Tennessee (9-5 | 2-0 SEC) vs. Florida (9-5 | 0-2 SEC)
Thursday, January 11th, 2023 | 6:02pm CT/7:02pm ET
Knoxville, TN | Food City Center |TV: SEC Network
Knoxville, TN – Tennessee (9-5, 2-0 SEC) is at home for its second straight contest, as Florida (9-5, 0-2 SEC) makes the trip to Knoxville for a Thursday night match-up.
The Lady Vols and Gators are set to clash in Food City Center at 6:02pm CT, with SEC Network televising.
UT totes a five-game winning streak into the contest after erasing a 17-point second-quarter deficit to race past Kentucky on Sunday afternoon, 87-69.
The Lady Vols improved to 5-1 on the season with Rickea Jackson in the lineup, as the all-star forward continued her impactful return from an eight-game hiatus with 27 points and seven rebounds. Jackson averaged 25.5 ppg. and 13.0 rpg. in UT’s opening two SEC games last week, earning league, U.S. Basketball Writers Association and Tennessee Sports Writers Association Player of the Week honors on Tuesday.
Florida arrives in need of a victory after dropping its first two SEC tilts to South Carolina and Vanderbilt, respectively. The Gators started out 6-1, but they have won only three of their past seven.
Broadcast Details
Eric Frede (PxP) and Christy Thomaskutty (Analyst) will have the call for the SEC Network 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. Jay Lifford is the studio host.
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-off.
Game Promotions
Family ticket four-packs are available.
Kids 12-and-under pricing only $5.00.
Postgame Autographs: Rickea Jackson
Download the Tennessee Athletics app to join the Coca-Cola GBO Zone Lightshow.
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 coming to campus looking to purchase parking will do so on-site with a credit card for all events, including men’s and women’s hoops.
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.
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 operate the same as previous years.
Phillip Fulmer Way Closure Information
Due to construction and upgrades to Neyland Stadium, basketball fans, and media members should be advised of immediate changes to normal traffic patterns on Phillip Fulmer Way and Peyton Manning Pass during the 2023-24 basketball season.
Phillip Fulmer Way from G-10 garage to Neyland Stadium Gate 21 vicinity is now closed.
The G-10 garage will not be accessible southbound on Phillip Fulmer Way.
Phillip Fulmer Way will be closed to southbound traffic at Middle Drive, and it will not be accessible via Peyton Manning Pass.
For events at Food City Center, G-10 and Staff 5 parking areas will be accessible via Lake Loudoun Boulevard, but it is strongly recommended that vehicles enter G-10 via Neyland Drive.
Additionally, G5/30 will only be accessible from Lake Loudoun Boulevard.
Common Threads
Tennessee and Florida both have played current No. 21/20 Florida State as well as Florida A&M this season.
They also faced those opponents in back-to-back games on their respective schedules.
UT defeated Florida A&M at home in the opener for both teams, 93-64, on November 7th, while UF topped the Rattlers, 92-54, in Gainesville on November 13th.
Game two of the season for the Lady Vols was against FSU in Tallahassee, with the Seminoles sliding by, 92-91, on November 9th. Rickea Jackson had 31 points and 17 rebounds in that narrow setback.
As for the Gators, they fell to Florida State, 79-75, in Gainesville on November 17th.
Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson and Florida’s Aliyah Matharu previously played together at Mississippi State.
Jackson was with the Bulldogs from 2019-22 before joining Kellie Harper‘s program at Tennessee prior to the 2022-23 season.
Matharu, meanwhile, was in Starkville from 2019-21 before stops at Texas (2021-22) and now Florida (2022-24).
Season Reset
The UT Lady Vols are on a season-best five-game winning streak and will try to extend it to six on Thursday night vs. Florida, as they close out a two-game home stand.
Tennessee has finally developed momentum after dealing with some unfortunate injuries to multiple players during the non-conference portion of the schedule.
Leading scorer and rebounder Rickea Jackson missed eight games with a lower right leg injury, including four vs. ranked teams, and the Big Orange went 4-4 in those contests.
UT is 5-1 with Rickea Jackson in the lineup this season, with wins over Wofford, Liberty, Auburn and Kentucky in her first four games back from injury.
The only loss by the Big Orange with Jackson in the lineup came on Nov. 9 in Tallahassee, with No. 18/22 Florida State winning, 92-91, despite a 31-point, 17-rebound double-double from the All-America candidate.
