Lady Vols rout Arkansas with team record of 3s

Angie Bjorklund got the hint about taking more shots.

Did she ever.

Four days after firing off three attempts against Vanderbilt, Tennessee's freshman forward turned into a human machine gun, squeezing the trigger 20 times and scoring a season-high 29 points in the Lady Vols' 98-55 SEC women's basketball victory over Arkansas Thursday night.

UT coach Pat Summitt certainly was pleased. She had threatened Bjorklund's starting spot if she continued to be a reluctant shooter.

"I don't think she's going to get off 20 shots every night,'' Summitt said, "but she has to hunt shots."

Teammate Candace Parker sounded relieved. She provided capable backup with 24 points. Yet she noted how much difference the Bjorklund swish makes for her.

"I tell Angie all the time, 'When you're hitting, that makes my life a whole lot easier,' '' Parker said.

About the only ones disappointed were those in the announced crowd of 13,270 at Thompson-Boling Arena who were standing and cheering for Bjorklund to finally set the school record for 3-pointers in a game. She hit seven for the third time this season, then missed her final five attempts from behind the arc.

"We've got a lot more games left,'' Bjorklund said. "We'll see if the record comes."

No. 2 Tennessee (17-1, 5-0 SEC) got a lot out of its final game before Monday's showdown with No. 10 Duke in Durham, N.C. Despite missing senior guard Alexis Hornbuckle, who is undergoing a diagnostic test for an undisclosed health issue, and having freshman forward Vicki Baugh sit out the second half because of illness, the Lady Vols had four double-figure scorers and matched the school record for 3-pointers in a game with 13.

Sydney Smallbone scored a season-high 12 points (all on 3-pointers) and Nicky Anosike had 12.

UT amassed a 48-31 rebounding advantage with Anosike grabbing 11 and Alberta Auguste eight.

Auguste, Hornbuckle's replacement, shot 1 for 14 from the floor. Still, the Lady Vols managed 50 percent field goal accuracy on 78 attempts. They roared to an 18-0 start and never broke stride thereafter.

"I was proud that we held them scoreless through the first (media) timeout,'' Parker said.

The feeling, of course, was much different for Arkansas (16-4, 1-4). Senior forward Sarah Pfeifer, who scored a team-high 16 points, described it as "been there, done that."

About all the Lady Razorbacks accomplished was preventing Bjorklund from setting the 3-point record. Interestingly, they were only trying to keep Tennessee from scoring 100 points.

Whatever the case, first-year coach Tom Collen commended guard Kendra Roberts for her ball denial on defense at the end.

"That might have been the 30 most focused seconds of any player on our team all night,'' Collen said. "And I didn't coach her into that, she did it."

With the Lady Razorbacks undersized and outmanned, they went with the odds and a zone defense alignment at the outset. Bjorklund shot down the strategy, nailing five of her treys in the first six minutes.

"I don't think it was an error to play zone,'' Collen said. "But we obviously needed to do a better job of tracking shooters in it."

Bjorklund was implored to be more active. Therefore she was more difficult to track, moving around the perimeter and hitting off the dribble as well.

"Coach was telling me about changing my speeds and making hard cuts,'' Bjorklund said. "Especially when the ball goes inside, get to a spot where the posts can see you."

Bjorklund's shooting ignited a scoring show that featured 24 assists, which tied the single-game season high, and a season-low nine turnovers. The first play set the tone with Auguste taking a high-post feed from Anosike, driving into the foul lane and slipping a nifty pass to Parker for a layup.

Parker described the pace, the ball movement and the scoring from all points on the floor as "Tennessee basketball.''

She dared to say that, at times, "It's beautiful basketball."

It was more than good enough for a Thursday night against Arkansas. But will Tennessee's play be good enough against Duke?

"I'm really excited about how our team is playing," Parker said. "Obviously we'll have a huge test against Duke."