KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee ended a two-game skid decisively enough to give its top players an early rest before its toughest challenge of the season.Jaime Nared and Mercedes Russell each scored 16 points despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter Wednesday in the 22nd-ranked Lady Volunteers 86-36 blowout of Tennessee State.Diamond DeShields also got to rest for most of the fourth quarter as the Lady Vols (4-2) tuned up for Sundays home game with No. 4 Baylor.It was just a good little opportunity for us to come out and make it strictly about us, DeShields said. We knew we were the better team tonight. We knew we were going to win by a lot of points, but honestly it wasnt even about that. It was just about us.When youre playing a Baylor, you dont have as many opportunities to make mistakes. Everythings got to be flowing the right way if you want to come out on top of a team like that, so for us I think it was just important for everybody to work on whats been going wrong the last two games.The Lady Vols were back home for the first time since Nov. 13 after going 1-2 during a three-game road stretch that included consecutive losses to Penn State and Virginia Tech.Tennessee utilized its height advantage to avoid its first three-game losing streak since February 1986. The Lady Vols outrebounded Tennessee State 61-38 and outscored the Lady Tigers 48-12 in the paint.We didnt play anywhere near the way were capable of playing, and I give Tennessee all the credit, Tennessee State coach Larry Joe Inman said. When we say `tall order, literally they were a tall order.Nared and DeShields each posted double-doubles, with Nared having 16 points and 10 rebounds while DeShields added 15 points and 10 rebounds.Kortney Dunbar had 13 points and nine rebounds. Alexa Middleton had nine points and 11 assists. Schaquilla Nunn added eight points and 15 rebounds.Maxine Beard scored seven points to lead Tennessee State (1-5).THE TAKEAWAYTennessee State: The Lady Tigers continued their shooting slump by going 5 of 22 from 3-point range and 8 of 43 from inside the arc. Tennessee State is shooting 35.3 percent overall and 26.1 percent from 3-point range amid a grueling early-season schedule featuring plenty of teams from bigger conferences. Tennessee States five losses have come against Xavier, Oklahoma State, UNLV, Wisconsin and Tennessee.Tennessee: The Lady Vols responded to their two-game skid by shuffling the lineup. Sophomore guard Meme Jackson made her first career start for Tennessee and Nunn was back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench for two of Tennessees last three games. They replaced the injured Reynolds as well as Middleton, who moved into a reserve role.INJURY NEWSTennessee was playing without usual starting point guard Jordan Reynolds, who hurt her hamstring Sunday at Virginia Tech. Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick expressed confidence that Reynolds would be available Sunday against Baylor.Tennessee State played without injured guard/forward Imani Davis, who was averaging 11.7 points per game.HONORING GATLINBURGTennessee participated in pregame warmups wearing special T-shirts with the word Gatlinburg over the Lady Vols logo to honor victims of the wildfires that have killed seven people and have destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses in the Great Smoky Mountains area.Warlick said she spoke this week with Lisa McGill Reagan, a Lady Vol from 1976-79 who lost her home in the fire.Ive lived here pretty much all my life and Ive never seen anything so devastating thats close to home, Warlick said.NEXT UPTennessee State: At Lipscomb on Dec. 11.Tennessee: Hosts No. 4 Baylor on Sunday. Cheap Custom Patriots Jersey . 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Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Dabo Swinney has mastered winning close games during his tenure at Clemson. Saturdays victory over Florida State might be the sweetest of all.The third-ranked Tigers rallied to beat the No. 12 Seminoles 37-34 and won for the first time in 10 years at Doak Campbell Stadium.It is the fifth win by seven points or fewer this season for Clemson (8-0, 5-0 ACC) and gives it a 16-2 record in nine seasons under Swinney when winning by less than a touchdown.Im glad to finally walk into this room and be happy. Its been a long time coming, Swinney said. We had a couple of lulls, but when we needed to make plays we got them.The win extends Clemsons regular season winning streak to 22 games and gives it consecutive victories over Florida State (5-3, 2-3) for the first time since winning three in a row from 2005-07.The win also likely assures the Tigers of being in the top four when the first College Football Playoff rankings are released on Tuesday. Clemson is trying to make the playoff for the second straight season after losing to Alabama in last years national championship game.For the second straight year, Deshaun Watson played a large role in the win as he had 430 yards of total offense.The junior completed 27 of 43 passes for 378 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. His 34-yard pass to Jordan Leggett and 2-point conversion with 2:06 remaining gave Clemson the lead. Watson also had 52 yards rushing on 17 carries, and Leggett had 122 yards on five receptions.It was just a great play call. Weve seen it all game and called it at the right time, said Watson of the TD to Leggett. Its a special win. Its hard to win here against these guys.It is the second straight game Watson has had over 400 yards of offense against Florida State -- he had 404 last year in a 23-13 victory. He is also the first quarterback to beat Florida State in consecutive seasons since Oklahomas Landry Jones in 2010-11.Wayne Gallman led Clemsons rushing attack with 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns .Florida State was able to drive into Clemson territory with under a minute left but could only get to the Tigers 34. The Seminoles self-destructed due to penaltties and Deondre Francois (17 of 35 for 169 yards with a touchdown and interception) was sacked on the final two plays.dddddddddddd.FSU fell short despite Dalvin Cooks career-high four touchdowns. The junior had 136 of his 169 yards rushing in the second half and had two touchdown runs of 40-plus yards.Dalvin had another great game. Ive seen him play a lot of good ones. He had space and he outran angles, Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. Theyre going to throw haymakers, were going to throw haymakers. We battled back but unfortunately we came up short.Cook, who leads Power 5 backs in rushing, has gone over 1,000 yards three straight seasons and needs 192 yards break Warrick Dunns school career record of 3,959 yards.They were giving us what we wanted all game, Cook said. We tried to establish the passing game early and the running game opened up in the second half.THE TAKEAWAYClemson: With wins over Louisville and Florida State, the Tigers have a firm grip on the Atlantic Division, but Swinney isnt claiming victory just yet. He said after the game that weve got two hands on the steering wheel, but we didnt win it.Florida State: The Seminoles were penalized 13 times for 111 yards. One of those calls was a chop block on Freddie Stevenson on what would have been a long Cook run deep into Clemson territory during the fourth quarter. Fisher was not pleased with that call or a targeting penalty that led to the ejection of Tre Marshall. I will tell you what, you hold coaches accountable, you hold players accountable, hold the damn officials accountable, Fisher said.POLL IMPLICATIONSClemson will most likely remain ranked third and will be in the top four when the first College Football Playoff rankings are released on Tuesday. Florida State will fall but it might not be far after rallying but falling short.UP NEXTClemson: The Tigers return home to face Syracuse.Florida State: The Seminoles travel to North Carolina State.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.orgFollow Joe Reedy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/joereedy ' ' '