Meighan Simmons poured in 18 points to lead six Tennessee players in
double figures as the 13th-ranked Lady Vols roared past No. 18 Texas
94-75 on Sunday in Austin.
Tennessee (7-1) shot 46.8 percent from the floor and held the
Longhorns to 34.3 shooting in winning for the fourth straight year
against Texas.
Ariel Massengale and Taber Spani had 15 points apiece for Tennessee
and Cierra Burdick and Bashaara Graves scored 14 each. Graves also had
10 rebounds. Jasmine Jones added 10 points and nine rebounds for the
Lady Vols.
Simmons, who is from Cibolo, Texas, about 45 minutes from Austin,
showed the nerves associated with playing before her friends and family
in the opening 10 minutes. But she settled down and spurred the Lady
Vols at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second.
Chassidy Fussell led the Longhorns (6-2) with 31 points. Fussell, a
native of Troy, Tenn., missed the last two games with a head injury. She
was 10 of 10 from the free-throw line on Sunday and recorded the third
30-plus performance of her career and the first for a Longhorn this
season.
Nneka Enemkpali was the only other Longhorn player to score in double
figures with 15 points and eight rebounds. Texas had 17 turnovers to
Tennessee's 12.
Texas shot 25 percent and trailed 45-27 at halftime. The Longhorns
cut the Tennessee lead to 78-68 on Fussell's 3-pointer with 6:57 to play
before the Lady Vols finished the game with a 16-7 run.
Tennessee leads the series against Texas 22-12 and the Lady Vols are
52-17 all-time against Big 12 teams. The victory was Tennessee's third
win this season against a ranked opponent on the road. Tennessee is now
4-0 against ranked teams in 2012.
This was the Lady Vols' first game in two weeks and was Tennessee's
seventh consecutive win after a season-opening loss to Chattanooga.
Texas has lost two of three after starting the season 4-0.
Spani came off the bench to lead the Lady Vols in the first half,
scoring all 15 of her points helped by a 3-for-3 showing from the behind
the 3-point line.