Sunday, January 16, 2005

(8) Tennessee (11-3) vs. (17) Vanderbilt (13-2)

Game Info: 3:00 pm EST Sun Jan 16, 2005

Tennessee has won 35 straight games against Southeastern Conference opponents.

The eighth-ranked Lady Vols will return to the site of their last league loss when they visit No. 17 Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium on Sunday.

The defending SEC champions (11-3, 1-0) haven't lost an SEC game since Feb. 2, 2002, when the Commodores (13-2, 2-0) upset them 76-59 in Nashville. Vanderbilt was ranked eighth at the time, while Tennessee came in at No. 2.

The Lady Vols have won the last six meetings in the series, including a 94-88 road victory last February. Tennessee leads the all-time series 42-6, with four of those losses coming at Vanderbilt.

Despite Tennessee's dominance in the series, the Lady Vols won't take the Commodores lightly.

Vanderbilt is averaging an SEC-best 84.3 points per game, and also leads the conference in field-goal (52) and 3-point (39) shooting percentage. The Commodores allow 57 points per game, second-lowest in the league behind No. 3 LSU (50.8).

Vanderbilt has four players scoring in double figures. Junior forward Ashley Earley leads with 19.2 points and 8.7 rebounds, and is shooting a league-best 69 percent. Senior forward Carla Thomas averages 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.

``They're a solid team,'' said Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, whose team has won seven straight regular-season SEC titles and 13 overall. ``Their inside game is really mobile and active.''

Junior Shanna Zolman, Tennessee's third leading scorer at 9.0 points per game, agrees with her coach.

``They're a great team,'' she said. ``We have to go in there knowing that this team is very dangerous. They play very well together. They have a great match-up zone that is so tough to play against every time.''

Thomas had a career-high 32 points and nine rebounds, and Earley added 22 points and six boards in a 73-67 win at Auburn on Thursday.

Vanderbilt improved to 2-0 in SEC play and has won seven of eight overall.

This is the SEC road opener for Tennessee, which began conference play with a 72-54 home win over Arkansas on Thursday.

Zolman scored 16 points, junior Tye'sha Fluker added 12 and senior Shyra Ely contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Vols, who have also won seven of their last eight.

Tennessee, averaging 66.4 points per game on a league-low 38.6 percent shooting, improved to 10-0 when scoring at least 60 points this season.

Ely, the team's only double-figure scorer, is averaging 13.2 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds.

The Commodores are facing their first ranked opponent this season. They are 7-1 at home, including an 88-43 win over South Carolina to open SEC play last Sunday.

Tennessee is 3-3 against Top 25 opponents this season.

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