All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee Lady Vols dominate No. 25/23 Texas A&M 73-45: Three takeaways

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee guard Jordan Horston (25) shoots a free throw during a game between Tennessee and Texas A&M at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2021.Kns Lady Vols Texas A M
Tennessee guard Jordan Horston (25) shoots a free throw during a game between Tennessee and Texas A&M at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2021.Kns Lady Vols Texas A M /
facebooktwitterreddit

In just their second game with Rae Burrell and Jordan Horston both playing, the Tennessee Lady Vols showed how dominant they could be. Ranked No. 7 in the AP Poll and No. 8 in the Coaches Poll, Kellie Harper’s team beat their third opponent on the year currently ranked in the top 25, the Texas A&M Aggies, who are No. 25 in the AP Poll and No. 23 in the Coaches Poll.

UT didn’t just beat Gary Blair’s team. They dominated, winning 73-45 despite being outscored in the first quarter 21-20. They actually had a 16-8 lead in the first. However, UT used a 9-0 run from the end of the first into the second to take the lead for good and at one point had a 15-2 run. Their dominance continued the rest of the way.

With the win, Rocky Top improves to 14-1 and 3-0 in SEC play with their next game set for Sunday at the Ole Miss Rebels. Texas A&M falls to 10-4 and 0-2 in the SEC with their next game set for the same day against the Florida Gators. Here are three things we learned from the Tennessee Lady Vols’ victory.

1. Jordan Horston shouldered a huge burden.

Defense, three-point shooting and rebounding are what carried UT to such a blowout victory. However, in just her second game back, Jordan Horston remained the star. She wasn’t highly efficient, going 7-of-23 from the field, but she scored 18 points by going 2-of-5 from the three-point line and hitting both free throw attempts.

Horston also led the team with 13 rebounds, five of which were offensive rebounds a huge reason UT won the rebound game 56-39. She dominated on the interior in other ways as with two blocks, and she also had four assists and a steal. Simply put, she did it all.

2. Scoring outside of Horston was by-committee.

It was truly a team effort. Although Horston was the only player on the team with double figures, the Tennessee Lady Vols had lots of other players in general step up. They were helped by going 7-of-19 from the three-point line and 6-of-8 from the free throw line.

Once again coming off the bench, Rae Burrell was the story of these players. She was 1-of-5 from three, but she still had nine points, going 4-of-11 from the field overall. Jordan Walker also had nine points with one three. Tess Dary was 2-of-4 from three with six points, and Sara Puckett hit a three and had seven points. Tamari Key’s nine points leads to our next takeaway.

3. Tamari Key dominated down low…again.

This is a consistent story, but here, it really rings true. Tamari Key hit all four of her attempts from the field, which is how she was able to get nine points. Her only issue was missing two of her three free throw attempts, and just one would have secured a double-double.

That double-double would have been in the form of blocks. She had an amazing 11 on the night and was the catalyst for the Tennessee Lady Vols dominating offensively. Key, for the most part, was her usual self, and with Burrell getting healthy, she is doing exactly what she needs to be doing, so watch out for how dangerous this team can be going forward.