No. 15 Tennessee women breeze past Davidson

• No. 15 Tennessee beat Davidson 75-40 Friday night
• Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick changed her starting lineup after loss to Stanford
• Tennessee avoided first three-game losing streak since 1986

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee coach Holly Warlick's tough-love approach paid off in a big way.

After ripping her team's perceived lack of effort Saturday in a loss to top-ranked Stanford, Warlick overhauled Tennessee's starting lineup. The 15th-ranked Lady Vols responded Friday with a 75-40 rout of Davidson that helped them avoid their first three-game losing streak since 1986.

"I'm not going to settle for us being average," Warlick said. "If I have to make a statement, I'm going to make a statement."

The Lady Vols (8-3) made quite a statement Friday.

Tennessee outrebounded Davidson 48-26 and outscored the Wildcats 22-0 in second-chance points. The Lady Vols also had a 26-5 edge in points off turnovers.

They delivered a performance that changed Warlick's mood.

"As soon as I saw the smile on her face, I felt like I could relax and breathe," said Tennessee center Isabelle Harrison, who collected 13 points and nine rebounds in only 19 minutes. "She's given so much for us to get to this point. We just have to go out there and play for her."

Harrison said she couldn't remember seeing Warlick smile since a 94-75 victory at Texas on Dec. 16, which represented the Lady Vols' last win before Friday.

Tennessee followed up that Texas game by falling 76-53 at No. 3 Baylor and 73-60 to No. 1 Stanford. The Lady Vols haven't dropped three straight games since losing 68-54 to No. 8 Mississippi, 66-60 to No. 11 Auburn and 59-56 to No. 3 Louisiana Tech on Feb. 5-10, 1986.

Bashaara Graves helped make sure the Lady Vols avoided a third straight loss. The freshman forward scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double despite resting for the game's final 10 minutes, 47 seconds. Cierra Burdick added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Sophia Aleksandravicius had 12 points and seven rebounds to lead Davidson (4-7) in both categories.

By dominating the paint and playing suffocating defense, the Lady Vols followed Warlick's ideal formula for success.

"She was trying to emphasize that we need to play defense to win championships and win games," Burdick said. "That's what this program has been built on."

Warlick said all week she would start the five players who played the hardest and showed the most consistency in practice. Graves and junior guard Meighan Simmons were the only starters from the Stanford game who remained in the starting lineup Friday.

Tennessee's new-look lineup featured three freshmen: Graves and forwards Jasmine Jones and Nia Moore. Jones and Moore were making their first career starts. The lineup also included senior guard/forward Taber Spani, making her third start of the season.

That combination didn't stay on the floor very long. Warlick returned to her usual starting five of Graves, Simmons, Burdick, Harrison and Ariel Massengale less than three minutes into the game with Davidson leading 7-5.

"We started some kids that hadn't been starting and hadn't been playing a lot, so I'm sure they were a little nervous," said Warlick, who remained unsure about her starting lineup for Sunday's game with Rutgers. "I think the people who came off the bench had something to prove to me, and that's great."

Tennessee took control of the game by going on a 12-0 run while holding Davidson scoreless for a stretch of nearly six minutes midway through the first half. That spurt turned an 11-11 tie into a 23-11 Tennessee lead, and the Lady Vols maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the night.

After leading 41-21 at the intermission, Tennessee opened the second half on a 9-0 run and remained in front by at least 25 points the remainder of the game.

"We knew they were going to be aggressive, denying the passing lanes and forcing us to do something different in our offense, maybe not (allowing us) to make that entry pass," Davidson coach Michele Savage said. "I knew they were going to be all over the boards and trying to get second-chance points. It wasn't a surprise to us the way they played tonight."

The Lady Vols intend to play that way the rest of the season.

"We definitely needed it to build our momentum," Burdick said. "Once we get this win over Rutgers, I'll think we'll be able to say we're back to where we need to be. We just need to keep working hard. Holly deserves better. We should have beaten Stanford. The fact that we didn't was tough for us. We need to give her what she deserves. The way we'd been playing lately is not what she deserves.

"I'm just glad we could come out tonight and give her what she needs and what this team is capable of doing."