#20 Tennessee (4-2) vs. #18 Notre Dame (3-1)
Wednesday, November 29th, 2023 | 4:02pm CT/5:02pm ET
Knoxville, TN | Food City Center | TV: ESPN2
Knoxville, TN – The No. 20/22 Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team (4-2) will take on its third consecutive ranked opponent as No. 18/14 Notre Dame (5-1) comes to Knoxville for a Wednesday night match-up in the inaugural ACC-SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge.
The Lady Vols and Fighting Irish will meet at 4:00pm CT at Food City Center in a contest that ESPN2 will televise. This is one of five ACC-SEC women’s battles on Wednesday, followed by nine more on Thursday.
UT enters Wednesday’s game after going 1-1 at the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off, falling to #21/19 Indiana (71-57) on November 23rd and then defeating #22/20 Oklahoma (76-73) on November 25th. The Lady Vols are in the midst of a four-game string of games vs. teams ranked in both the AP and USA TODAY Sports/WBCA Coaches Polls.
The Fighting Irish squad enters having won its past five contests after dropping the season opener, 100-71, to (then) No. 6 South Carolina in Paris, France, on November 6th. Notre Dame last played on November 24th, defeating Ball State, 90-59, in Muncie, IN, on the Cardinals’ home court.
Tennessee-Notre Dame Storylines
Additional Broadcast Details
Courtney Lyle (play-by-play) and Carolyn Peck (analyst) will describe the Tennessee-Notre Dame game for the ESPN2 broadcast.
All 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 can be heard on Lady Vol Network stations and by audio stream, with Brian Rice providing play-by-play.
A link to the live audio stream can be found on the Hoops Central page or the schedule on UTSports.com.
Air time generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
The game also is available on SiriusXM channels 109 or 191 (SEC Channel).
Game Promotions
postgame Autographs – Jillian Hollingshead.
Download the Tennessee Athletics app to join the Coca-Cola GBO Zone Lightshow.
Kids 12-and-under pricing is available for only $10.00.
Purchase tickets at AllVols.com or call the Tennessee Athletics Ticket Office at 1.800.332.VOLS or 865.656.1200.
Parking, Traffic Flow, Entry Alerts
Fans on campus looking to purchase parking will do so on-site with a credit card for all events, including men’s and women’s hoops.
The designated rideshare drop-off/pick-up area will be on Todd Helton Drive, west of Food City Center.
Campus parking is limited for large Food City Center events, but there is a free shuttle service from the Ag Campus for all fans, dropping off and picking up immediately adjacent to Food City Center. ADA shuttles and entry will operate the same as previous years.
Due to on-going construction and upgrades to Neyland Stadium, fans should be advised of changes coming to normal traffic patterns on Phillip Fulmer Way and Peyton Manning Pass during the 2023-24 basketball seasons. Please prepare in advance and stay tuned for more information.
Phillip Fulmer Way from G-10 garage to Neyland Stadium Gate 21 vicinity will be closed (tentatively set for December 4th, 2023).
Vehicular entry via the area northeast of the Food City Center will at times be inaccessible, and avoiding that vicinity is strongly recommended.
All tickets and Tennessee Fund parking passes are digital.
Just like last season, fans will see walk-through metal detectors outside of all Food City Center entrances.
Recapping The Oklahoma Game
Fifth-year senior Jasmine Powell turned in a season-high 19 points as No. 21/19 Tennessee took a 76-73 victory over No. 22/20 Oklahoma in the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off on Saturday at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
Powell, who also had 12 points and six rebounds vs. Indiana on Thursday, was named to the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off Island Division All-Tournament Team for her performance during the event. She averaged 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds, shooting 10 of 18 from the field over UT’s two games, including four-of-eight accuracy from long range. Powell also finished seven of nine from the free-throw line.
Senior Jewel Spear and junior Sara Puckett also were in double figures for UT (4-2) vs. OU with 16 and 13, respectively. Puckett and junior Jillian Hollingshead each pulled down eight boards to lead Tennessee’s rebounding effort.
Oklahoma (5-2) was paced by Sahara Williams, who scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Lexy Keys and Aubrey Joens also posted double-digit efforts with 12 apiece.
Postgame Notes vs. The Sooners
Jazzing Up The Fourth Quarter
Fifth-year guard Jasmine Powell led Tennessee with a season-high 19 points vs. Oklahoma, knocking down 13 of those in the fourth quarter on perfect shooting from the field (4-4), on threes (2-2) and at the free-throw line (3-3).
She hit five of eight shots from the field and seven of nine from the charity stripe for the game. The 19 points tied her highest point total as a Lady Vol, set against Ohio State last season on November 8th, 2022.
Darby Moves Into UT Career Top 10
At the 7:04 mark in the second quarter, with her second trey of the day, senior guard/forward Tess Darby shot her way into the Lady Vol career top 10 for three-pointers made, tying Sidney Spencer (2003-07) at 133. Darby finished with seven points, seven rebounds, two steals and an assist on the afternoon.
Fear Da Spear
Senior guard Jewel Spear came up big for Tennessee against Oklahoma. Spear opened the season with three straight double-figure efforts and after tallying a combined eight points in the last two contests combined, she broke out with 16 on Saturday vs. the Sooners.
