#17 Tennessee (15-3 | 3-3 SEC) at #Texas (18-2 | 4-1 SEC)
Thursday, January 23rd, 2025 | 8:00pm CT / 9:00pm ET
Austin, TX | Moody Center | TV: SEC Network
Knoxville, TN – No. 17/17 Tennessee women’s basketball team (15-3, 3-3 SEC) and No. 7/7 Texas (18-2, 4-1 SEC) renew a classic women’s basketball rivalry that dates back to 1978, as they meet Thursday night in Austin in the Longhorns’ “We Back Pat” game.
UT and Texas will clash as SEC foes for the first time at 8:00pm CT (9:00pm ET) at the Moody Center in a contest televised by SEC Network and carried on Lady Vol Network radio stations as well as audio-streamed on UTSports.com and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Ch. 146 & 192).
The programs initially met on December 8th, 1978, at Missouri’s Midwestern Classic and later scheduled annual meetings for 40 years (1982-83 to 2021-22, with the exception of a Dec. 13, 2020, cancelation in Austin caused by COVID contact tracing) and even met twice in 1986-87 and 1991-92 with legendary coaches Pat Summitt and Jody Conradt at the helm.
The Lady Vols enter Thursday’s contest on the heels of an excruciating last-second loss at RV/NR Vanderbilt on Sunday, 71-70. That setback gave Tennessee its third loss of the season following previous ones to No. 9/10 Oklahoma (87-86) and No. 6/4 LSU (89-87), with the Big Orange dropping that trio of contests by a combined total of four points.
The Lady Vols feature five players averaging double figures in scoring, led by redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper, who puts up 18.4 points per game and shoots 50 percent from the field. Cooper is coming off a 22-point effort vs. Vandy, marking her ninth 20+ performance of the season.
Also averaging double figures are fifth-year guard Jewel Spear (13.2 ppg.), junior forward Ruby Whitehorn (13.1 ppg.), senior guard Samara Spencer (11.6 ppg., 5.5 apg.) and junior forward Zee Spearman (10.9 ppg., 6.2 rpg.).
Texas is fresh off an 89-51 shellacking of No. 8/9 Maryland on Monday at the Coretta Scott King Classic at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Sophomore forward Madison Booker, who led Texas with 28 points, is the Longhorns leading scorer at 15.8 ppg. She has help from three others in double figures.
Kim Caldwell‘s first Lady Vol team enters the match-up ranked No. 1 nationally in four statistical categories, as of January 21st. UT is tops in the NCAA in scoring offense (87.5), three pointers per game (11.7), three point attempts per game (34.9) and offensive rebounds per game (20.1).
Broadcast Details
Sam Gore (play-by-play) and Tamika Catchings (analyst) will have the call for SEC Network.
All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
The contest also can be heard on Lady Vol Network stations and by audio stream, with Brian Rice providing play-by-play and Jay Lifford serving as studio host.
For a list of Lady Vol Network affiliates, please click the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then click on the Vol Network Affiliates tab.
Air-time generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
The Lady Vol Network broadcast also will be available via SiriusXM Satellite Radio channels 146 and 192.
Individually Speaking
COOP IS THE REAL DEAL: Guard Talaysia Cooper is having a break-out season, leading UT in scoring (18.4 ppg.) and steals (3.4 spg.), hitting double figures 16 times, carding nine efforts of 20+ points and notching eight quarters where she scored 10 or more points, including 12 and 10, respectively, in the fourth period vs. Florida State and Iowa.
“FEAR DA SPEAR”: Jewel Spear is enjoying her best stretch of the season, averaging 17.0 ppg. in SEC play, hitting 24 of 47 three-point tries in league action (51.1 pct.) to run her season total to 47 treys and rank second in the league in that category.
SMOOTH SAMARA: Samara Spencer (11.6 ppg.) ranks No. 6 nationally in assist/turnover ratio (3.19), is No. 19 in total assists (99), and is No. 23 in apg. (5.5) while ranking No. 46 in 3FG pct. (41.6) and No. 2 for Tennessee in 3FGs made (42).
DEPENDABLE RUBY: Ruby Whitehorn is UT’s third-leading scorer at 13.1 ppg., tallying 10+ points in 11 of her past 12 games.
ZEE STEPPING IT UP: Forward Zee Spearman has scored 10+ 10 times, averaging 10.9 ppg. and a team-high 6.2 rpg. after an 11-point, 11-board double-double vs. Vandy.
From A Team Perspective
PILING UP POINTS: The Tennessee Lady Vols rank No. 1 nationally in scoring offense, generating 94.3 points per game. The lowest a Kim Caldwell team has ranked in ppg. is No. 4, where she was in 2023-24 (85.3) at Marshall.
