Greenville, S.C. – Rae Burrell scored a game-high 26 points on Thursday evening to lead the Tennessee Lady Vols to a 90-53 victory over the Furman women's basketball team inside Thompson-Boling Arena.
Tennessee improves to 3-1 on the season while Furman drops to 1-3 overall.
Burrell connected on 5-of-6 field goals, including 3-of-4 behind the 3-point line, in the second quarter. After a 3-pointer by
Celena Taborn made the score 28-19 with 8:45 remaining, the Lady Vols used a 24-4 run over a six-minute stretch to build a 52-23 lead.
Tate Walters and
Sydney James led the Paladins on a 10-0 run to close out the half and trailed 52-33 at intermission.
Tierra Hodges recorded 11 of her team-high 17 points in the third quarter as Furman continued its run to begin the second half. The Paladins opened the half scoring 12 of the first 16 points and cut their deficit down to 56-45 at the 6:11 mark after Hodges' 3-pointer. Tennessee would go ahead by 20 points, 69-49, heading to the fourth quarter.
The Lady Vols outscored Furman 21-4 in the final period and closed out the last 7:03 on an 18-0 run to secure the 90-53 win.
Hodges recorded her fourth straight double-digit scoring performance to open the season, compiling her 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting, 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 4-of-6 at the free throw line. She also pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. Walters and James both finished with 11 points.
Paraskevi Koilia dished out a career-high eight assists.
Burrell was 9-of-12 from the field shooting and 6-of-7 behind the three-point line while contributing seven assists. Jordan Walker posted 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Marta Suarez grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Furman concluded the game shooting 32.1 percent (17-of-53) from the field and 42.9 percent (9-of-21) on 3-pointers. The Paladins also held an 8-6 advantage in second chance points.
Tennessee finished at 54.8 percent (34-of-62) shooting and 58.3 percent (14-of-24) behind the 3-point line.
Furman closes out its five-game road trip on Sunday afternoon, traveling to Elon for a 1 p.m. tipoff.