Ruby Whitehorn was relentless.
She crashed the offensive glass. She was constantly moving off the ball and making cuts. She was a flurry of activity every second she was on the court. The junior guard didn’t let early mistakes get to her. Whitehorn kept working.
By halftime of Lady Vols basketball’s matchup with UT Martin, Whitehorn logged a double-double.
Whitehorn scored a game-high 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting to lead Tennessee to a 90-50 win over UT Martin (0-2) at Food City Center on Thursday.
The Skyhawks didn’t make it an easy win, though. They matched Tennessee’s physicality and the game got chippy at times. But the Lady Vols (2-0) won the possession battle by a wide margin and took 84 shots compared to UTM’s 45 attempts.
The Lady Vols cleaned up their rebounding, doubling UT Martin’s production on the boards 26-13 in the first half. Tennessee ended up outrebounding the Skyhawks 54-28 and scored 32 second-chance points off 33 offensive rebounds.
UT Martin deployed a full-court press of its own, though it hardly gave Tennessee much trouble.
Jewel Spear was a consistent presence for the Lady Vols and led them in 3-point shooting. The senior guard went 3-for-9 from deep and logged 13 points.
Alyssa Latham looked improved even from Tuesday’s season-opening win. She was excellent in the full-court press and on the boards on both ends. The sophomore forward finished with six points, four rebounds, three steals and an assist in 13 minutes.
Tennessee struggled at times with its transition defense, particularly in the third quarter when UTM scored 17 points, the most of any quarter. But the Lady Vols’ defensive pressure overall got them the results they wanted – 31 UTM turnovers, which they scored 48 points off of.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her atcora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
