KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 12/13-ranked Tennessee soared past Liberty, 100-60, as the No. 3 seed Lady Vols scored their highest point total in an NCAA Tournament game since 2006 when they defeated Army, 102-54.

Rennia Davis led UT (25-7) with 18 points and 11 rebounds, marking her ninth career double-double and tying her with Tamika Catchings for the fifth most double-doubles ever recorded by a UT freshman. Redshirt junior Cheridene Green also posted a double-double, the second of her career, with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

No. 14 seed Liberty (24-10), which hadn’t surrendered 100 points in a game since the Lady Vols defeated them 102-58 in the 1998 NCAA First Round, was led in scoring by Lela Sellers and Ola Makurat, each with 13 points.

Tennessee began the game by winning the tip and finding Jaime Nared, who converted on a 10-foot jumper. UT forced five turnovers in the opening seven minutes but struggled to convert on the offensive end, trailing 7-6 at the 3:15 mark. With 2:57 to play in the quarter, Cheridene Green set off an 11-0 run for Tennessee that put the Lady Vols up 17-7 before Makurat hit a three for Liberty. The Lady Vols ended the quarter up 20-10.

The Lady Flames came out firing in the second quarter, going 3-of-3 in the opening minutes with two of those shots coming from behind the arc. Tennessee was up 28-22 at the midway point of the second quarter, but a Sellers three and free throw cut it to 28-26 with 4:12 left in the half. With 1:55 to play, Green set off another run for Tennessee, and UT closed the half by outscoring Liberty 6-0 to take a 36-28 lead into the break.

Nared converted on a three-point play to start the second half, giving the Lady Vols a 39-28 lead, their largest of the game at that point. Tennessee went on to outscore Liberty 11-5 in the opening three minutes, leading 47-33 with seven minutes to play in the period. Tennessee forced seven turnovers and rode a sizzling .813 shooting percentage to a 74-48 lead by the end of the quarter.

Tennessee continued its high powered offense in the fourth quarter, shooting 78.6 percent from the field to pour in another 26 points and close out the game with a 100-60 victory over Liberty.

Up Next: The Lady Vols advance to face No. 13/12-ranked Oregon State (24-7) in the second round on Saturday in Knoxville. The time has not been announced. Tennessee has a 4-0 series advantage on the Beavers, including 2-0 during the Holly Warlick era. UT beat OSU, 53-50, in Corvallis the last time these teams met on Dec. 19, 2015.

Another 25-Win Season: The victory over Liberty marked Tennessee’s 25th win of the season, making this the 35th time the Lady Vols have had 25 or more wins in a season. It was the fourth time during the Holly Warlick era.

NCAA Records of Note: The win moves the Lady Vols to 57-0 all-time at home in NCAA Tournament games, including 23-0 in first round contests. UT is 30-1 all-time in first round games at all sites. Holly Warlick improved to 13-5 in tournament play, including 6-0 in the first round.

Sharp Shooting: Tennessee connected on 61.7 percent from the field on the day, the highest percentage UT has mustered all season and the best it has ever shot in any NCAA Tournament game (UT now has played 153 of them over 37 years). The previous best was .609 vs. Tennessee Tech on March 15, 1987, in the second round. UT

Piling Up Points: The Lady Vols’ 38-third quarter points tied for their second-most all-time in any quarter (behind 44 vs. Troy earlier this season), and their 64 second-half points tied for ninth all-time.

A Team Affair: The Lady Vols had seven players in double figures, and all 10 UT players scored at least two points. The last time Tennessee had seven players score 10+ points or more was against Troy earlier this season.

Nared Moves Up Free Throw  Lists: Jaime Nared went 4-of-4 from the free throw line and now has 168 this season and 428 for her career. She moved past Tamika Catchings (165, 1997-98), Chamique Holdsclaw (16, 1997-98) and Candace Parker (166, 2006-07) into second-most in a season behind Parker (201, 2007-08). The stands sixth at UT for career free throws made.

Big Time Blockers: Mercedes Russell got her 100th career start and recorded her 194th block, tying Michelle Snow for the fifth-most blocks in Tennessee history.
 

UT Athletics

Tennessee Quotes:
Opening Statement:

“Obviously, excited about the tournament, and the opportunity to get to play in Knoxville. Just
the competition is outstanding, so these young ladies have been focusing in on our game against
Liberty and put in a lot of time, got some rest, and then put in a lot of time on some individual
things so that we are ready to go.”

Tennessee Player Quotes:
On watching film on Liberty and their rebounding on the offensive end:

Mercedes Russell:
“Well they are top five in the nation in offensive rebounding, and just from film, it seems like they
crash the board on every single shot no matter what. It is going to be a big key for us just to push
back and get good box outs.”

On the tradition on playing at home and being 56-0 playing NCAA Tournament games in
Knoxville:

Jaime Nared:
“I did not know that. I did see something about this being our 37th NCAA tournament this year.
Obviously, that is amazing just having the tradition and being 56-0 at home is amazing. We are
focused one game at a time from this point on. I think we are just worried about Liberty and just
play our game as well.”

On being in big stage game, being a team leader and playing within the system:

Jaime Nared:
“No, I would not say that at all. I think if we play our game we will be fine. Obviously, we are
watching film on them. We understand that they are a good rebounding team. We know that
everybody wants to win at this point. Us, everybody on our team, every team in country, and
every team is going to compete in every game, so I would not say its consciously doing too much.
I think everybody on our team wants one, and I think we are going to do what it takes to win.”

