Knoxville, Tenn. -- Diamond DeShields led all players with 30 points to lead 13th-ranked Tennessee to a 90-56 victory over visiting Stetson Wednesday night in front of 10,705 fans at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Brianti Saunders led the Hatters (8-5) with 15 points, while Myka Johnson-Matthews added 12.
"I thought we did a good job in the first half handling their pressure,” Stetson head coach Lynn Bria said. “It's hard to simulate how big they are in practice. In the second half they wore us down a little bit, and I thought we deviated from the game plan. I thought the pressure in the second half really bothered us."
DeShields scored the first 10 points of the game to stake the Lady Vols (9-3) to an early 17-6 lead. The Hatters answered with a 6-0 run cut the deficit to 17-12 late in the first quarter.
Tennessee pushed its lead up to 18 points, 41-23, at the 2:37 mark of the second quarter. Baskets by DeAsia Beal and Breana Bey helped Stetson close the half on an 8-0 run, and the Hatters trailed just 41-31 at the break.
The Lady Vols outscored Stetson 27-13 in the third quarter to break the game open.
"We didn't start very well (in the second half), but we traditionally have not come out ready to go,” Bria said. “It is certainly something we need to address. It has not just been with this one game that we haven't started well. Against a team like (Tennessee), you can't afford to do that. They are just too good, and they are going to make you pay."
The Lady Vols held a 45-30 advantage on the glass and forced Stetson into 20 turnovers that led to 26 points. Beal had nine rebounds to lead the Hatters in that category.
“For a team like us, it is all about winning our conference,” Bria said. “What we have to take away is we have to look at the kinds of shots we got, because in our conference, they are not going to be that big, and they are not going to block all those shots. So for me, that's encouraging. A team like Tennessee is going to expose where we need to get better."
Stetson will turn right around and host Hampton at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
Notes: Brianti Saunders has scored in double figures in all 13 games this season .. Tennessee had four starters standing 6-foot-1 or taller. Stetson's two tallest starters were 5-foot-9 (DeAsia Beal, Breana Bey) … Myka Johnson-Matthews returned to the line-up after missing the last two games due to injury. She hit a pair of 3-pointers and had three rebounds to go along with 12 points ... Sarah Sagerer had three blocks.
