GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Lady Vols are off to a strong start in the 2025 Women's Basketball SEC Tournament.

9-seed Tennessee got its trip started with a 77-37 win over 16-seed Texas A&M on Wednesday to open the event.

This snapped a two-game skid for the Lady Vols (22-8) after falling on the road to Kentucky and at home to Georgia the previous week.

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The win over the Aggies (10-19) came behind a return to dominating on defense. Kim Caldwell's press caused fits for Texas A&M all morning, resulting in 32 turnovers for 37 points.

This played into the least amount of points scored all season by a Tennessee opponent. The Lady Vols' previous most points given up were 50 to Winthrop, UT Martin and Western Carolina.

On top of turnovers, the Aggies shot 26.5% from the field and 6.7% on 4-pointers.

On offense, it was Talaysia Cooper leading the way. She put up 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field. She also contributed eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. This resulted in a +/- of +39 in 23 minutes.

Behind Cooper, Jewel Spear, Zee Spearman and Samara Spencer all reached double figures.

It was another poor start for Tennessee. Against the lowest seed in the tournament, the Lady Vols fell into a 13-11 hole after the first quarter.

This came largely due to inefficiency from the field and a lack of consistent offense. Tennessee shot 4-for-21 from the field in the frame with Spear's five points leading the charge.

The second quarter went much smoother. Tennessee outscored the Aggies by 15 points in the frame while holding Texas A&M to just six points.

The press was often too much for the Aggies to handle and the Lady Vols made the most of it on the other end. By the half, 15 Texas A&M turnovers resulted in 13 points for Tennessee.

The Lady Vols built a 32-19 lead after 20 minutes behind Spencer's eight points. She drilled two 3-pointers in the first half.

The third quarter saw things swing even harder in the direction of Tennessee. The Lady Vols won the third by 19 points while holding the Aggies to just nine points.

Tennessee did this by suffocating Texas A&M in the back court. The Lady Vols forced 25 turnovers resulting in 27 points through three frames.

With a demanding 32-point lead with 10 minutes to play, Tennessee continued to coast. This was until a little under seven minutes remained where the Lady Vols called off the dogs.

Walk-on Edie Darby got on the floor and Caldwell called off her press that she typically instills for 40 minutes a game. Throughout the rest of the quarter, all 14 active players saw the floor.

The result was a 40-point win to open the tournament.

With Tennessee's win, it'll survive to play in the second round of the event. The Lady Vols will now square off with 8-seed Vanderbilt at 11 a.m. ET on SEC Network.

The last time Tennessee played the Commodores was a loss. The Lady Vols went to Nashville and fell at the buzzer, 71-70, on Jan. 19. Cooper led Tennessee in scoring with 22 points on 10-for-22 shooting from the field.

Winner of that game goes on to play 1-seed South Carolina in the quarterfinals. That game will be played at noon ET on ESPN on Friday.

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