Tennessee forward Cierra Burdick (11) gets a rebound over Lipscomb guard Danay Fothergill (10) during their game in Nashville on Dec. 7, 2014.NASHVILLE – Fourteenth-ranked Tennessee enjoyed a bit of a home-crowd backing to earn its first road victory of the season, 85-51 at Lipscomb.
Cierra Burdick and Isabelle Harrison came off the bench to score 16 points apiece, leading the Lady Vols (6-2) to their second straight win. UT had dropped out of the top 10 with consecutive losses at in-state UT-Chattanooga and at No. 4 Texas.
“We talked a lot about playing with energy,” Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick said. “We’ve got the talent, we just have to play with that kind of heart as we did today.”
Harrison, in her second game back after a knee sprain, was playing in her hometown. Freshman Alexa Middleton, from nearby Murfreesboro, Tennessee, added 12 points and also was in the wave of subs that helped spark a 26-0 run after Lipscomb (2-6) led briefly 3-2.
“We needed that for sure,” Burdick said. “It was a great environment, especially with three of our players being from (middle) Tennessee. It was good to come here and kind of have a home-court advantage on the road.”