KNOXVILLE — It had been a while since the Tennessee women’s basketball team started a fourth quarter with a chance to cruise.
Having created that opportunity for themselves Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena, the Lady Volunteers were able to keep their foot on the accelerator on the offensive end of the court, thanks to the resolve of their reserves.
Janiah Barker scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Talaysia Cooper added 17 points and four steals, and the bench kept the points coming late as No. 22 Tennessee rolled past Missouri, 98-53, in a Southeastern Conference matchup that got out of hand quickly.
Barker shot 9-of-16 from the field and 2-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc for the Lady Vols (16-6, 8-2 SEC), who had lost three of their past four games — including 93-50 at No. 3 South Carolina on Sunday, a week after a 96-66 blowout at Connecticut — and needed overtime for the lone victory in that stretch.
Tennessee second-year head coach Kim Caldwell, who four days earlier said she felt like her team quit after falling behind at South Carolina, was glad to see the Lady Vols in a different light with No. 4 Texas (23-3, 8-3) on the way Sunday.