Furman Furman/Tennessee Tennessee Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

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Saturday, Mar. 18 7:30pm ET
UT holds Furman to 20.3 percent shooting

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee coach Pat Summitt had a hard time finding something to fault Saturday.

"We had great intensity at both ends," she said after Semeka Randall scored 17 points and the top-seeded Lady Volunteers used record-setting defense to beat Furman 90-38 in a NCAA Mideast regional first-round game.

"Our defensive intensity was very strong."

The Lady Vols held Furman to 20.3 percent shooting (13-of-64) -- the lowest field goal percentage in the 19-year history of the NCAA tournament.

Tennessee, ranked second at the end of the regular season, broke out early and never let the Southern Conference champions catch up, holding the Lady Paladins to the fewest points in coach Sherry Carter's 18 seasons.

With eight minutes left in the first half, the Lady Vols (29-3) were up 34-4 and Furman (20-11) had managed to make only one field goal in 20 attempts.

A Randall layup gave Tennessee a 50-14 halftime lead.

Tennessee kept the pressure up in the second half, holding Furman to a single field goal for nearly 12 minutes.

"We sat at two points for 12 to 13 minutes, and at that point I felt like we were going to have a hard time getting back in the game," Carter said. "Even though we were taking shots, they just weren't falling."

Tennessee's largest lead, 87-23, came on a layin by Kyra Elzy with 4:23 remaining.

Randall was one of four Lady Vols in double figures. Catchings had 14 points and 14 rebounds, Gwen Jackson had 14 points and Kara Lawson added 10.

"It's postseason, so we need to take our defense to another level," Randall said. "It's postseason so it's a new chapter for us as a basketball team."

Torrie Scott led the Lady Paladins with 10 points on 3-of-14 shooting. Jackie Smith, the team's leading scorer -- averaging 18 points -- was held to five points.

Tennessee scored 29 points off 21 Furman turnovers and shot 53 percent (32-of-60) for the game.