COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Tennessee is tough enough to beat without giving the Volunteers a head start.

South Carolina found that out Friday night after the Volunteers used an 18-0 first-half run to take control on the way to a 92-76 victory over the Gamecocks.

	Tennessee's Tamika Catchings scored 14 points despite having the Lady Gamecocks' defense right in her face.

Tennessee opened with a 9-2 run, then used an 18-0 run midway through the half to lead 34-10 on the way to a 49-31 halftime advantage.

"I was very disappointed in the first 10 minutes of the game," South Carolina coach Susan Walvius said. "It was very difficult to dig out of that hole we put ourselves in. You can't do that against the second-ranked team in the country."

Michelle Snow, who led Tennessee (13-2 overall, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) with 24 points, had five points during the first-half run, then got 17 in the second half to keep South Carolina at bay.

"We've got a great size advantage, and Michelle is working to get the ball," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "We did a better job in the second half of getting in front of the defender."

South Carolina (10-5, 0-2) used a 12-2 run midway through the second half, closing within 61-52 after two free throws by Jocelyn Penn with 10:54 left. But Tennessee kept feeding the ball to Snow.

"She's got a little step-away turnaround jump shot, and that's very hard to defend," Walvius said. "I really thought our zone would be more effective against that."

The Lady Gamecocks used free throws to stay in touch, hitting 8-of-11 in the second half and 19-of-23 in the game.

"What we've done a good job of this year was not fouling the opponent," Summit said. "Tonight we started fouling. We didn't take charges, we left our feet. I think tonight we sent them to the line a lot more than we normally send teams to the line."

The Lady Vols forced 28 turnovers and hit 57.6 percent of their shots.

Semeka Randall scored 17 points, Kara Lawson had 16 and Tamika Catchings had 14 for the Lady Vols.

Penn a reserve, led South Carolina with 19 points. Shaunzinski Gortman scored 14 points, Kelly Morrone had 12 and Shannon Segres had 10 for the Lady Gamecocks.