KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- #8 Tennessee secured the outright regular-season SEC championship with an 82-72 victory over #13/15 Texas A&M on Thursday night before 12,213 at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Lady Vols claimed their 17th SEC regular-season crown overall. Senior Kamiko Williams scored a career-high 18 points and classmate Taber Spani scored eight as the duo won their third SEC regular-season crown.
The Lady Vols (23-5 overall, 14-1 SEC) have won 18 of their last 19 games against conference foes dating to last season. That includes a perfect 8-0 mark at home in the SEC contests this year.
First-year head coach Holly Warlick became the second coach in SEC history to win the regular-season title in her first year as a head coach in the league, joining Pokey Chatman, who won it at LSU in 2005.
Tennessee will be the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament which starts on March 6 in Duluth, Ga. The Lady Vols will play the winner of the 8/9 game in the first game of the Third Round on Friday, March 8 at 12 Noon.
Texas A&M, which had won 21 of their last 25 games, fell to 21-8 overall and 11-4 in the SEC.
Meighan Simmons netted 17 for her 17th game in a row in double-figures. Cierra Burdick had her fourth double of the season and second in three games with 15 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
Freshman Bashaara Graves tallied 14 points for her 25th game this season with 10 or more points.