MAKING THREES IN BUNCHES: UT ranks No. 1 in 3FGs made per game at 11.7 and has hit 10+ treys 13 times, eclipsing the old-school best of six. It has hit 10 or more threes in seven of its past eight games.
CRASHING O-BOARDS: UT is No. 1 in the nation in offensive rebounds per game at 20.1. It has twice reached 30+ this season.
TURNING OVER THE OPPOSITION: UT is No. 5 in turnovers forced per game (25.28) and No. 3 in T.O. margin (11.00). Mississippi State had 20 miscues on Jan. 16 for the 13th 20+ T.O. game (7 were 30+) by a foe in 2024-25.
RACKING UP STEALS: UT is No. 6 nationally in steals per game (13.6). It now has 12 games of 10+ steals and 244 total in 18 games. It had 159 in 33 games a year ago.
THAT’S A 10-COUNT: Tennessee has prevented its foes from getting the ball over halfcourt in 10 seconds a total of 17 times in 18 games. UT forced only five violations the previous five years combined.
Inside The Numbers
UT NO. 14 IN NET RANKINGS: With three losses by a grand total of four points to NET No. 10 LSU, No. 16 Oklahoma and No. 21 Vanderbilt, and quality wins over No. 26 Florida State, No. 31 Richmond, No. 35 Mississippi State, No. 37 Iowa and No. 59 Middle Tennessee, Tennessee is ranked No. 14 in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
ON THE BRINK OF 100 DIMES: Samara Spencer has dished 99 assists in her first season at UT and finds herself one dime away from carding 100 for the third straight season after putting up 154 in 2022-23 and 115 in 2023-24 at Arkansas.
WHITEHORN NEARING 1K: Ruby Whitehorn has tallied 236 points in 2024-25 (13.1 ppg.) to hit 947 for her career, leaving her 53 away from reaching 1,000 points.
CHASING 2,000/500 STAT LINE: Jewel Spear now has 2,028 points and 492 rebounds, needing eight rebounds to have a 2000/500+ stat line for her career.
UNCOMMON 1,500/500/500 IN SIGHT: Samara Spencer has 1,577 pts., 477 rebs. and 464 assts., nearing a 1,500/500/500 career stat line. Only five SEC women’s players have done that since 1991-92.
UT Eyeing A A 40-Trey Trio
Tennessee is seeking to have its first trio of players to hit 40 or more three-pointers in a season since 2010-11.
Jewel Spear (47 / 38.8 pct.) and Samara Spencer (42 / 41.6 pct.) already have surpassed 40, and Tess Darby (38 / 35.5 pct.) stands two treys away.
The last time UT had three or more with 40+ deep balls, Angie Bjorklund (73), Meighan Simmons (63) and Shekinna Stricklen (42) accomplished that feat during the 2010-11 campaign en route to a 34-3 record.
Fine Fall Semester In The Classroom
The UT Lady Vol basketball team recorded a collective 3.39 grade point average for the fall semester, tying for the highest on record for the program.
Fourteen of 15 players had a 3.0 term GPA or higher.
Two players recorded 4.0 GPAs for the term.
Coop Is Stacking Up Steals
Talaysia Cooper is averaging 3.4 steals per contest, a number that would put her No. 1 on UT’s career list if she continued at that pace through season’s end.
An average of 3.4 spg. would equate to No. 3 in a season by a Lady Vol behind only Shelia Collins (3.645, 1984-85) and Holly Warlick (3.615, 1978-79).
Cooper currently has 62 steals and would need 100 to crack Tennessee’s top-10 list for a season.
The most recent player to join that list was Alexis Hornbuckle, who tallied 104 steals in 2007-08.
Cooper’s total thus far is the most by a Lady Vol since Jaime Nared grabbed 73 steals in 2017-18.
Cooper (62), Nared (73), and Andraya Carter (80) are the only Lady Vols since 2007-08 to card 60+ steals.
Four players on the 2007-08 squad surpassed 60, including Alexis Hornbuckle (104), Candace Parker (88), Nicky Anosike (65) and Shannon Bobbitt (63).
Looking Back at Tennessee’s Last Game
No. 15 Tennessee women’s basketball team erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and seized a five-point lead with just over two minutes remaining before falling to Vanderbilt Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium, 71-70, on a last-second shot.
Mikayla Blakes’ tip-in with just under a second left gave the Commodores (15-4, 2-3 SEC) the win after the Lady Vols’ valiant comeback and ended an eight-game Big Orange winning streak in the series. UT fell to 15-3 overall and 3-3 in the SEC on the season.
Tennessee was led in scoring by redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper, who fired in 22 points. She was joined in double figures by junior forward Zee Spearman with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while fifth-year guard Jewel Spear and senior guard Samara Spencer tossed in 10 each. Spencer also dished out a game-high six assists.
