No. 10 Tennessee continues Lone Star road trip at No. 3 Baylor

Tennessee defeated Texas, 94-75 in Austin on Dec. 16. Meighan Simmons scored a team-high 18 points to lead six Lady Vols in double figures. Photos © Robert Franklin, all rights reserved.

After a solid 94-75 victory over Texas Sunday, No. 10 Tennessee (7-1) will try to continue its winning ways in its two-game swing through the Lone Star state Tuesday night. After stopping to practice at Temple College, the Lady Vols continued on Interstate 35 to Waco to face No. 3 Baylor (8-1).

In the game against Texas, guard Meighan Simmons scored a team-high 18 points to lead six Lady Vols in double figures. Tennessee launched a balanced offensive effort. Bashaara Graves had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Ariel Massengale scored 15 points and a dished out a game-high seven assists. Taber Spani had 15 points, Cierra Burdick scored 14 points and Jasmine Jones finished with 10 points off the bench.

Baylor is led by senior Brittney Griner, a 6-8 center averaging 21.6 points and 7.3 boards per game. Junior point guard Odyssey Sims, the current Big 12 Player of the Week, was sidelined for four games with a hamstring injury but returned to action against Notre Dame a week ago. She averages 15.0 points an outing and tallied a season-high 28 points vs. Oral Roberts in the Lady Bears’ last game. Senior guard Jordan Madden leads the squad in assists (39), minutes played (26.8) and steals (16) while averaging 8.9 points and 4.6 rebounds a contest. Forward Brooklyn Pope averages 11.1 points and 4.9 rebounds a game.

Today’s game marks only the seventh meeting between the two programs and the fourth regular-season matchup between the teams. Baylor has claimed the last four meetings in the series, ending Tennessee’s season last year during the NCAA tournament with a 77-58 victory. It was the last Lady Vols game coached by the legendary Pat Summitt.

Baylor has won six straight victories since falling to Stanford, 71-69, at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu on Nov. 16. Tennessee enters the contest on a seven-game winning streak after dropping their opener to Chattanooga, 80-71, on Nov. 9.

While Baylor has all five starters back from it 2011-12 NCAA Championship team, Tennessee lost its entire starting five.