The Daily Times

Following a conference loss at home this week, Tennessee took the court with new energy and a full-court press to defeat Auburn on Sunday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Lady Vols handed the Tigers an 82-61 loss in which Tennessee dominated the second half on both ends of the court.

“I feel a lot better than I did on Thursday,” Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick said, referring to Tennessee’s upset by South Carolina.

Seniors Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen both recorded double-doubles for Tennessee. Johnson scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Stricklen made 11 points and had 10 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Meighan Simmons scored 13 points for Tennessee, and freshman point guard Ariel Massengale matched Johnson’s team-high with 14 points.

“I liked our focus,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. “We also came out with a lot of energy, and we were able to spread the minutes around.”

Tennessee (17-6, 8-2 SEC) used its full-court press early. Auburn finished the game with 23 turnovers. Auburn coach Nell Fortner saw the Tennessee press when the Lady Vols played them at Auburn on Jan. 1, but Tennessee picked up the tempo for Sunday’s home game, she said.

“The press really hurt us the first half,” Fortner said. “They really got after our point guard.”

The Tigers took an early lead, 12-9, behind the 3-point shooting of Camille Glymph and Blanch Alverson. Glymph scored 13 points for Auburn with 3 of 5 shooting from beyond the arc. In the second half, Tennessee keyed on Auburn’s perimeter game and held them to 1 of 4 shooting from the 3-point line.

Summitt reinforced the point when she benched Simmons near the start of the second half for not guarding Glymph aggressively on the perimeter.

The Lady Vols pulled ahead midway through the first half and pushed the lead to nine when Taber Spani hit a 3 with 5:04 to go. Spani has been out with a bone bruise to her right knee for about a month. She came off the bench for Tennessee on Sunday and scored nine points.

The Lady Vols led the entire second half, but Auburn made a run with 7:39 to go. The Tigers cut Tennessee’s 17-point lead to nine, but the Lady Vols answered with an 11-0 run that included four points from freshman Isabelle Harrison.

It was a familiar story for Fortner and the Tigers (11-13, 3-8).

“We play good for about 34 minutes and then we break down,” Fortner said.

Tyrese Tanner scored 11 points for Auburn. Hasina Muhammad added 10, and no player was in double figures rebounding for Auburn.

Tennessee’s win on Sunday was important for the team, not only after the loss on Thursday, but in preparing for March when NCAA tournaments begin.

“I think the biggest thing going forward is, in the next month, to come together as a team,” Spani said. “We have a month to be united, not only on the court, but off the court.

“It’s not all about how you finish. It’s about how you end. It’s about the month of March and the results.”

You must be logged in to Facebook to comment. If you're not logged in to Facebook, a login window will open when you click "comment". Or you can log in now. You may need to refresh your page after logging in via that link.