Tennessee (6-5) at Liberty (5-9)
Sunday, December 31st, 2023 | 1:02pm CT/2:02pm ET
Lynchburg, VA | Liberty Arena
Lynchburg, VA – The Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team (6-5) closes out the non-conference and 2023 portion of its schedule when it travels to face Liberty (5-9) on New Year’s Eve in Lynchburg, VA.
The Lady Vols and Flames will clash inside Liberty Arena on Sunday at 1:02pm CT, with ESPN+ streaming it live.
UT is coming off an 85-63 home victory over Wofford on December 19th, with leading scorer and rebounder Rickea Jackson returning to action after missing the previous eight games due to injury. Tennessee has won two in a row and will try to keep the momentum going, as UT approaches SEC play on January 4th with a road contest at Auburn.
Liberty, which defeated Randolph, 69-49 on Friday night, has put together a two-game win streak of its own after dropping nine of its previous 10 contests. Five of the Flames’ losses have come at the hands of ranked Texas, NC State, Louisville, and Gonzaga teams as well as to a 12-2 Alabama squad.
Broadcast Details
Noah Frary (PxP) and Kelley Deyo (Analyst) will have the call for the ESPN+ live stream.
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.
For a list of Lady Vol Network affiliates, please click on the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then select the Vol Network Affiliates tab.
Air time is typically 30 minutes before tip.
The game also will be available on SiriusXM satellite radio via SEC Channel 374.
Season Reset
The UT Lady Vols will attempt to extend their longest winning streak of the season, as they take a two-game string into Lynchburg on Sunday that currently ties as their lengthiest of the campaign.
They recorded consecutive victories on November 13th and 19th over Memphis and Troy, respectively, and defeated EKU and Wofford in back-to-back contests on December 10th and 19th heading into Sunday’s matinee.
Tennessee has taken on an extremely challenging schedule thus far, playing five ranked squads, including four of those teams with its best overall performer, Rickea Jackson, sidelined by injury.
In fact, the Lady Vols have only two players (Sara Puckett and Jewel Spear) who have started every game together this season. Continuity is a work in progress.
Jackson returned to action vs. Wofford on December 19th, coming off the bench to contribute 11 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes of duty. She was averaging 22 points and 12 rebounds per contest before being sidelined after two games with a right leg injury.
Jackson and Jillian Hollingshead (6.9 ppg., 7.5 rpg.) were both out vs. Middle Tennessee, meaning Tennessee was missing its top two rebounders. UT lost the board battle, 37-30, to the Lady Raiders and the game, 73-62, on December 6th in Huntsville, AL.
UT lost reserve point guard Destinee Wells for the season prior to the Wofford game because of a lower right leg injury.
The Lady Vols went 4-4 during Jackson’s absence, dropping contests to No. 21/19 Indiana (71-57) in the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off, to No. 18/14 Notre Dame (74-69) and No. 16/13 Ohio State (78-58) at home, and to Middle Tennessee (73-62) at a neutral site in Huntsville, AL.
During that stretch, UT won, 84-74, in overtime over Memphis and beat Troy, 100-73, at home, before knocking off No. 22/20 Oklahoma in Fort Myers, 76-73, and defeating EKU in Knoxville, 72-63, on December 10th.
Junior forward Karoline Striplin (13.1 ppg., 4.9 rpg.), junior Sara Puckett (12.1 ppg., 6.4 rpg.), fifth-year guard Jasmine Powell (11.7 ppg., 5.7 rpg., 2.3 apg.) and senior guard Jewel Spear (8.6 ppg., 5.3 rpg.) stepped up to shoulder the offensive load during Jackson’s absence.
Measuring Rickea’s Impact
Tennessee is 2-1 with Rickea Jackson in action and 4-4 without her in 2023-24.
She is putting up 18.3 ppg. and 10.0 rpg. in three contests while shooting 44 percent from the field and 88.9 percent from the charity stripe.
She has a team-leading 15 offensive rebounds in those contests (5.0 orpg.).
In UT’s only loss with her playing, the Lady Vols dropped a 92-91 decision in game two to #18/22 Florida State in Tallahassee. Jackson had 31 points and 17 rebounds in that contest.
