Lady Vols win third straight against ETSU

The Lady Vols cruised to an 83-58 victory over East Tennessee State last night behind Diamond DeShields’ 28-point performance.

The Lady Vols’ first appearance in Johnson City since 1981 drew a record crowd of over 6,000 fans for ETSU women’s basketball. However, Tennessee’s offense was dominant with its third straight game with over 80 points — an accolade only reached four times last season. The Lady Vols had an efficient performance, shooting 56 percent from the field on 16 assists. Redshirt junior Diamond DeShields led the way for Tennessee with her first double-double of the season, racking up 28 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Senior Jordan Reynolds had a well-rounded game with 10 points, seven boards, four steals and three assists.

ETSU was held to 31 percent shooting from the field and were outrebounded 40-30, which attributed to a 50-22 scoring advantage in the paint for Tennessee. The starters for the Bucs were held to just 27 points. Guards Tianna Tarter and Shamauria Bridges only managed a combined 18 points on 6-of-26 shooting, hitting just 2-of-13 from behind the arc.

DeShields was in the spotlight for the first half, shooting 8-of-12 from the field with a trio of three-pointers, scoring 20 points with six rebounds and four assists. The Lady Vols finished the first half with a 12-3 run against the Buccaneers to take a 46-27 lead into halftime, where they would never look back. The lead was too much for the Buccaneers to overcome, never cutting the deficit below 16 points.

The Lady Vols will travel to University Park, Pennsylvania on Sunday to face Penn State at the Bryce Jordan Center at 5 p.m. ET.

Edited by Dalton King

Featured image by Hayley Pennesi, courtesy of Tennessee Athletics