Puckett has 17, Spear 16 and No. 18 Lady Vols roll past Tulsa 102-61, now 11-0

Dec 21, 2024, 01:29 pm

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- — Sara Puckett scored 17 points, Jewell Spear had 16 and No. 18 Tennessee rolled to a 102-61 win over Tulsa on Saturday in the West Palm Beach Classic.

The Lady Vols surpassed their nation-leading scoring average as well as their average of 12.5 3-pointers a game, going 14 of 32. They surpassed the century mark for the fifth time, tied for second in program history behind the seven of the 1987-88 team. The seventh game with at least 10 3s is also a record.

Zee Spearman had 12 points and nine rebounds for Tennessee (11-0), which won both its games in the tournament. Ruby Whitehorn and Talaysia Cooper both scored 13.

Delanie Crawford had 17 points for Tulsa (6-6), Mady Cartwright scored 12 and Jade Clack 10. The Golden Hurricanes shot 45%, went 5 of 29 from 3-point range and had 23 turnovers. Two players fouled out and three finished with four fouls.

Tulsa had a small lead a majority of the first quarter but Cooper's tip-in with a minute to go gave the Lady Vols a 22-20 lead.

Tennessee dominated the second quarter, scoring the first eight points and adding runs of nine and 10, outscoring the Golden Hurricanes 41-11 to lead 63-31 at the half. The Lady Vols hit 6 of 8 3-pointers and 15 of 22 shots overall while holding Tulsa to 4-of-12 shooting with eight turnovers. Puckett led the way with two 3s and 12 points.

Tennessee is home against Winthrop on Saturday before opening Southeastern Conference play at Texas A&M on Jan. 2.

------ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball