KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Central Arkansas got a first-hand look at one of the nation's top teams on Sunday, and Tennessee lived up to its lofty billing as the 4th-ranked Lady Vols defeated the Sugar Bears 102-47 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Lady Vols (1-0) ran out to a 17-0 lead in the first 3:36 and Central Arkansas (1-1) never recovered from the early onslaught, drawing no closer than 13 as Tennessee steadily pulled away – outscoring the Sugar Bears 63-20 in the first half en route to their 38th season-opening win in the last 42 years.

"It's been a long time since I've had somebody score 100 on us," Central Arkansas head coach Sandra Rushing said. "I knew it would be a very difficult challenge, and I expected more out of my players. I still believe in this team and have confidence in this team, but we've got a lot of work ahead of us. I don't know if it was nerves or whatever, but I thought our execution wasn't where we needed it to be. Coming out of halftime, we were supposed to be in a zone, but the girls come out in a man. I drew something up, and we had two go out and not execute. I'm disappointed in a couple people not focusing on the game. I don't like the whipping we just took, but it might be the best thing for this team. Sometimes you need a wake-up call."

The taller Lady Vols, whose six players to see action averaged 6-foot in height – including a pair 6-2 or taller – dominated inside with 54 points in the paint to the Sugar Bears' 18 while altering several UCA shots on the other end of the floor. The Sugar Bears did, however, hold their own on the boards – getting 43 to the Lady Vols' 47. Tennessee also turned in a solid shooting performance, shooting 54 percent from the field – including 59 percent in the first half – and 47.4 percent (9-19) from 3-point range. The Sugar Bears countered by hitting seven 3s of their own, including shooting 40 percent from long range in the first half.

 

The Lady Vols got 24 points from Kortney Dunbar, 22 from freshman Te'a Cooper and 20 from Mercedes Russell. The 6-2 Dunbar and 6-6 Russell both logged double-doubles with each grabbing 13 rebounds. 

One bright spot for the Sugar Bears came in the form of sophomore forward Taylor Baudoin, who picked up the first double-double of her UCA career with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Kendara Watts had 12 points and 6 rebounds, going 4-for-4 from 3-point range. Junior center Raquel Logan added 7 points and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes, and junior guard Brianna Mullins was limited to 19 minutes due to foul trouble with three in the first quarter, but managed 5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. 

"I thought Taylor B had a really good game," Rushing said. "I thought she played extremely hard and showed signs of what she's capable of. Bri Mullins spent a lot of time on the bench because of the fouls, but she was really fighting and going hard and I'm proud of that. She has to do a lot for us. She plays defense, has to handle the ball and get us in our offense, she can shoot it, she scores in other ways. She's not a one-dimensional player and I appreciate her effort. And Tieraney Paylorr came in and showed what she can do down the road. What I liked is that I had a freshman and a sophomore battling on the boards, when I had a couple juniors who would not go do what I needed them to do. They backed down. We need to learn how to play in big games. We'd like to be in a big game situation at the end of the year in our conference tournament. I hope we can grow from this. That's why we wanted to play Tennessee. It was a good experience for our program and a good trip besides the game."

The Sugar Bears return to action next Saturday at Murray State before hosting Alcorn State on Nov. 24.