In its last outing, the Lady Vols (8-5-4, 3-4-3 SEC) took a 1-0 victory at Vanderbilt, claiming the program’s first road win against the Commodores since 2013 and ending VU’s season-long home undefeated streak. Sophomore Kameron Simmonds found the net for Tennessee off an assist from sophomore Macaira Midgley. In goal, redshirt-sophomore Ally Zazzara made a career-high seven saves which earned her SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Auburn (7-6-5, 3-4-3 SEC) arrives at the tournament on the heels of a 0-0 draw at Georgia.
The Lady Vols own a 13-10-4 advantage in the all-time series against the Tigers. The teams did not meet during the regular season, but Tennessee is riding a two-game win streak against AU. In their last meeting, UT took a 1-0 victory at Auburn on Oct. 20, 2022.
UP NEXT: The winner will advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday to play top-seeded Arkansas at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT.
TOURNAMENT TIME: The Lady Vols are 18-16-6 all-time in SEC Tournament games and have claimed five SEC Tournament crowns since the program’s inception in 1996, winning the event in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008, 2021.
SCOUTING AUBURN: The Tigers were picked to finish 10th in the SEC as voted on by the league’s coaches. They added eight newcomers this season and returned seven starters from a 2022 squad that went 6-6-6. Anna Haddock leads the team with 15 points on four goals and seven assists.
FUSCO MAKING MOVES: With the hat trick against Texas A&M, Jordan Fusco rocketed to the top of the team statistics and is tied with Kameron Simmonds for the lead in points with 16. Against SEC opponents, she ranks second in the conference in shots per game (3.44), third in points per game (1.22) and fifth in goals per game (0.44).
EFFICIENCY IS KEY: The Lady Vols scored a goal on just five shots agaist Vandy. Over the last three contests, Tennessee has scored seven goals on 30 shots with 18 shots on goal for a shot percentage of .233 and a shot-on-goal percentage of .600, decisively above season averages of .128 and .459, respectively.
SECOND HALF TEAM: The Lady Vols have netted 13 goals over the last eight contests, 10 of which have come in the second half. On the season, 20 of Tennessee’s 34 goals have been scored in…
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