The No. 19 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols continued their undefeated start to the season in historic fashion with a 139-59 win over North Carolina Central. In the 80-point victory, they made 30 3-pointers to set a new Division I record for men or women. The 30 3s are also more than any NBA or WNBA team has ever made in a game.
The previous NCAA Division I record for women was 28, set by Western Illinois in 2018. Likewise, the men’s Division I record was 28, set by both Troy in 1994 and Wyoming in 2021.
Now 8-0, Tennessee’s Kim Caldwell is off to the best start in program history for a coach in their first season. Caldwell, who was the Sun Belt Coach of the Year last season after guiding Marshall to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1997, has brought her unique style to Knoxville.
The Lady Vols press all game long — they were still doing so up my more than 70 late in the second half on Saturday — make hockey-style line changes and, of course, launch 3-pointers. They entered Saturday first in the country at 36.9 attempts per game, three more than any other school. That they hadn’t been making many — 247th in the country at 28.7% from downtown — did not affect their confidence against NCCU.
It took just 16 seconds for the Lady Vols to get their first 3-pointer on the board, as Samara Spencer laced one off the pass from Ruby Whitehorn. They never looked back. Spencer was particularly impressive, as she hit a deep buzzer beater to end the first half and went 9 of 13 from downtown en route to 33 points. Her nine 3s set an individual program record.
As time wound down in the fourth quarter, it was a race against the clock for the Lady Vols to break the single-game 3-point record. Finally, with just over two minutes to play, Destinee Wells took care of business with a confident stroke from the top of the key that got the bench jumping. Wells added another for good measure on the next possession to push the total to 30.
Of the 12 Lady Vols who played on Saturday, nine of them hit a triple. Spencer led the way with nine, while Tess Darby and Talaysia Cooper each added five. As a team they shot 30 of 63, good for 47.6%.
In addition to their 3-point record, the Lady Vols’ 139 points set a new school record and their 80-point margin of victory was the fourth-biggest in school history.
Tennessee will look to keep this momentum going on Wednesday when they travel west to take on in-state rivals Memphis. That game is set for 8:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN News.