With Jackson, Tennessee is outscoring opponents, 89.7 to 73.0, and outrebounding them, 48.0 to 29.7 for margins of +16.7 and +18.3, respectively.
Without Jackson’s services, UT was outscored by foes, 72.4 to 72.3, but it outrebounded opponents, 44.1 to 40.5, for differentials of -0.1 and +3.6.
Without the UT standout’s presence, the Lady Vols hit only 39.9 percent from the field and 29.0 from three-point land.
UT Lady Vols vs. Unranked Teams
Tennessee is 5-1 vs. unranked teams in 2023-24, with its lone setback coming in a neutral site game hosted by Middle Tennessee.
During the Kellie Harper era, the Big Orange women sport an 82-12 mark vs. teams outside the top 25 polls.
UT is averaging 82.7 points and 48.8 rebounds vs. unranked foes this season, while allowing 68.3 and 34.8 to opponents for margins of +14.3 and +14.0.
Six Lady Vols are averaging double figures in points vs. unranked teams this year.
Karoline Striplin is putting up 17.2 ppg., followed by Sara Puckett (12.7), Jewel Spear (12.5), Rickea Jackson (12.0, 2 games), Jasmine Powell (10.2) and Jillian Hollingshead (10.0).
Jillian Hollingshead actually is averaging a double-double vs. unranked foes, with 10.0 rebounds per contest to go along with her 10.0 scoring average.
Jasmine Powell leads UT in assists with 23 (4.6 apg.) vs. 11 turnovers.
Top 15 In Rebounds Per Game
Tennessee ranks No. 15 nationally in rebounds per game at 45.18 through the December 28th NCAA rankings.
The UT Lady Vols are also No. 24 in defensive rebounds per game (30.3) and No. 34 in offensive rebounds per game (14.9) through 11 contests.
Rickea Jackson paces the squad at 10.0 rpg., followed by Jillian Hollingshead (7.5) and Sara Puckett (5.8).
During the Kellie Harper era, UT has three of the school’s top six rebound averages, including 48.1 (1st, 2021-22), 46.0 (5th, 2019-20) and 45.6 (6th, 2020-21).
Last year’s 42.9 per game avg. was 28th all-time at UT and 12th nationally for 2022-23.
Recapping The Last Game
The Tennessee Lady Vols claimed a dominant win over Wofford in Food City Center on December 19th, rolling to an 85-63 victory in front of a crowd of 7,900.
Four Lady Vols (6-5) were in double figures, with senior Jewel Spear leading the effort with 18 points on the night.
Junior Karoline Striplin narrowly missed a double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds, and junior Sara Puckett and fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson finished with 12 and 11, respectively.
Fifth-year senior Jasmine Powell also had a strong performance, stuffing the stat sheet with nine points, eight rebounds and a career-high-tying 10 assists.
Wofford (7-5), which was coming off an upset of Virginia in Charlottesville, was led by Rachael Rose, who racked up a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Maddie Heiss also finished in double digits with 14, and Annabelle Schultz was close behind with 11.
Postgame Notes vs. Wofford
Another Sharp Outing From Spear
In the 100th game of her collegiate career and 11th as a Lady Vol, senior Jewel Spear paced Tennessee in scoring with 18 points. She hit double figures for the second straight contest and the seventh time in 2023-24, knocking down four three-pointers to notch her second highest total of the campaign. She leads the Big Orange with 23 long balls in 11 contests thus far.
Consistent Karoline
Karoline Striplin scored in double figures in points for the third consecutive game and for the seventh time in 11 contests this season, firing in 16 points on six-of-11 shooting. She also had a nice evening on the boards, pulling down eight to rank second on the team. The junior was one of three Lady Vols to net two or more treys on the evening, finishing two of five beyond the arc.
Rickea Returns
After missing the past eight games with a lower right leg injury, Rickea Jackson returned to action in the game vs. Wofford. She entered the contest with 3:21 to go in the first period and hit her first field goal at the 1:30 mark to lift her team to an 11-9 advantage en route to a 16-11 first-frame score. Jackson logged 21 minutes on the night, finishing with 11 points, six rebounds and two assists vs. the Terriers.
