Tennessee: Fuller leads UT past USC

KNOXVILLE — Alex Fuller's new uniform is a little snug, but she doesn't mind.

“I can deal with it,” she said.

The Tennessee Lady Volunteer senior forward donned the No. 2 jersey in Sunday afternoon's 68-56 victory over South Carolina in honor of teammate Cait McMahan, who decided to assume the role of student assistant last weekend after continuing knee problems.

Fuller will wear McMahan's jersey for the remainder of the season.

“I decided to do it because Cait means a lot to me in my life,” said Fuller, who had a team-high 14 points for the Lady Vols (14-3, 3-1 SEC). “There’s a lot of heart in the No. 2 jersey.”

Fuller's gesture didn't surprise her coach.

“I think that just speaks to Alex Fuller,” said Pat Summitt, who earned her 997th all-time victory. “She’s all about the team.”

Tennessee freshman guard Shekinna Stricklen added 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Senior guard Brionna Dickerson led the Lady Gamecocks (8-9, 0-4) with 17 points and drained four of nine 3-pointers.

On the strength of Dickerson, South Carolina shot 41.7 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-12) in the first half and led by as many as seven points early on.

“We need a lot more Brionnas,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. “For us she carries a heavy scoring load.”

But Dickerson and the Lady Gamecocks cooled off in the second half as UT's defense clamped down on the perimeter.

“We weren't ready to defend deep, and we needed to,” Summitt said. “I thought they committed to our adjustment at halftime. We thought that was a turning point.”

Summitt added a halftime pep talk just for good measure.

“I told them, ‘Look in the stands and see how many people came to watch you play. It's the biggest stage in women's basketball. Why would you ever not give your all on every possession?’”

Her team was listening.

With a 33-30 lead at halftime, UT held the Lady Gamecocks (8-9, 0-4) without a field goal during a 5-minute stretch early in the second half. The Lady Vols meanwhile went on a 9-0 run to build a 50-34 advantage.

“Everybody had a different mindset in the second half about our defense,” Fuller said.

South Carolina wasn't quite done, though. Freshman guard Lakeisha Sutton sank her third 3-pointer to cut the deficit to seven with 6:12 remaining, but her team wouldn't get any closer.

“We came out willing to fight for 40 minutes,” said Dickerson. “We had our lapses, but that was our mentality — to come out fighting and to come out swinging.”

Tasked with guarding Dickerson, Stricklen played a large part in holding her to three points in the second half.

“I wasn’t working hard enough (in the first half). But in the second half my teammates just carried me, and we came out and stopped (Dickerson) in the second half.”

That didn’t come without a price, though.

Holding an ice pack on her right shoulder and still favoring a bump to the nose, Stricklen could attest to the game's physical play.

But she wasn't complaining.

“I'm still standing,” she said.

Injury update

Sophomore forward Vicki Baugh only saw 3 minutes of playing time in her first game back since suffering a left-knee sprain in practice on Jan. 1. “I just decided I want to make sure she's ready to go,” Summitt said. “Last thing we want is a setback.” … Redshirt freshman Kelley Cain (knee) did not play.