KNOXVILLE - Mercedes Russell had 15 points and 11 rebounds as the 23rd-ranked Tennessee women's basketball team defeated Arkansas 75-57 on Thursday and gave coach Holly Warlick her 100th career victory.
Warlick improved her career record to 100-28 - a .781 winning percentage - and became the 17th Division I women's coach to earn 100 victories within her first four seasons. After the game, the Lady Vols carried Warlick to midcourt, where they gave her flowers and posed for pictures.
Tennessee (14-8, 5-4 SEC) earned a measure of revenge after a 64-59 defeat at Arkansas on Jan. 14, the first time the Lady Vols had fallen to a team with a losing record since 1979. Tennessee blew an 11-point halftime lead and committed a season-high 24 turnovers that night.
The Lady Vols avoided a repeat performance Thursday by taking better care of the ball. They outscored Arkansas 21-8 in points off turnovers. Arkansas had a 27-9 edge in that statistic in their previous meeting.
Diamond DeShields ended her recent slump by scoring 15 points, Te'a Cooper had 13 and Andraya Carter added 10. DeShields, the Lady Vols' leading scorer, had a combined nine turnovers and five points in the two games leading up to this one.
Jessica Jackson scored 18 points and Devin Cosper had 17 for Arkansas (9-14, 4-6), which lost its fourth straight game.
Tennessee played again without usual starting forward Bashaara Graves, who has a sprained ankle.
Arkansas trailed by 18 points early in the third quarter before clawing its way back into the game with help from Jackson, who had scored 25 points in the Razorbacks' victory over Tennessee. Arkansas also capitalized when Tennessee cooled off from long range. After making six of its first eight 3-point attempts, Tennessee missed 11 of its last 13 shots from beyond the arc.
Arkansas got to within 51-46 on Cosper's 3-pointer with 1:35 left in the third quarter, but Tennessee scored the next nine points and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
The Lady Vols will visit No. 12 Texas A&M on Saturday.