Scoring Well On The Break
Tennessee registered a season-most 19 points via fast breaks to the Terriers’ 10. The UT tally topped the team’s previous 2023-24 best of 15 vs. #22/20 Oklahoma on Nov. 25 and vs. Florida A&M in the season-opener on November 7th.
Puckett Bucketts
After finishing with six and nine points, respectively, in her past two games, Sara Puckett was back in double figures with 12 points on 5-of-9 accuracy from the field. It marked her team-leading eighth game of the season with 10 or more points.
Bench Boost
Tennessee’s bench provided a huge boost vs. Wofford, outpointing the visitors, 27-4. That continues a trend that has seen the Lady Vols outscore their foes’ reserves, 209-73, over the past eight contests. That’s an average margin of 26.1 to 9.1 per game.
Piling Up Dimes
Tennessee dished out a season-most 23 assists on the evening on 30 made shots. The Lady Vols’ previous best of 21 came against Florida A&M in the opener. Fifth-year guard Jasmine Powell led the way with a career-high-tying 10 dimes vs. WC.
Letting Them Fly
Tennessee attempted a season-most 34 three-point shots vs. Wofford, knocking down 10 of them to match their season best. UT also had 10 treys vs. Florida State on November 9th and Troy on November 19th.
Series Notes vs. Liberty
This marks the third meeting between UT and LU in women’s hoops but the first during the regular season.
Kellie Harper will be facing the Flames for the second occasion in her head coaching career, standing 1-0.
The previous occasion occurred on 11/22/08 (W, 73-53) when she led the program at Western Carolina.
As a player, Harper had 13 points, four steals, two assists, two rebounds and a blocked shot in UT’s 102-58 NCAA First Round win over LU during UT’s 39-0 national championship season in 1997-98.
UT is 57-19 vs. schools currently in Conference USA after dropping a 73-62 decision to Middle Tennessee earlier this season on December 6th in Huntsville, AL.
A Look At The Flames
The Flames are paced by Bella Smuda and Emma Hess, who tally 13.7 and 11.9 points per game, respectively.
Hess leads Liberty beyond the arc, firing in 30 three-pointers thus far and followed by Asia Boone (9.1 ppg.) with 22 treys.
Smuda is LU’s top rebounder, grabbing 9.0 per contest with no other Flame above 3.9.
About the Liberty Flames Head Coach Carey Green
Carey Green is in his 25th season at Liberty.
Green is a native of Louisville, Tenn., and a 1974 graduate of Friendsville (Tenn.) High School, earning his associate’s degree from Roane State in 1976.
After graduating from Coastal Carolina in 1979, Green earned a master’s in science education from Tennessee in 1981.
He was assistant M/W coach at Roane State (1979-81), head boys coach at Coalfield High School (1981-82), head girls coach at Rockwood High School (1982-84) and head men’s and women’s coach at Jackson State (Tenn.) Community College from 1984-87.
He served as an assistant at Clemson from 1987-99 before joining Liberty as head coach in 1999.
Liberty’s Most Recent Game
Facing crosstown foe Randolph for the first time in 41 years, Liberty used a significant size advantage to win 69-49 Friday night at Liberty Arena.
The Flames led 20-8 after one and 37-12 at the half en route to the dominating victory, with no player seeing more than 24 minutes of court time.
Bella Smuda continued her impressive month of December, leading all players in points (18) and rebounds (10) for her sixth double-double of the year, while Emma Hess chipped in 11 points.
LU outrebounded RC, 54-28, with 17 O-boards.
Last UT-LU Contest
Rennia Davis (18/11) and Cheridene Green (15/12) produced double-doubles. They led seven Lady Vols scoring in double figures, as Tennessee defeated Liberty, 100-60, in an NCAA First-Round meeting in Knoxville on March 16, 2018.
UT held a 36-28 lead at halftime, but a 38-20 third-quarter blitz and 26-12 final frame fueled the Lady Vols to a 40-point win.
Keyen Green, who would later transfer and play for Tennessee from 2020-22, was among Liberty’s top scorers with 10 points the last time these teams met.
The Lady Vols shot 81.3 pct. in the third quarter and 78.6 pct. in the fourth for a game percentage of 61.7.
