NORFOLK, Va. – Tennessee coach Pat Summitt has seen just about everything in her career. She still takes delight in the success of her freshmen.
Meighan Simmons scored 14 points and No. 9 Tennessee cruised past Old Dominion 74-44 on Sunday in Norfolk, closing the first half with a full-court press that fueled a 30-14 run.
“It’s been pretty amazing to see a freshman that is just fearless and just loves the game,” Summitt said. “Did I think Meighan would come in and be a freshman and start? No. I thought, ‘It’ll take her a while.’ It didn’t take me long to figure out we didn’t need a while.
“We needed yes,” Summitt said, “right now.”
Tennessee (8-1) led 40-22 at halftime after holding Old Dominion (3-3) almost 3 minutes without a basket during its big run. The Lady Monarchs opened the second half with more energy but still struggled from the field, shooting just 31.6 percent and going 4-for-21 on 3-pointers.