A 10-0 spurt in the final three minutes Thursday night helped second-ranked Tennessee topple No. 21 DePaul 60-48.
The Lady Vols (15-1), who shot a season-low 36.5 percent on 23 of 63 from the floor, led 50-48 before their decisive run.
“I was proud that our players put themselves in position to win the game,” said De Paul coach Doug Bruno.
“We’re sorry we self-destructed for 90 seconds at the end of the ballgame. I think we just got slipshod in the last 90 seconds.
“Tennessee is by far the most talented team we’ve played.”
Tiffany Woosley converted a key three-point play during the run and led Tennessee’s scoring with 16 points.
Peggy Evans, who also had a three-point play in the final minutes, scored 13 points, while Lisa Harrison added 12 and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
“It was by design,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said, jokingly, of the decisive spurt.
“I think the team really stepped up at the end of the game.”
De Paul (7-5) led most of the first half until Tennessee went ahead 27-25 just before intermission.
Guard Tammy Williams led the Blue Demons in scoring with 13 points.
