figures, including junior guard Ruby Whitehorn with 15, junior forward Zee Spearman with 14, redshirt freshman guard Kaniya Boyd with 11 and redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper with 10.
The Tigers (12-13, 3-9 SEC) were paced by DeYona Gaston, who recorded a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds. Yuting Deng chipped in 13 points, with 10 of those coming in the first quarter before the Lady Vols limited her to 1-of-4 shooting the rest of the way.
Auburn opened the game in good form, hitting 50 percent over the opening six-plus minutes to grab a 7-2 lead behind 3-of-7 marksmanship from Deng. A Jillian Hollingshead kiss off the glass and a Spear three-pointer, however, narrowed the deficit to three, 14-11, by the 3:44 media timeout. The Lady Vols warmed up after the break, grabbing their first lead, 15-14, with 2:35 remaining. After AU jumped up 18-15, UT finished the frame on a 7-2 burst, getting a Boyd backdoor layup, a spinning Whitehorn layup and then a trey from Whitehorn to close out the period with a 22-20 edge.
Tennessee continued its momentum into the second stanza, building a 28-20 gap by the 8:29 mark on a Spearman free throw, Cooper three and Whitehorn layup. The Lady Vols then got an Alyssa Latham bank shot and Sara Puckett inside bucket to push ahead, 37-26, by the 4:31 media timeout, shooting 66.7 percent from the field to begin the quarter.  UT continued to pad its lead, moving up 41-28 on a Tess Darby trey, 44-30 on a Spear three and 48-32 on a Puckett layup before a Spearman put-back sent her team into the locker room with a 50-34 cushion behind 73.3-percent marksmanship in the second stanza. UT carved out a 28-14 advantage in paint points during the opening half.
Auburn was the aggressor early in the third frame, tallying four straight points to open the period and outscoring Tennessee, 12-8, to cut the deficit to 12, 58-46, by the 4:54 media timeout. The Tigers crept to within 11, 61-50, with 2:48 left, but a three-pointer from Hollingshead as the shot clock was winding down and an old-fashioned three-point play from Cooper moved the gap to 17. Then, a turnaround jumper by Cooper and a layup from Boyd sent the home team into the final frame with a game-best 71-52 margin.
Tennessee built its lead to 20, 74-54, on a three by Darby with 8:32 left and then extended it to 80-59 on back-to-back treys from Samara Spencer and Darby, forcing Auburn to ask for time with 5:29 remaining. A Boyd driving layup pushed the margin to 31, 90-59, with 3:15 to go, and an Avery Strickland driving layup with 39 seconds on the clock pushed her team within one of the century mark and closed out the scoring.
