Jordan Walker added 11 points and Tess Darby had 10 for the Lady Vols. They will try to advance to a second straight Sweet 16 in the Seattle 3 Region.
The first NCAA tournament ended for Saint Louis (17-18). The Billikens snapped a six-game winning streak that helped them win the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament after starting the season 6-16.
Brooke Flowers led Saint Louis with 17 points, and Kyla McMakin, who followed coach Rebecca Tillett from Longwood as a transfer, added 11. Camree Clegg added 12 off the bench.
The Billikens led twice in the first couple of minutes, the last on a McMakin jumper to make it 4-3. Walker tied the game at 4 with a free throw, then capped off a fast break with a layup that put the Lady Vols within reach with 6:51 left. Darby added a 3, and Horston’s jumper capped an eight-point spurt for Tennessee.
The Lady Vols led by as much as 10 before McMakin knocked in a buzzer-beating 3 that pulled Saint Louis within 20-15 at the end of the first quarter. Flowers hit two free throws to pull Saint Louis within 20-17 to start the second quarter.
Then Tennessee took control, scoring the final 21 points for a 48-24 halftime lead. The Lady Vols scored the first eight of the third and led 67-41 at the end of the quarter. They brushed off the big win, outscoring Saint Louis 28-9 in the fourth with coach Kellie Harper pulling her starters with 6:24 left.
Saint Louis: Billiken’s future looks bright with Tillett picking up where she left off after leading Longwood to the NCAA Tournament a year ago from the Big South. She joined Lisa Bluder (Drake and Iowa) as the only Division I coaches to lead teams from different conferences to tournament titles in consecutive years. This loss was just their second in the last 13 games for a program that last won 11 of 12 in the 1978-79 season. Not bad for a program that was picked to be 12th in the A-10.
Tennessee: The program that has appeared in all 41 NCAA Tournaments improved to 32-2 in the first round. The Lady Vols used their height advantage for a 54-22 scoring edge in the paint. They also took care of the ball with only 10 turnovers and turned the Billikens’ 20 turnovers into 30 points.
Tennessee fielded 15 teams in this NCAA Tournament field. The Lady Vols did not play Iowa State or Toledo. Iowa State, ranked 17th, had its own argument for hosting opening games. The 24th-ranked Lady Vols got the upper hand thanks to playing the nation’s toughest schedule.
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