WBB: A&M falls to #12 Tennessee 76-55, now 6-1 in SEC play

Some days, even good teams just don’t have ‘it’.

And while a good team might be able to sneak out a win against a lesser squad on an off-day, it’s nearly impossible to beat a perennial powerhouse like the Tennessee Lady Volunteers when not at your best.

Behind 26 points from SEC preseason player of the year Meighan Simmons, the No. 12 Lady Vols dismantled the No. 15 Aggies 76-55 in front of 7,207 fans at Reed Arena. The loss was A&M’s first during SEC play and first on their home court this season.

Sophomore Courtney Walker led the Aggies with 20 points and senior Karla Gilbert posted her fourth double-double of the year in the losing effort.

“We got beat by the better team today,” said A&M head coach Gary Blair. “They acted like they were a top-10 team. Meighan [Simmons] is now getting into her game and she definitely has my vote for player of the year if she can keep this up.”

From the opening tip, Tennessee dominated A&M and raced out to an early 8-0 lead over the first 4:26 of the game – a stretch that saw the Aggies go 0-for-8 from the field.

As the first half progressed, the shooting woes continued for A&M, allowing the Lady Vols to take a 36-20 advantage to the locker room at the break. The 29% first period performance was the worst opening half in conference play for the Aggies this season.

“We had great looks, but they just weren’t falling,” said A&M point guard Jordan Jones. “Sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce our way, and tonight, it didn’t.”

After the break, A&M showed signs of life as they scored on their first four possessions of the half.

However, Tennessee’s ability to answer each A&M basket with one of their own allowed the Lady Vols to keep the Aggies from going on any sort of substantial run at any point throughout the second period.

“I thought we made a couple of adjustments to start the second half and was doing what we wanted to on offense,” stated Blair. “We started picking them apart, but all of a sudden we couldn’t stop them on the other end.”

While the Lady Vols as a whole were very impressive on Sunday, the performance of Simmons was even better. Simmons, who hails from the San Antonio area, showed why she was picked as preseason SEC player of the year by the league’s coaches in front of a contingent of family and friends.

“This game meant a lot,” said Simmons of being back in her home state. “It shouldn’t matter, but it’s always good to come back home, especially here in my senior season.

“It was a good experience, and I’m glad we were able to get the win today.”

Although Tennessee looked like the much better team on Sunday afternoon, it’s the Aggies that still hold possession of first place in the conference.

And if A&M meets Tennessee again in the SEC Tournament as they did last season, Jones plans on a different result.

“Tennessee came in and had something to prove,” concluded Jones. “They wanted it and came and got it on our floor. But if we see them again, it will be a different story.”