Zee Spearman, Mia Pauldo lead No. 20 Tennessee women over Arkansas 85-50 for fifth straight victory

Audio By Carbonatix

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Zee Spearman had 20 points, freshman Mia Pauldo scored 18 and No. 20 Tennessee upped its winning streak to five with an 85-50 victory over Arkansas on Sunday.

Spearman made 8 of 16 shots with two 3-pointers, grabbing eight rebounds for the Lady Volunteers (12-3, 4-0 Southeastern Conference). Pauldo had three 3-pointers on 7-for-16 shooting with four assists.

Janiah Barker added 13 points and Jaida Civil totaled 12 points and six rebounds for Tennessee.

Jada Bates had 13 points and nine rebounds to pace the Razorbacks (11-8, 0-4), who have lost five in a row. Ashlynn Chlarson added 10 points and seven boards.

Pauldo and Nya Robertson sank back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a game-opening 23-9 run. Pauldo had a layup with 14 seconds left and Tennessee led 29-18 after one quarter.

Spearman had 12 points by halftime and Barker scored 10 as the Lady Volunteers extended their advantage to 43-30. Tennessee shot 42% from the floor but just 29.4% in the second quarter — and missed 16 of 20 attempts from 3-point range. Arkansas shot 31.3% and missed 8 of 11 from distance. The Razorbacks had 15 first-half turnovers, leading to 17 Tennessee points.

Pauldo began the third quarter with a three-point play and her twin sister Mya Pauldo buried a 3-pointer with 3:09 left to give the Lady Vols their largest lead to that point at 58-37. The advantage grew to 26 before Danika Galea had the only basket in the final minute to cut it to 65-41 heading to the fourth.

Tennessee beat Arkansas for a seventh straight time and leads the series 37-5, including a 19-2 record at home.

Arkansas: At Missouri on Thursday.

Tennessee: At Alabama on Sunday.

___

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.