Power forward Jillian Hollingshead (concussion protocol/MTSU) and point guard Jasmine Powell (wrist/Troy) have missed one game each, guard/forward Avery Strickland (concussion protocol twice) has missed eight contests, and point guard Destinee Wells was lost for the season prior to the Wofford game after suffering a lower right leg injury.
While technically not injured, 6-foot-6 redshirt center Tamari Key (All-SEC Second Team/Cheryl Miller Award finalist in 2021-22) is shaking off the rust and ramping up her conditioning and explosiveness after being shut down most of last season due to blood clots found in her lungs. She has been progressively more effective in UT’s past three games, with six blocks vs. Kentucky.
During Jackson’s absence, the Tennessee Lady Vols dropped 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 respected mid-major foe Middle Tennessee (73-62) at a neutral site in Huntsville, Ala.
UT did manage a 76-73 win over No. 22/20 Oklahoma at the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off with Jackson sidelined for its best triumph of 2023-24.
Things Go Better with Rickea
Tennessee is 5-1 with Rickea Jackson in action and 4-4 without her in 2023-24.
She is averaging a double-double of 21.2 ppg. and 10.5 rpg. in six contests while shooting 49 percent from the field and 80 percent from the charity stripe.
She has 25 offensive rebounds in those contests (4.6 orpg./ranks 2nd in SEC).
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, 86.8 to 68.3, and out-rebounding them, 47.7 to 33.7, for margins of +18.5 and +14.0, respectively.
Without Jackson’s services, UT was outscored by foes, 72.4 to 72.3, but it out-rebounded opponents, 44.1 to 40.5, for differentials of -0.1 and +3.6.
With Jackson, Tennessee is shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 34.3 beyond the three-point arc.
Without the UT standout’s presence, the Lady Vols hit only 39.9 percent from the field and 29.0 from three-point land.
Second Half-Surges
Whether it is shaking off the nerves or being motivated by Kellie Harper‘s halftime speeches, Tennessee has proved to be a third-quarter and second-half team.
That quality enabled UT to erase 11 and 17-point deficits to Auburn and Kentucky, respectively, in SEC wins.
In league play, the Lady Vols are outscoring foes 49-19 in the third quarter in two games.
UT has a 42-28 advantage in the fourth frame, adding up to a 91-47 (+44) second-half score in two contests.
Contrast that to the first half in UT’s first two SEC games, where the Lady Vols have been outscored 39-34 in the first quarter and 50-37 in the second stanza for an 89-71 count and a first-half deficit of 18.
Offense Is Coming Together
Tennessee has seen improved efficiency on the offensive end in recent games, with Rickea Jackson’s return opening up the floor to others as well.
The UT Lady Vols have made a sizzling 51.9 percent of their field goals in SEC play (ranked first), hitting 50+ percent in six of the eight quarters they’ve played thus far.
UT has 84.3 ppg. over its last four contests while shooting 47.1 percent from the field.
The free throw percentage over the last four games stands at 77.3 percent.
UT has recorded 76 assists vs. 65 turnovers in that span.
Rickea Jackson is averaging 20.8 ppg. and 9.8 rpg., shooting 49.3 percent from the field over the last four contests.
Jewel Spear, meanwhile, is putting up 13.3 ppg. on 52.9 field goal shooting, and Karoline Striplin adds 10.3 ppg. on 55.6 accuracy.
Jasmine Powell has dished out 25 assists compared to 13 turnovers, while Kaiya Wynn has totals of 16 and 11 in UT’s last four games.
Defense Making Nice Strides
Over the past four games, Tennessee is holding opponents to 63.5 points per game vs. the season average of 70.6 ppg.
The Lady Vols are limiting foes to 34.6 percent from the field and 28.4 from the three-point arc when the season averages are 38.2 and 34.9.
Over the past five contests, the Lady Vols have held EKU, Wofford, Liberty, Auburn, and Kentucky to 34.8, 35.7, 31.0, 33.3, and 38.2 percent, respectively.
Against Auburn, UT held the Tigers to 33.3 percent shooting and their lowest point total (67).
Tennessee had held its last five opponents under 70 points. It hadn’t done that since giving up only 64 to Florida A&M in the opener on November 7th.
