Tennessee women’s basketball made history on Saturday.
The Lady Vols became the first college, NBA or WNBA team to make 30 threes in a game during their historic 80-point win against North Carolina Central, 139-59.
The 139 points were the most in the program and SEC history.
Associated Press No. 19 Tennessee (8-0), was 30-of-63 (47.6 percent) from long range. Senior guard Samara Spencer, in her first season at Tennessee after transferring from Arkansas, led the Lady Volunteers with a career-high nine threes.
Spencer entered Saturday shooting 43.3 percent on 4.3 three-point attempts per game.
The nine made threes were also a program and SEC record.
Teammate Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee’s leading scoring this season at 20.1 points per game, added 21 points while shooting 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.
The Lady Vols’ bludgeoning of NC Central continued their impressive offensive start to the season.
Tennessee entered Saturday averaging 92.6 points per game, the third-most in the country.
Head coach Kim Caldwell became the first Tennessee women’s basketball coach to begin her career 8-0.
Some might scoff at Tennessee setting the record against lowly NC Central (0-12), which was outscored 37-0 in the second quarter earlier this season against No. 4 LSU (11-0).
But Tennessee isn’t the first team in basketball history to play an overmatched and overwhelmed opponent. Yet it was the first to hit 30 threes.
Its shooting display is a sign of the game’s evolution, where three-pointers are valued at a premium.
That’s been the case for Tennessee under Caldwell. It entered Saturday first in Division I in three-point attempts per game (36.9).
While it will face much stiffer competition in the SEC, its historic win should still be a confidence booster.
The Lady Vols ranked 249th in three-point percentage (28.7 percent) before Saturday’s game.
“Day in and day out, we work on our three-point shooting,” Spencer said after her career-best game. “It’s just gonna be better when we can finally play good competition in the SEC.”
The way Tennessee played on Saturday, it certainly looks ready for a difficult road ahead.
