KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee women’s basketball team wrapped up preseason play in style Wednesday night, cruising to a 148-48 win over Columbus State in an exhibition game at Food City Center.

Second-year coach Kim Caldwell’s No. 8 Lady Vols were expected to comfortably handle a Columbus State team that was ranked No. 24 in the preseason NCAA Division II poll, and they did. A reshaped roster loaded with high-profile signees and transfer portal pickups took a few minutes to get going, but a 24-0 run (in less than four minutes) gave Tennessee a 29-5 lead with 3:34 left in the first quarter, and a trio of second-quarter runs pushed the lead to 65-25 at the break.

Tennessee stayed on the accelerator to open the second half, outscoring Columbus State 44-12 in the third quarter to extend t

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