Recapping The Last Game
Tennessee outscored Kentucky 48-20 in the second half to overcome a 17-point second-quarter deficit and take an 87-69 victory against the Wildcats in front of a season-high crowd of 8,823 in Food City Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Vols, who won their fifth-straight contest and ended UK’s four-game streak, hit 32 of 60 attempts for a season-best field goal percentage of 53.3 on the day. The Big Orange, meanwhile, held Kentucky to 38.2 percent, including an icy 23.5-percent rate (8-34) in the second half.
Fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson led UT (9-5, 2-0 SEC) with 27 points, and senior Jewel Spear poured in a season-high 21 points. Fifth-year senior Jasmine Powell also had a productive outing, racking up nine points, seven rebounds and nine assists.
Kentucky (8-8, 1-1 SEC) was led by Eniya Russell, who finished with 16 points, and Ajae Petty, who posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Maddie Scherr and Saniah Tyler were also in double figures with 13 and 10, respectively.
Postgame Notes vs. Kentucky
Flipping The Script
Tennessee trailed by 17, 45-28, with 2:43 remaining in the first half before outscoring Kentucky the rest of the way, 59-24. The erasure of the 17-point lead tied as the biggest comeback win of the Kellie Harper era, matching last year’s 17-point come-from-behind victory to defeat LSU in the SEC Tournament semifinal round, 69-67.
UT Lady Vols, Harper In SEC Openers
Tennessee improved to 37-5 all-time in its first SEC home game of a season, winning seven of its last eight such contests. Kellie Harper is now 5-0 in the first SEC of a campaign on The Summitt as Tennessee’s head coach, defeating Missouri, Arkansas, Alabama, Alabama and Kentucky in her five seasons on Rocky Top.
Twenty 20s For Jackson
Rickea Jackson has tallied four efforts of 20 points or more in 2023-24 (FSU, Liberty, Auburn, Kentucky) and now is tied with Meighan Simmons for seventh place on UT’s career list of 20+ performances with 20 in her two years on Rocky Top. The top nine are Chamique Holdsclaw (83), Bridgette Gordon (58), Candace Parker (48), Tamika Catchings (27), Rennia Davis (23), Diamond DeShields (21), Rickea Jackson and Meighan Simmons (20), and Jordan Horston (16).
Two Lady Vols Boast 20+ Points
Rickea Jackson and Jewel Spear posted 20+ points apiece against the Wildcats, scoring 27 and 21 points, respectively. The last time two Lady Vols scored 20+ points in the same game also was against Kentucky (3/3/23), during the 2023 SEC Tournament, with Rickea Jackson and Jordan Horston putting up 34 and 21 points, respectively.
Fear Da Spear
For Jewel Spear, her season-best 21 points marked her second 20-plus point effort of the campaign. The Wake Forest transfer had opened the campaign with 20 vs. Florida A&M. Sunday’s effort was her eighth double-figure performance of the season, elevating her scoring average to 11.4 ppg. for the season and 14.0 ppg. during SEC play.
TK’s Block Party
Tamari Key blocked a season-high six shot attempts by Kentucky on Sunday, marking her most since swatting six vs. Mississippi State on Feb. 24, 2022. UT’s career leader in blocked shots now has 314 during her UT career and stands just seven from moving into a tie with LSU’s Sylvia Fowles (321, 2004-08) for eighth on the SEC career list. Key was honored before the UK game as the only Lady Vol to record 300 blocks or more during a career.
Offense Has Been Clicking
Tennessee has shot 50+ percent from the field in back-to-back SEC games for the first time since the 2019-20 season. The Lady Vols hit 50.0 percent vs. Auburn last game and a season-best 53.3 vs. Kentucky on Sunday. The last time UT did that, it knocked down 51.9 percent vs. Georgia on January 12th, 2020, and followed with 53.3 percent at Florida on January 17th, 2020.
These efforts have pushed UT to a 51.9 rate in league play (1st) and a 43.3 clip in all games (7th). UT also shot better than 50 percent in three different quarters vs. UK, hitting 50 in the first and second and a sizzling 69.2 in the final stanza. The UT Lady Vols also had three 50-percent quarters vs. Auburn (Q1: 50%, Q3: 60%, Q4: 50%) and Troy (Q1: 56.3%, Q2: 50%, Q3: 55.6%) this season.
