Lady Vols basketball handles business on Sunday against another quality opponent. The 17-win Ole Miss Rebels were hoping to upset Tennessee, but Kim Caldwell's squad was all business in its 80-71 win.
The first quarter was a dominant showing for Tennessee. The Lady Vols outscored Ole Miss 17-7 to jump out to a quick lead, but the Rebels stormed back in the second half to make it a game.
Tennessee didn't wait around in the second half. They pushed their lead throughout the second half, which is due in large part to Jewel Spear's shooting performance. Spear scored 26 points and shot 9-for-11 from the field and 5-for-7 from beyond the three-point line.
The Rebels couldn't keep up with Caldwell's fast-paced offense paired with the Lady Vols' restrictive defense, pushing opponents to commit turnovers in an attempt to keep up with Tennessee.
Ole Miss committed 17 turnovers on Sunday, which Tennessee took full advantage of in the win as the Lady Vols look to climb up the rankings in the final stretch of the regular season.
The Lady Vols' conference play hasn't been easy. With the win, Tennessee is 6-6 in conference play, but most of the losses were within a few points or less.
If Tennessee could have found a way to win a couple of those conference games they lost that went down to the wire; the Lady Vols could be looked at as Final Four contenders in Caldwell's first season as the Lady Vols head coach.
Tennessee now turns to its matchup against No. 20 Alabama in another tough conference battle as we are a few weeks away from the SEC Tournament.