No. 4 Lady Vols defeat South Carolina 82-60

Thursday, February 17, 2011

photo Tennessee's Alicia Manning (15) drives past South Carolina's Courtney Newton (22) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 in Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee won 82-60. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

KNOXVILLE - Reserve Alicia Manning scored a career-high 22 points and No. 4 Tennessee beat South Carolina 82-60 on Thursday night, extending its winning streak in the series to 40 straight.

Manning hit a 3-pointer to cap an early 17-2 run that gave the Lady Vols a 21-7 lead with 10:07 left in the first half. After going 8:12 without hitting a field goal, South Carolina got back-to-back 3s by Markeshia Grant and a layup from Ieasia Walker to cut Tennessee's margin to 21-5.

The Gamecocks got one point closer a few minutes later off a three-point play by Walker. Another Manning 3 pushed Tennessee's lead back into double digits with 1:32 to go before halftime, and the Lady Vols (25-2, 13-0 Southeastern Conference) pulled away quickly in the second half.

Walker scored 16 points for South Carolina (15-11, 7-6), which hasn't beaten Tennessee since Jan. 23, 1980.