Coming Up Big In The Fourth Quarter
Tennessee shot an impressive 69.2 percent from the field in the fourth quarter to secure its win over Kentucky, notching its second-best field goal percentage in a frame this season. The Lady Vols made shots at a 71.4 percent clip in the third quarter of the 2023-24 opener vs. Florida A&M (11/7/2023).
JP Dishing The Rock
Jasmine Powell posted nine assists vs. Kentucky, recording her seventh game this season with three or more assists and coming up just shy of her recently-recorded career high of 10 against Wofford (12/29/23). The guard has led the Lady Vols in assists in four contests in 2023-24 and paces UT with 46 for the year (3.5 apg.) and 11 in SEC play (5.5 apg., 3rd).
Holding Foes Under 40 Percent
For the fifth straight game, Tennessee held an opponent under 40-percent field goal percentage. Kentucky managed just 38.2 percent on Sunday and hit just 14.3 percent of its shots in the third (4-17) and fourth quarters (4-17). UT is holding opponents to 38.2 percent in all games and 35.7 percent in SEC contests.
UT-UF Series Notes
Tennessee is 25-2 vs. Florida in games played in Knoxville, 23-3 in Gainesville, and 8-0 at neutral sites.
UT is 3-1 in overtime contests vs the Gators, including 3-0 in Gainesville in those extra-frame tilts.
The Lady Vols have won eight of the past nine in the series.
Kellie Harper is 4-2 all-time vs. UF, including 4-1 as head coach of the Lady Vols.
Tamari Key’s 10 blocks vs. Florida in Knoxville on Jan. 31, 2021, as part of a triple-double rank as the second-most ever swatted in a game by a Lady Vol.
Tennessee finished with 14 total blocks vs. the Gators in that game, which is the second-most UT has ever recorded in a contest.
UT’s record for most free throws made in a game (40-46) came at Florida on 2/3/05.
A Look At The Gators
Florida features three players scoring in double figures on the year, including Aliyah Matharu (17.9), Leilani Correa (15.0) and Ra Shaya Kyle (12.4).
Kyle paces UF in rebounds at 9.2 per contest.
Matharu and Correa lead the Gators from beyond the arc, firing in 23 and 22 treys, respectively, while Alberte Rimdal has tallied 15.
Florida is surrendering only 64.9 points per game and allowing 37.4 percent field goal accuracy.
UF averages 9.6 steals per outing, forcing 18.3 turnovers per game.
About Florida Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley
Kelly Rae Finley is 49-31 in her third year at UF.
Her 2022-23 team reached the quarterfinals of the WNIT last season before falling.
In 2021-22, she was named the Maggie Dixon Rookie Coach of the Year by the WBCA.
Finley was also honored as USA Today Sports Network SEC Coach of the Year and a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award.
Florida’s Most Recent Game
On Sunday afternoon in Nashville, the Florida Gators were edged by Vanderbilt, 63-57, in their second SEC contest of the year.
The road game proved to be a challenge with significant foul trouble, as the Commodores found their way to the free-throw line 30 times at Memorial Gymnasium.
Leilani Correa and Aliyah Matharu paced the UF offensive attack, tallying 22 and 13 points, respectively.
Florida totaled 23 field goals to Vandy’s 18, but the Commodores outscored the Gators at the charity stripe, 23-8.
Last UT-UF Contest
Tennessee used a 26-16 third-quarter burst to pull away and claim a 74-56 victory over Florida in Knoxville on January 19th, 2023, to remain undefeated in Southeastern Conference women’s basketball play.
The UT Lady Vols won their eighth straight game and opened 7-0 in SEC play for the second year in a row. Those league starts are the best by UT since opening 13-0 in 2014-15.
Seniors Rickea Jackson and Jordan Horston led UT (15-6, 7-0 SEC), with Jackson turning in a game-high 16 points and Horston logging a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
UF (12-7, 1-5 SEC) was led by Ra Shaya Kyle and Kirsten Deans with 13 points each. Alberte Rimdal, who had 21 points the last time these squads met, was limited to 10 this time around.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
The Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team will hit the road for two games, beginning with a Sunday battle at Texas A&M.
The Lady Vols and Aggies will meet at Reed Arena at 4:00pm CT (5:00pm ET) in a contest televised by ESPN.
