61.4 F
Clarksville
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeSportsUT Lady Vols Basketball on the road Friday to face Wichita State...

UT Lady Vols Basketball on the road Friday to face Wichita State Shockers

#16/15 Tennessee (6-2) vs. Wichita State (1-5)

Friday, December 11th, 2015 | 5:00pm CT
Wichita, KS | Charles Koch Arena

UT Lady VolsKnoxville, TN – The #16/15 Lady Vols (6-2) will hit the road for the first time this year, facing off against Wichita State (1-5) at Charles Koch Arena on Friday. Tipoff is slated for 7:05pm CT (8:05 ET), and the game will be broadcast online on ESPN3 and locally in Wichita on Cox 2022HD.

Mark Ewing (PxP) and Bob Hull (Analyst) will describe the action for COX 2022 HD in Wichita and ESPN3 online. Fans can hear the Lady Vol Network broadcast on stations across the state as well as via a live stream worldwide with Mickey Dearstone calling the action.

Tickets for the game can be purchased online via www.GoShockers.com

Tennessee Women's Basketball Hits Road For First Time In 2015-16 Season, Taking On Wichita State Shockers. (UT Athletics Department)

The #16/15 Lady Vols (6-2) hit the road for the first time all season, playing Wichita State (1-5) at 7:05pm CT / 8:05pm ET on Friday at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas. The game will mark Tennessee’s first true road game since February 26th, 2014, when the #6/6 Lady Vols beat Georgia in Athens, 70-59.

The game will mark the first time the Lady Vols have made an appearance in the state of Kansas, as Holly Warlick’s squad is returning the favor of WSU’s visit to Knoxville a year ago. After beating WSU at home the season before, the Tennessee men’s basketball team visited Wichita on December 14th, 2013, and fell victim to the #12/8 Shockers, 70-61.

The Lady Vols’ match-up with WSU is the first stop in a three-game road swing for Tennessee. Under Holly Warlick, Tennessee is 27-10 in road games, 55-7 at home and 10-5 at neutral sites for a total of 92-22.

LVFLs Leading the Shockers

Tennessee alum Jody Adams is in her eighth season as head coach at Wichita State, posting a 148-88 mark at the school and a 172-96 career record that includes a 24-8 season at Murray State in 2007-08 and a 29-5 mark at WSU in 2014-15. She and her staff have led the Shockers to three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Adams, who is from Cleveland, TN, and Bradley Central High School, played point guard at Tennessee from 1989-93, starting two seasons and helping the Lady Vols win their third NCAA title during the 1990-91 season. Adams has joined Warlick on some of the UT coach’s “Champions For A Cause” motorcycle rides to raise money and awareness for the fight against breast cancer.

One of Adams’ staff members is sixth-year assistant coach Bridgette Gordon, who played at UT from 1985-89 and was the second Lady Vol to have a banner of honor hung in the rafters of Thompson-Boling Arena. She is one of only six players (plus Pat Summitt) to have that distinction.

Gordon was a four-year starter, two-time NCAA champion (1987, 1989), two-time All-American (1988 & 1989), Olympic Gold Medalist (1988), four-time All-SEC First Team selection and 1989 SEC Player of the Year. She is UT’s number two all-time leading scorer with 2,462 points (18.0 avg.) and stands ninth in rebounds at 915 (6.7 avg.).

It’s Not Personal, It’s Business

Against teams with former Lady Vol players and/or staffers, Warlick is 20-5, including 1-0 vs. Alcorn State (Tonya Edwards), 4-2 vs. Kentucky (Matthew Mitchell, Shalon Pillow), 2-0 vs. Lipscomb (Greg Brown), 4-1 vs. LSU (Nikki Caldwell, Tasha Butts), 1-0 vs. Middle Tennessee (Alex Fuller), 2-0 vs. North Carolina (Sylvia Hatchell), 3-0 vs. Ole Miss (Alex Fuller Simmons), 2-2 vs. South Carolina (Nikki McCray) and 1-0 vs. Wichita State (Jody Adams, Bridgette Gordon).

