January 17, 2002

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ Kara Lawson scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half and No. 2 Tennessee won its 26th straight over No. 8 South Carolina with an 80-61 victory Thursday night.

Lawson made two free throws and a 3-pointer during a 15-3 run that turned a three-point deficit into a 57-48 lead for the Lady Vols (15-1, 4-0 SEC), who have won their last 28 conference regular-season games.

The Lady Gamecocks (16-2, 4-1) came in with a 12-game winning streak, victories against Vanderbilt and Georgia and had a record crowd of 12,168 at the Carolina Coliseum. And for the first 25 minutes, the fans who filled the place got what they came for.

Teresa Geter’s foul shots gave South Carolina a 45-42 lead, but then the Lady Vols got going.

A breakaway basket by Loree Moore put them ahead for good 47-45. LaToya Davis followed with a similar layup, Lawson hit a long 3-pointer and Michelle Snow had a fastbreak basket to end the run.

Snow, as she did twice last season, capped the victory with a clean dunk at the 1:51 mark that brought the fans who hadn’t left and her Tennessee teammates to their feet.

Snow finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Gwen Jackson had 17 points, among five Lady Vols in double figures.

Jocelyn Penn led the Lady Gamecocks with 19 points, but only two in the last 16 minutes.

South Carolina, helped by the loud, sellout crowd, made nine of its first 12 shots and led 20-10 with 11:10 to go. Tatyana Troina had consecutive 3-pointers during a 10-0 run as Tennessee was 0-for-4 with three turnovers.

But reserve Ashley Robinson had seven points as the Lady Vols came back with a 17-4 surge, closed by Moore’s jumper, to lead 27-24.

Jackson’s final bucket of the half _ she had 14 points and eight rebounds in the period _ gave Tennessee its biggest lead at 35-31.

Then, Gortman made a 3-pointer with 29.3 seconds left for South Carolina to cut the margin to 35-34 at halftime.