Vanderbilt placed three players in double figures, led by 23 points from Blakes. She had scoring help from Khamil Pierre and Iyana Moore with 21 and 17, respectively.
Postgame Notes vs. Vanderbilt
COOP FOR 20 AGAIN: Talaysia Cooper nabbed her ninth 20-plus point game and her 16th 10-plus game of the season, producing 22 against Vanderbilt. The guard drained 10 points in the first half before finishing off her day with another 12 in the second half. Cooper hit 10 field goals and two treys. The redshirt sophomore also added five rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR ZEE: Zee Spearman carded a double-double for the second time this season and the eighth time in her career. Spearman finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Spearman also carded a double-double against N.C. Central on December 14th. The forward tallied 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in that contest.
Tennessee/Texas Series Notes
Tennessee leads the series with Texas, 26-16, and has a 13-7 edge in Knoxville, an 11-8 record in Austin and a 2-1 mark at neutral sites.
The Lady Vols have won eight of the last 12 in the series and three of the past four meetings.
This marks Tennessee’s first game in Austin since Dec. 9, 2018. The teams were supposed to play in the Frank Erwin Center one last time on Dec. 13, 2020, but COVID contact tracing forced a cancelation just before the Lady Vols departed the hotel for the game.
After meeting for the first time in 1978-79, these programs scheduled each other at least once a year from 1982-83 until 2021-22, with the only interruption in the 40-year series coming in 2020 due to COVID.
A Look At Texas
After suffering its first SEC loss at No. 2/2 South Carolina on Jan. 12, 67-50, Texas bounced back with wins over Auburn (74-57) and No. 8/9 Maryland (89-51).
The only other loss was at No. 3/3 Notre Dame on December 5th, 80-70 in overtime.
Texas scores 87.5 ppg. and holds foes to 55.5 ppg.
The Horns record 12.5 steals per game and force foes into 24.8 turnovers per contest.
About Texas Longhorns’ Head Coach Vic Schaefer
Head coach Vic Schaefer is 127-34 in his fifth season at Texas and is 428-206 in his 20th year overall.
Schaefer has guided programs at Sam Houston State, Mississippi State and now Texas, earning national coach of the year on two occasions (2018 & 2019 at MSU), and was an assistant at Texas A&M and Arkansas as well.
He was named the 2023 Big 12 Coach of the Year after leading the Longhorns to a regular season title.
The Longhorns’ Last Game
Madison Booker scored 28 points on 13-of-19 shooting from the field, and the Texas defense forced 27 turnovers in an 89-51 win over No. 8/9 Maryland on Monday in Newark, N.J.
The Longhorns and Terrapins played on MLK Day in the Coretta Scott King Classic at the Prudential Center.
Kyla Oldacre scored 15 points, Taylor Jones added 13 and Shay Holle contributed 12 points. Rori Harmon dished out seven assists for the Longhorns.
Texas improved to 18-2 on the season and earned its third top-10 win of the season.
Last Time Tennessee Met Texas
Tying a program-record 15 blocks in a game and overcoming an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit, No. 16/12 Tennessee took down No. 12/21 Texas, 74-70, in overtime in front of a raucous crowd of 9,460 in Knoxville on November 21st, 2021.
Tamari Key had 10 points, 18 rebounds and 10 blocks for the fifth triple-double in program history, while Jordan Horston was stellar as well, turning in a career-high 28 points and 15 rebounds in the comeback win.
Graduate Alexus Dye came through in the clutch, sinking critical free throws late in the contest and securing 13 points. Graduate guard Jordan Walker also added 13 points and a team-leading five assists.
Last Time Tennessee Met Texas In Austin
Senior Meme Jackson logged a career-high 33 points to lift the No. 9 Lady Vols to an 88-82 victory over No. 12 Texas at the Frank Erwin Center on December 9th, 2018, the last time these squads faced off in Austin.
After being outscored 23-14 in the first quarter, UT flipped the script and won the second stanza, 26-12, to take an advantage they would not relinquish.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
After playing at Texas, the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team is back home and will face a second-straight top-10 opponent, as No. 2/2 South Carolina comes to Food City Center for a prime time Monday night match-up.
The Lady Vols and Gamecocks will meet on January 27th at 6:00pm CT (7:00pm ET( in contest televised by ESPN2.
The game also will be available on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com.
In a scheduling oddity, this will mark the second of potentially three occasions this season where Tennessee will face top-10 opponents in consecutive games. UT played No. 9/10 Oklahoma and No. 6/4 LSU on Jan. 5 and 9, is meeting No. 7/7 Texas and No. 2/2 South Carolina on January 23rd and 27 and is slated to face No. 6/6 UConn and No. 5/4 LSU on February 6th and February 9th, respectively.
