The Tennessee Lady Vols

Despite freshman Solè Williams’ season-high scoring effort, the Texas A&M women’s basketball team was unable to take advantage of it as they lost 75-66 to the Tennessee Lady Vols inside Food City Center on Thursday.

With 20 points on 8 of 12 (66.7%) field goal shooting, including 4 of 6 (66.7%) from long range, Williams led the Aggies.

In 16 minutes, Janiah Barker scored 12 points, pulled down 4 rebounds, and made 2 steals. Sahara Jones contributed three assists, four rebounds, and ten points. Eight points, five rebounds, and five steals were scored by Aicha Coulibaly.

The Aggies, who came into the contest with a +9.8 rebounding advantage, were on the losing end of a large difference for the second straight game. Texas A&M was defeated by the Lady Vols 44-29.

The umpires’ whistles helped Tennessee (17-10, 10-5 SEC), as Lauren Ware and Barker each received their fourth foul of the match at 6:41 in the third quarter. Together, they play 54.1 minutes a game on average, but on Thursday, they only played 35 minutes. The Lady Vols scored 14 points out of 17 (82.4%) after taking advantage of a significant lapse in trips to the charity stripe. Texas A&M (18-10, 6-9 SEC) did not attempt a free throw in the first half and was 5-of-7 (71.4%) at the foul line.

In the first quarter, Texas A&M’s defense had trouble keeping Tennessee in check. 50.0% (9 of 18) of the Lady Vols’ shots were made from the field, with 60.0% (3 of 5) coming from 3-point range. The Maroon & White held the game close until the last 4:34 of the game, when UT defeated the Aggies 11–4.

At 4:22 into the second quarter, Tennessee had stretched its lead to 32 points, but Jones responded with seven points in 91 seconds, cutting the gap to 32 points with 2:29 remaining before halftime. The Lady Vols led 36-29 going into the locker room after scoring the final four points of the half.

Williams, halfway through the third quarter, kept Texas A&M in the game. At 6:16, Tennessee had widened the lead to 47-34 before Williams scored all of the Aggies’ points in an 11-2 run. She scored three straight 3-pointers, and then finished with a layup to cut UT’s lead to 49-45. After the Lady Vols answered with an 11-2 run of their own, Tennessee led 60-49 going into the last break after Coulibaly hit a basket at the buzzer.

At 5:41, the Lady Vols’ lead had grown to 70-52 before the Aggies mounted one more rally. With 2:33 left in the game, Barker and Jones combined for all the points in a 9-0 run, blowing the UT lead to 70-61. The next five points from Tennessee put the game out of reach.

On Sunday, March 3, at 2:00 p.m., the Aggies will play Alabama on Senior Day at Reed Arena.