KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee avoided an embarrassing loss because its biggest weakness became a strength at least for one night.
The ninth-ranked Lady Vols made 13 straight free-throw attempts during a 22-0 run in the third quarter Wednesday as they rallied for a 65-55 victory over Stetson. Tennessee erased a 20-point deficit to produce the second-biggest comeback in school history.
Tennessee (7-0) ended up shooting 25 of 30 from the foul line. The Lady Vols had been making just 58.9 percent of their free throws before Wednesday.
“What has been our Achilles heel was one of the best things we did today,” Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said.
Tennessee needed that accuracy from the line to survive a surprisingly strong challenge from Stetson, an Atlantic Sun school whose only win this season came against NAIA program Webber International.
Stetson (1-7) led 42-22 before Rennia Davis’ 3-pointer capped the 22-0 spurt that gave the Lady Vols their first lead with 2:43 left in the third quarter. The game was tied 46-all before another Davis basket put Tennessee ahead for good with 7:21 remaining.
Tennessee’s only bigger comeback came in January 2009, when the Lady Vols rallied from 23 points down to beat Rutgers 55-51.
“In the second half, they came out more aggressive, and that was the end of it,” Stetson guard McKenna Beach said.
Davis had 24 points and nine rebounds to spark the rally, while Evina Westbrook added 20 points. They shot a combined 20 of 21 from the free-throw line.
Sarah Sagerer scored 19 points and Addi Walters had 17 for Stetson. Walters scored 13 points in the first quarter.
Tennessee started the night lethargic and looked increasingly flustered as Stetson grabbed a 38-22 halftime lead. Tennessee had no answers for a patient Stetson offense that used up most of the shot clock on each possession.
Stetson went on a 14-0 run that lasted over 5 1/2 minutes midway through the first half. Tennessee didn’t make its first basket of the second quarter until Davis hit a layup on a fastbreak with 3:07 left in the half.
“We just came in with low energy,” Westbrook said. “We weren’t there defensively, especially. Kudos to them, to the other team. They played their butts off the first half, but we shut them down in the second half. We just can’t start like that.”
