KNOXVILLE—In a fitting way to gain the 1,200th win in school history, Tennessee led from start finish. When the final buzzer sounded, the Lady Vols had wrapped up a decisive 66-47 victory.

Holly Warlick’s team opened the game playing fierce defense and held the visiting Scarlet Knights scoreless until the 14:19 mark in the first half. To compound matters, Rutgers lost center Monique Oliver (the team’s leading scorer) with 7:04 remaining in the first half. She sprained an ankle and did not return. The Lady Vols led 33-13 at the half, holding Rutgers to just 22.2% shooting before intermission. Things didn’t get markedly better for the visitors after the break.

The tough Lady Vol defense stymies Rutgers. Photo by Reed Carringer

Though Rutgers outscored Tennessee in the second half (34-33), the outcome was never in jeopardy. Tennessee’s lead swelled to 26 with 14:16 to play on the heels of a Taber Spani 3-pointer. Simmons followed with a layup to push the lead to 28 and the Scarlet Knights never got within 18 down the stretch.

Graves looks to score. Photo by Randy Sartin

The Lady Vols were led by Isabelle Harrison; she tallied a career-high 18 points and six steals to go along with 11 rebounds. Meighan Simmons finished with 15 points on 7-15 shooting, and freshman-standout Bashaara Graves tallied her sixth double-double of the year (11 points and 14 boards). The Harrison-Graves duo is quickly becoming one of the best in the SEC; they combine for over 24 points and 16 rebounds a game. Despite their success, coach Warlick wants to see her post players continue to grow.

“I’m not going to lower my expectations for them, I want them both to keep getting better and better. We preach playing inside out and we want to get the ball inside, whether it’s with the guards or the posts. We’ve always been a very strong post-oriented team. I know we’re not big, Basharra’s not big, Izzy’s 6’3, but those two find a way. As long as they keep finding a way, they’re scoring and shooting in the 50’s, we’re going to keep feeding them the ball, that’s going to be our game plan.   We have other people capable of scoring, but those two keep putting up the numbers.”

In addition to the play of her talented forwards, Warlick was very happy with her team’s overall effort and play.

“That group there is fun to watch. I think you see the result of two days of pretty tough, hard practices and staying on them. As a coach when you teach something and they respond, that’s exciting. I think our players responded to the coaching staff. I’m just proud of them. I can’t say enough about a great team effort today.”

As Tennessee prepares for conference action, efforts like today’s will certainly result in more post-game praise from the Lady Vol coach.

Up Next: The Lady Vols open SEC play at #18 South Carolina Thursday at 9 p.m. TV: Sports South.