It’s been a bumpy ride for the Lady Vols during their last month and a half of nonconference play.

Yet the team ended on a high note in front of the home crowd on Monday night, claiming a 89-44 win over Southern Indiana thanks to the likes of guards Nya Robertson and Mia Pauldo, who combined for 39 points.

The No. 23 Lady Vols (8-3) have had their way against unranked teams this season; their four losses have come at the hands of ranked or formerly ranked teams.

Most recently, a tough loss to No. 13 Louisville, the Lady Vols didn’t get much of anything going on either side of the ball. The other instances of performances, such as that include the team’s meeting against No. 4 UCLA, which saw them lose by 22.

​​“I thought we played harder tonight,” Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell said. “I thought we shared the ball better. I’m happy with 19 assists. We were not very efficient around the rim, but our three-pointers looked a little bit better in the second half. I thought we responded well after a difficult first half.”

While the Screaming Eagles (8-4) aren’t exactly on the same level of playing field as those two teams, the Lady Vols still bounced back into the win column nonetheless.

Despite a slow start through the first quarter, which had the Lady Vols leading by just ten, the lead extended to just 14 through the first 20 minutes. This needed to be a convincing win if the team wanted to prove they still deserve their ranking.

Pauldo had a nice second quarter amidst her big day. She scored nine of her 19 points during the frame, all coming from beyond the 3-point line.

By the end of the third quarter, there was a clear shift in momentum toward the Lady Vols. Robertson had a little deja vu from a game earlier in the season against Coppin State, which saw her drill ten total 3-pointers, a school record.

Against Southern Indiana, Robertson continued to use the 3-pointer as her main weapon of choice. She drilled six threes, with four coming in the third quarter. The sudden flurry of threes had the Lady Vols up big through three quarters, 63-35.

“I think the biggest thing was she had three offensive rebounds early,” Caldwell said. “She went, and she got us extra possessions. She played really hard. She always plays hard. She’s one player that I can count on. Whether her shot is falling or not, she’s gonna play hard.”

There was plenty of offense to go around tonight, especially in the final quarter, which saw the Lady Vols have 10 different players notch a point, with 12 in total scoring on the night.

It’s a career-high in points for Pauldo with 19, shooting an efficient 7-for-11 from the field. She also tallied a rebound and an assist.

Zee Spearman and Janiah Barker handled the rebounding duties on the night. Both finished the game with seven, which led the team. After a tough showing as a team on the boards against Louisville, who finished the game with 22 more rebounds than the Lady Vols.

“We have talked a lot about it, we bat the ball with one hand,” Caldwell said. “We go with one, we bat it out of bounds, we try to tip it to our teammate. And that was one really apparent thing. And we’ve been talking about it for weeks, but it was really apparent in our last game. We gotta go with two. And it’s just going to be a point of emphasis for us because if we continue to go with one, we’re going to get out-rebounded every single night.”

Despite some high notes, there remains plenty to fix on both sides of the ball before the team takes the court on Jan. 1 against Florida to start conference play.