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Vanderbilt Falls at No 2 Tennessee 1-22-04 1/22/2004 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Shyra Ely scored 22 points for No. 2 Tennessee, which beat Vanderbilt 79-54 Thursday night. Brittany Jackson added 15 points to help the Lady Vols (15-1, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) win their 50th straight home game in league play. The Commodores (14-3, 2-2) lost their fifth straight game against Tennessee and dropped to 0-19 in Knoxville. They didn’t help themselves much by turning over the ball a season-high 26 times. Each team had 11 steals, but Tennessee thrived in transition. Trailing 44-30 with 13:46 left, Vanderbilt had an 8-0 run over the span of one minute, and Abi Ramsey capped it with a steal and three-point play that trimmed the lead to 44-38. But the Lady Vols responded with a 12-0 spurt that included baskets off three steals and led 56-38 with 9:42 to go after Jackson’s pull-up jumper. The Commodores got as close as 11 points twice thereafter, the last on Dee Davis’ layup with 6:10 remaining. But Ely quickly scored on the other end to keep Vanderbilt at bay. Jackson’s only miss was a free throw. She was 5-of-5 from the field — including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc. Ramsey led Vanderbilt with 13 points and Carla Thomas had 10. Vanderbilt had 15 turnovers by halftime and has had at least 20 turnovers in eight games this season. Jenni Benningfield, one of Vanderbilt’s best players, put in 18 minutes, the most over the last four games since sustaining a stress fracture in her right foot. She finished with seven points. Tennessee got off to a quick start, leading 22-8 midway through the first half. Vanderbilt cut the lead to seven twice after trailing by 14 but couldn’t maintain a rally. The Commodores’ Ashley Earley had a layup to make it 24-17 but missed a free throw on the play. The Lady Vols followed with a basket by Ely and a three-point play by Ashley Robinson to restore the lead to 12 with 4:11 left in the first half. |
