The Lady Vols defeated Furman 90-53 on Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena. With the win, Tennessee improves to 3-1 on the season, while Furman falls to 1-3.
Career Night
Rae Burrell has been one of the hottest players in basketball since the start of the season, and she continued that streak tonight against the Paladins.
The junior scored a career-high 26 points on nine-of-12 shooting and six-of-seven from behind the arc. She also recorded seven assists, grabbed three rebounds and tallied two steals.
“I’m just doing a better job at not forcing it and letting the game come to me,” Burrell said. My teammates are just helping me by knocking down shots and giving me the ball.”
Through four games, Burrell is averaging 20.5 points, 3.5 rebounds per game, 3.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. She is also shooting 52.8% from the field and 50% from three.
3-and-D
Tennessee played one of its most complete games of the campaign on Thursday night as they utilized its ability to create more opportunities with its newfound stroke.
The Lady Vols shot 58.3% from three against Furman including a third-quarter three-point percentage of 66.7% and 71.4% in the fourth.
Burrell led the team with six made threes. Jaiden McCoy was second on the team with three made attempts, Jordan Walker hit two, while Marta Suárez, Tess Darby, and Jordan Horston each made one.
“I don’t know many teams that are going to sustain 58% from the three-point line,” head coach Kellie Harper said. “If we could do that, it would be pretty impressive. I do think that making open threes is very sustainable for us. I think that is not asking a lot. If we are taking good threes in rhythm, then we can knock those down. I only remember one that was quick. I thought most of them that we took were good and that matters. Moving forward, I don’t think we can always count on a 58% performance, but I can think we can count on people stepping up and knocking a few of them down.”
Tennessee was able to get so many looks from deep because of their ability to pick the pockets of Furman 11 times. The Paladins also turned the ball over 20 times, which led to 23 points for Tennessee.
In all three of Tennessee’s wins, the Lady Vols have recorded double-digit steals. They recorded just seven in their lone loss against West Virginia.
The Lady Vols also put some pressure on their opponent inside the interior. Tennessee out-rebounded Furman 41-27, 28 of which were on defense. Tennessee recorded five blocks as well.
Up next
Tennessee travels to Austin to take on No. 23 Texas on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.
