Jan 23, 2003
By ELIZABETH A. DAVIS
AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Gwen Jackson scored 18 points and Kara Lawson and reserve Shanna Zolman each added 13 as No. 4 Tennessee beat No. 15 South Carolina 97-78 Thursday night.
The Lady Vols (15-3, 4-0 Southeastern Conference), who beat South Carolina for the 27th straight time, capitalized on the Gamecocks’ 24 turnovers to win their 42nd straight home game against a conference opponent.
Jocelyn Penn, who came in averaging a league-high 27.1 points, led South Carolina (14-4, 2-3) with 26. Cristina Ciocan added 23 points and Petra Ujhelyi had 12.
Tennessee, which never trailed, led by as many as 22 in the second half. The Gamecocks used a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 15, 72-57, with five minutes to go but could never get the deficit into single digits.
Tasha Butts and Shyra Ely each scored 12 points for Tennessee.
Tennessee dominated early and led by 16 after a 13-0 run in the first half. Ely stole passes on two consecutive possessions, leading to a basket by Lawson and a 3-pointer by Butts.
Loree Moore and Butts each converted a three-point play, giving the Lady Vols a 27-11 lead with 10:24 left before halftime.
The game drew a crowd of 4,482, a much smaller attendance than usual due to snow and very cold temperatures. University classes were canceled Thursday.
That ended a streak of the Lady Vols playing in front of a home crowd of at least 5,000 at 169 games. The streak began in 1991.
