No. 15 Lady Vols use balance, 14 of 28 on 3s to roll past Auburn 99-61

Updated Feb. 13, 2025 8:54 p.m. ET

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jewel Spear scored 17 points, Ruby Whitehorn added 15 in a balanced attack and No. 15 Tennessee pulled away from Auburn for a 99-61 win on Thursday night.

Zee Spearman added 14 points, Kaniya Boyd had 11 and Talaysi Cooper 10 for the Lady Vols (18-6, 5-6 Southeastern Conference).

Tennessee shot 56%, going 14 of 28 from 3-point range. Spear had five 3s, three in a 17-0 run over the last half of the fourth quarter.

Deyona Gatson had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers (12-13, 3-9), who were 2 of 8 on 3-pointers and shot 43% overall while going just 11 of 20 from the foul line. Yuting Deng added 13 points. Auburn had 21 turnovers that turned in 22 points.

Auburn shot 53% in the first quarter, with Deng scoring 10 points, and only trailed 22-20. Tennessee, which closed the first quarter with five points from Whitehorn in the last minute, scored the first six of the second for a 28-20 lead on a Whitehorn jumper.

The Lady Vols hit 3 of 5 3-pointers and 11 of 15 shots in the second quarter, outscoring the Tigers 28-14 to lead 50-34 at the half. Auburn was 4 of 11 in the second quarter.

Auburn never got closer than 11 in the third quarter, which ended at 71-52.

Ole Miss is at Tennessee on Sunday when Vanderbilt is at Auburn.

___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

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