Against teams with former Lady Vols on the staff, Warlick is 13-5, including 4-1 vs. LSU (Nikki Caldwell, Tasha Butts), 2-2 vs. South Carolina (Nikki McCray), 1-0 vs. Middle Tennessee (Dustin Edwards, Alex Fuller), 3-0 vs. Ole Miss (Alex Fuller Simmons), 1-0 vs. Alcorn State (Tonya Edwards), 1-0 vs. Wichita State (Jody Adams, Bridgette Gordon) and 1-2 vs. Kentucky (Shalon Pillow).

Against teams with former UT staff members coaching, Warlick is 12-3, including 4-2 vs. Kentucky (Matthew Mitchell), 2-0 vs. Lipscomb (Greg Brown), 4-1 vs. LSU (Nikki Caldwell, Tasha Butts) and 2-0 vs. North Carolina (Sylvia Hatchell).

Against former Lady Vols as head coaches, Warlick is 6-1, including 4-1 vs. Nikki Caldwell (LSU), 1-0 vs. Tonya Edwards (Alcorn St.) and 1-0 vs. Jody Adams (Wichita State).

Series Notes

  • Tennessee leads 1-0 in the series vs. Wichita State, defeating the Shockers in Knoxville on Dec. 16, 2014, 54-51.
  • In that game, Cierra Burdick posted a double-double with 10 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, and Isabelle Harrison scored 14 points as the No. 11/13 Lady Vols held on for the win.
  • Wichita State fell to 6-3 on the year while putting up a great fight in Lady Vol homecomings for head coach Jody Adams and assistant coach Bridgette Gordon.
  • The game ended with a thrilling final minute. Harrison made a layup with 38 seconds left to push the Lady Vols’ lead to 52-48. Kelsey Jacobs answered at the other end of the floor with a 3-pointer from the corner to pull Wichita State to within one point with 24 seconds remaining. Ariel Massengale made two big free throws with 5.1 seconds on the clock to put Tennessee’s lead back to three at 54-51.
  • Six UT players who saw action in that game return, including Alexa Middleton, who chipped in 10 points as UT’s highest-scoring returning contributor from that game. Middleton, however, didn’t play in the last game and is listed as day to day.
  • WSU’s only returnee who played in that game was Jaleesa Chapel, who had two points.
  • The Lady Vols are 8-0 vs. teams from the state of Kansas, including 4-0 vs. the University of Kansas, 3-0 vs. Kansas State and 1-0 vs. Wichita State.
  • UT is 7-0 vs. teams from the Missouri Valley Conference.

Hoping For Some Continuity

Holly Warlick has yet to have her full complement of players available this season, and it likely won’t happen at Wichita State.

With five players out with injuries the last game, Tennessee played with only seven vs. Virginia Tech and actually had only six available for the season-opener vs. Central Arkansas. Only four players have seen action in every game this season for Tennessee. Only seven players have logged duty in seven games or more.

Kortney Dunbar and Jasmine Jones have played in only five games, while Nia Moore has played in three and Jaime Nared has yet to see action this season. Nared, who broke her left hand in practice prior to the exhibition game, is easing her way back into practice and is closer to returning to the court.

Only one player (Mercedes Russell) has started every game for Tennessee. Nine different players have drawn starting nods for this UT squad, with Warlick employing four different starting fives so far.

The combination of Bashaara Graves, Mercedes Russell, Andraya Carter, Diamond DeShields and Jordan Reynolds has started the last two games, going 1-1.

Broadcast Information

Online | ESPN3
Play by Play: Mark Ewing
Analyst: Bob Hull

Radio | Lady Vol Network
Play by Play: Mickey Dearstone

Online/Mobile

www.UTsports.com
Free audio stream only

www.WatchESPN.com
Free video stream to registered cable subscribers

RELATED ARTICLES

Latest Articles