Box Score KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee connected on almost 70 percent of its shots from the floor in the third quarter to separate itself from the Navy women's basketball team in an eventual 85-55 victory by the nationally-ranked Lady Vols Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee, ranked either 13th or 14th in the two national polls won its second game in as many tries this season while Navy dropped its second game on its season-opening two-game road trip.
Navy had several slim leads in the first quarter and never trailed by more than three points in the opening period of play which ended with Tennessee holding a 19-16 lead. The Mids were within one point of the Lady Vols at 27-26 with just under seven minutes left in the second quarter before Tennessee closed the first half on a 16-9 lead to take a 43-35 lead into the locker rooms.
"Tough game for us," said Navy head coach Stefanie Pemper. "I thought we came out with a good attitude and great confidence. We hit some shots and got some stops."
Both teams made 15 field goals in the first half and Navy held a 5-4 lead in three-point field goals made but Tennessee was 9-13 from the foul line while the Mids were 0-1. The Lady Vols also held a 23-13 edge on the glass in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Tennessee then began the second half on a 19-9 run to build a 62-44 lead late in the third quarter. The Lady Vols were 8-of-10 from the field during that run, which included a pair of three-point field goals and a free throw. Navy sliced into that margin somewhat -- 63-50 -- but went into the last quarter trailing 66-50.
After shooting 69 percent -- 9-13 -- from the floor in the third quarter, Tennessee made all five of its three-point attempts in the fourth quarter while holding Navy to a 2-16 effort from the field in the last 10 minutes of play.
"We really needed to keep scoring with Tennessee," said Pemper, "and that's what we didn't do. Credit Tennessee. They picked up their pressure in the second half and got into the passing lanes and forced us into some turnovers. Plus they really got hot from the three-point line."
Tennessee shot 51.7 percent from the field for the game, which included a 12-14 (85.7%) effort from three-point range. Navy made 36.4 percent of its field goal attempts on the afternoon. That included a 6-20 (30%) showing from outside of the arc. The Lady Vols also held a 47-29 advantage on the glass for the game, but Navy won the turnover contest, 18-16.
Ashanti Kennedy (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va.) led Navy with 16 points and Taylor Dunham (Jr., Fort Belvoir, Va.) added 14 points. Both Kennedy and Laurel Jaunich (Fr., Charlotte, Vt.) shared the team rebounding lead with six apiece. Tennessee native Justice Swett (Sr., Nashville, Tenn.) made one field goal and grabbed two rebounds.
"I'm proud of our team," said Pemper. "We're going to build off of this. We want to get to the point where we are executing and playing good basketball. I think tonight we had some moments where we did just that. Players made some really smart plays. We struggled when Tennessee switched everything with their length and athleticism. We're not going to play a lot of people who have that length and athleticism. I'm proud of how our women stepped up. We're playing 10 people pretty regularly, and we are trying to figure out how we can find some identities within that."
Tennessee's Alexa Middleton was 6-7 from three-point range and 7-11 from the field in all to tally a game-high 21 points.
Navy will open its 2016-17 home season Friday when the Mids play host to Hofstra at 7 p.m.