On how nice getting a break to recover is before the NCAA tournament starts:

Jaime Nared:
“It’s been good. Time heals a lot of things. Just taking time off and letting your body heal. Getting
good rest has been really good, especially as a women’s team. I know the men didn’t get a break.
Just getting time to heal our bodies because everyone is banged up at this time of the year, so
getting a break is really nice for us.”

Tennessee Head Coach Holly Warlick Quotes:
On being aware of the best players trying to do too much in big games:

“I think it depends on the situation. We’ve had players do it this year. I think Jaime has felt like
she’s had to do a lot. Mercedes has done that a lot, but our success has come from playing as a
whole on the floor. When we play together, we are outstanding. We’ve talked about these
underclassmen listening to the seniors because they’ve played in the tournament. We’ve also
talked about these seniors needing help from the underclassmen, so it kind of goes hand in hand.
We’re just asking our kids to do what you do best, not something you aren’t good at, just do what
you do best.”

On what Liberty point guard, Ashtyn Baker, brings to the table with her speed:

“You just said it, she’s outstanding. She’s been a great leader for her basketball team. She’s quick
with the ball, gets to the paint and makes sure players get the ball when they need it. I think she’s
had an outstanding year. To be a freshman on a young team with some experience is
outstanding.”

On importance of keeping the home streak:

“We really have not talked about that. We are excited to be playing at home, but does that
guarantee us to win? Absolutely not. But it should give us an advantage to be able to sleep in
your own bed and play in your own arena. I think Jaime said it best, they did not know about the
streak until now, so I appreciate you reminding them about it. I have tried to avoid it a little bit. I
will say that this group has really been good at taking one game at a time, and that is what we
talk about. We do not talk ahead of what we want to do, and where we are going to be. We have
really, truly focused on staying in the moment, and that has helped us so much, especially for the
young players. Our seniors have made sure that we stay in the moment and we don’t get ahead
of our self. It’s a great record, and we have been in every NCAA tournament since the NCAA
started, and we hope we continue that. We are excited. This is the first time we have played at
home in a while, so we are excited about it.”

On if she has crossed paths with Carey Green since he is from the area, and on what she thinks
it means to Coach green being back near his hometown

“Well yeah, I have known Carey since he was at Clemson, and he did a great job there. I saw him
today and I asked, ‘how long have you been at liberty?” Because I thought it was forever, and he
replied, ’19 years.’ And I said, ‘well that’s pretty much forever.’ He loves Liberty, and he does a
great job there. We do cross paths in recruiting, we go to the same events, and sometimes we
look at the same kids, and sometimes we don’t. But he is going to recruit kids to his system, and
we recruit kids to our system, but the bottom line is what you do with the kids once they are
there. He gets them to play, and he gets them to play hard. You mentioned that Liberty was a
great rebounding team, and they are. I think he gets the kids to be what he emphasizes. I don’t
know how many times he’s been in the tournament, I know a lot. I don’t know the exact number,
but they have been quite a bit, and they have one their league quite a bit. I am familiar with him,
and I’m sure he will have a lot of people here to cheer him on.”

On Liberty Head Coach Carey Green being from East Tennessee:

“The bottom line is what you do with these kids once you’ve got them, and he gets them to play
hard. You mentioned being a great rebounding team and they are. I think he gets the kids to be
what he emphasizes. I know he’s been to the NCAA tournament a lot and I know they have won
their league quite a bit. I am familiar with him and I am sure he will have a lot of people here to
cheer him on.”

On the talent in this group of teams:

“I think it’s a result of how good women’s basketball is becoming. You know (John) we lost in the
first round one year. We lost to Ball State and we were really talented, but they worked harder
than us. We’ve won in the first round, we’ve won a national championship. I’ve been in all
situations from getting out early to staying in late. All of these teams-Western Kentucky-you never
count them out. You can never count them out. I know their coach well and I know Scott Rueck at
Oregon State and he has done a great job too. It is difficult. It is difficult. And honestly I’ve kept
my focus on Liberty because I didn’t want to look ahead; because Liberty is just as outstanding as
well. It is a tough first and second round, but I think all of them are getting that way, I do. Two
years ago we went to Arizona State and played Green Bay and Green Bay was outstanding and
so was Arizona State. I think that is where the game is going.”

Knoxville, Tenn.– The Lady Vols will take on the Lady Flames at approximately 2:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2. This is the 37th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for Tennessee.

Tickets: All-session and single-session tickets will go on sale to the general public at 8:30 a.m. on Tues., March 13, at AllVols.com. Youth pricing (high school ages and younger) is available in-person at the ticket office windows during normal business hours or on game day. For more information, call the Tennessee Ticket Office at 865-656-1200.

Ag Campus Parking (Free): Free parking and shuttle service is available on UT’s Ag Campus. Shuttle service begins two hours prior to the tip-off time of the first game of each round and will end one hour following the final game.

Arena Parking ($10): Parking is available closer to the Arena in lots designated on game day. The charge for those lots is $10.

Gate Opening Times: Arena gates will open one hour prior to the tip-off time of the first game.

Arena Dining Closed: The Thompson-Boling Arena dining facility will not be open to the general public during NCAA First and Second Round games.

Clear Bag Policy: A clear bag policy is in effect for visitors to Thompson-Boling Arena. For more information regarding UT’s clear bag policy, please go to //utsports.com/clearbag.

Travel Advisory: Fans travelling to Thompson-Boling Arena via I-40 should be alert for lane closures that will have a significant impact on travel times starting Friday at 8 p.m. and ending Monday at 6 a.m.

-UT Athletics