Lady Vols hold off Texas A&M, 86-77, in SEC semis

Saturday, March 8, 2014

photo Tennessee-Martin players celebrate after beating Belmont in their NCAA basketball game in the championship of the Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball tournament on Saturday, March 8, 2014, in Nashville. Tennessee-Martin won 78-66.

DULUTH, Ga. - Isabelle Harrison had 20 points and 13 rebounds and No. 6 Tennessee held off No. 15 Texas A&M 86-77 on Saturday to earn a spot in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game.

Tennessee (26-5) will play No. 12 Kentucky for the SEC title on Sunday. Kentucky beat No. 5 South Carolina 68-58 in Saturday's first semifinal.

Meighan Simmons had 15 points and Bashaara Graves had 14 for Tennessee.

Courtney Walker led Texas A&M with 26 points. Courtney Williams added 22, but the high-scoring sophomores were not enough to beat the Lady Vols.

Texas A&M (24-8), the defending champion, led by 10 points in the first half but couldn't match Tennessee's inside game. The Lady Vols took a 48-26 advantage in rebounds and scored 50 points in the paint.