AP NEWS

MARTIN, Tenn. -- Ashley McElhiney tried to pass the glory off to her teammates, again.

The senior point guard set the Vanderbilt career record for assists Sunday, in helping the No. 8 Commodores to a 101-77 victory over Tennessee-Martin.

McElhiney finished with 15 points and 13 assists, giving her 526 in her career and breaking Ginger Jared's record of 516.

"I'm not really a big stats person," McElhiney said. "But it's exciting to break the record. You have to have teammates to do it, though. I've had great teammates to pass it to."

McElhiney nearly had a double-double by halftime, with 11 points and nine assists, as the Commodores (7-1) took a 60-31 lead.

"I knew she had a good sense of the game, good court knowledge," first-year Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. "She's doing exactly what I'm expecting from her."

Tennessee-Martin (3-6) was playing its second game in as many days, following a triple-overtime victory against North Carolina-Asheville, and fatigue might have come into play.

Vanderbilt led 12-2 less than three minutes in and went up 34-13 with 10:20 remaining on a layup by Tia Battle. McElhiney's feed on the basket gave her the record-setting assist.

The Commodores' biggest lead was 77-39 with 14:45 remaining. Tennessee-Martin outscored Vanderbilt 38-24 the rest of the way.

"When we were down 29 at halftime, we wanted to come back out and pretend it was 0-0," Tennessee-Martin coach Gary Van Atta said. "They subbed a lot in the second half, and we started scoring and got on a roll. I thought our kids did a good job."

Chantelle Anderson scored 27 points for Vanderbilt, Jenni Benningfield had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Hillary Hager added 12 points.

Amy Watson had 20 points to lead the Skyhawks, with Danielle Page adding 13, Jenny Lanom 11 and Tiffany Brundige 10.