The Lady Vols are SEC Champs!
Holly Warlick led the Lady Vols to the SEC title in her first year as a head coach.
Photo by Reed Carringer
KNOXVILLE— The Lady Vols sent seniors Kamiko Williams and Taber Spani out in style on senior night. Tennessee was picked to finish no better than fourth in the SEC in preseason polls, yet clinched the SEC regular season championship with an 82-72 victory over Texas A&M. Williams led Tennessee in scoring with 18 points on 8-13 shooting, and added seven rebounds and three assists. Tennessee’s other senior, Taber Spani, recorded eight points. Meighan Simmons scored 17 points, Burdick 15, Graves 14, and Harrison 10.
Ariel Massengale left the game in the second half with a right knee injury, and Harrison also when down with an injury to the same knee late in the game. The extent of both injuries is not known at this point . Harrison is recovering from surgery on her left knee, and played 15 effective minutes before the injury.
With the victory, Tennessee moved to 14-1 and clinched their third conference title in four years. This was the first with Holly Warlick at the helm, and Aggie head coach Gary Blair had nothing but positive words for Tennessee’s rookie coach, “Folks, the reign at Tennessee isn’t over. Give all the credit to Holly Warlick. She has the toughest job in America (replacing the legendary coach Pat Summitt), and is the right person for the job.”
Here is a slideshow of images from the game and ensuing celebration.
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