To begin a three-game stretch at home, the Lady Vols had little issue with Auburn.
No. 15 Tennessee would race past the Tigers to win 99-61 in Knoxville.
With the Lady Vols' (18-6, 5-6 SEC) recent success coming on the road and against out of conference UConn, the win over Auburn (12-13, 3-9) is the first SEC home win for Tennessee since beating Mississippi State on Jan. 17.
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After a game that featured 71 of 77 points coming from just four players in the loss at LSU, the Lady Vols had all 10 players who saw the floor in both halves score. This featured five players in double figures.
Leading the way was Jewel Spear who finished with 17 points. Behind her was Ruby Whitehorn with who notched 15 after a strong start.
Zee Spearman, Kaniya Boyd and Talaysia Cooper also finished with 10 or more points.
As a team, Tennessee shot 55.7% from the field while shooting 14-for-28 on 3-pointers.
WHAT HAPPENED
Tennessee didn't get out to the hottest start. The Lady Vols allowed Auburn to get out to a five-point lead less than three minutes into the game.
That was all they allowed, though. Tennessee stayed tight with the Tigers before taking its first lead of the game in the final moments on a Whitehorn 3-pointer with just 21 seconds remaining.
That would be the last time Auburn led. The Lady Vols came out in the second quarter on fire. They ran out to a 6-0 run to begin the frame to create some separation. From there, it was a slow build to create a large lead.
Tennessee saw itself up 16 points at the end of the quarter after outscoring the Tigers by 14. The leading scorer for the Lady Vols was Whitehorn with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting. For Auburn, Yuting Deng had a then-game-high 12 points.
Despite the Tigers' best efforts, they were never able to get within single digits in the third. They cut the lead to 11 with 2:48 left in the frame but the Lady Vols took over.
Tennessee would finish the quarter on a 10-2 run to grab a 19-point lead heading into the final period.
The Lady Vols weren't satisfied with that, either. Tennessee went on a 17-0 run that was a part of a larger 23-2 run to lead by as much as 38 points.
Ultimately, it was a late Avery Strickland bucket that brought the lead back to 38 points for the final.
UP NEXT
Tennessee will have two more games at home before having to repack its bags. The Lady Vols will next host Ole Miss on Sunday at 12 p.m. ET on SEC Network. The Rebels are currently unranked but have spent a good amount of time inside the AP Poll's Top 25.
Then, Tennessee will welcome No. 21 Alabama to town. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 20. The TV designation is yet to be announced.
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