She also led UT with three assists and took charge in the third quarter as the Lady Vols made a run to overturn a 10-point deficit.
Puckett Getting Bucketts
With 13 points against Oklahoma, Sara Puckett notched her sixth consecutive contest in double figures to open the season and is the only Lady Vol to do that during the Kellie Harper era. Her streak is the longest since Mercedes Russell opened the 2017-18 campaign with 23 consecutive double-figure contests spanning November. 12th, 2017, to February 4th, 2018.
Working The Glass Again
Tennessee won the rebounding battle for the fifth time in six games this season, pulling down one more than Oklahoma (49-48). UT is 4-1 this season and 86-21 all-time under Kellie Harper when coming out on top in the boards battle.
Stepping Up In Rickea’s Absence
Tennessee’s scoring average has dropped from 92.0 ppg. in two games with Rickea Jackson to 79.3 for the season, the standout missing the past four games.
UT is finding ways, however, to overcome the loss of Jackson’s 22.0 ppg., 12.0 rpg. and presence on the defensive end.
The Lady Vols allowed opponents 44.4 percent from the field over the first two games but have given up just 36.8 percent over the past four contests.
That has helped reduce the 78.0 ppg. allowed to foes to drop to 72.8 over the past four games.
UT also had only three players averaging 5.0 rebounds or more after game two. Now it has six players at 5.0 rpg. or better in addition to Jackson’s 12.0 over the last four games, making the Lady Vols one of the nation’s highest ranked rebounding squads.
That rebounding by committee over the last four games includes Sara Puckett (7.8), Jillian Hollingshead (7.5), Karoline Striplin and Jewel Spear (6.0), and Jasmine Powell and Tess Darby (5.0).
UT has gone from three scoring in double figures to four in addition to Jackson over the past four contests, with another just shy of 10 a game.
Over the past four games, UT is led in scoring by Jasmine Powell and Sara Puckett (16.0), Karoline Striplin (11.0) and Jewel Spear (10.8), with Jillian Hollingshead sitting at 9.8 ppg.
UT Lady Vol Bench Bringing It
Tennessee’s reserves have outscored their opposition 99-40 the past three games, including 38-8 vs. Troy, 30-8 vs. #21/19 Indiana, and 31 to 24 to #22/20 Oklahoma.
Against the Hoosiers, it was Karoline Striplin and Jasmine Powell entering the game and contributing 13 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the way. Powell and Striplin had 19 and eight to lead vs. Oklahoma.
For the season, the Lady Vol bench is outscoring foes, 26.3 to 16.3 on average.
Powell and Striplin are currently top bench scoring, averaging 12.4 ppg. and 10.3 ppg. for the season. Since Rickea Jackson has been out, Powell and Striplin have increased to 16.0 and 11.0 over the past four games.
Series Notes
UT leads the all-time series, 22-8, with the teams splitting the last four meetings.
The Lady Vols are 9-3 all-time in Knoxville, 9-4 at Notre Dame and 4-1 at neutral sites vs. the Irish. The teams have never gone to overtime.
Tennessee is 112-33 all-time vs. current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, with Notre Dame being the most common foe.
A Look AT Notre Dame
Notre Dame has the nation’s No. 6 scoring offense at 94.5 ppg. the Irish are No. 7 in field goal pct. (51.3%).
ND is No. 4 in steals per game (14.8).
Freshman Hannah Hildalgo is No. 1 nationally in steals (38) and steals per game (6.33). She is No. 4 in points per game at 25.0.
About the Notre Dame Head Coach
Niele Ivey is in her fourth season as head coach at Notre Dame and sports a 66-26 record.
She led the Irish to the 2023 ACC regular season championship a year ago (27-6/15-3 ACC).
Ivey is a 2000 ND graduate who played for Muffet McGraw.
Notre Dame’s Most Recent Game
In a Black Friday road contest, No. 17 Notre Dame (5-1) beat a previously undefeated Ball State (5-1) squad, 90-59, in Muncie, IN.
The Irish have posted at least 90 points in four of the last five games.
Notre Dame, which took a 48-22 lead at the half, shot 57.4 percent from the field and drained 11 threes at a 52.4 percent rate.
Last Tennessee and Notre Dame Game
Rennia Davis tied her career high of 33 points to lead Tennessee (3-0) to victory over No. 15/14 Notre Dame on the road on November 11th, 2019, 74-63.
It was the UT Lady Vols’ first victory on the road in the series since 2008.
Davis also grabbed 10 boards to card her second double-double of the season and 20th of her career.
Jordan Horston and Tamari Key were also in double digits for UT with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
The Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team plays its fourth consecutive game against a ranked opponent and fifth overall this season, as No. 16/13 Ohio State comes to Knoxville on Sunday to clash in the Jimmy V Women’s Classic.
The Lady Vols and Buckeyes are set to meet at 4:00pm CT on Sunday, with ESPN televising the affair.
Sunday is Kids Day Out, presented by KOC. A special ticket package includes a kid’s lunchbox, pregame meal and an event at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
The UT-OSU game also is a Rowdy Rewards pickup event, where rewards points can be traded in for great prizes.
The autograph player will be Tamari Key.
