Tennessee (10-6 | 3-1 SEC) at Mississippi State (15-4 | 2-2 SEC)
Thursday, January 18th, 2024 | 4:00pm CT/5:00pm ET)
Starkville, MS | Humphrey Coliseum | TV: SEC Network
Knoxville, TN – The Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team (10-6, 3-1 SEC) wraps up a two-game stretch of road contests on Thursday evening, traveling to Starkville to face Mississippi State (15-4, 2-2 SEC).
The Lady Vols and Bulldogs are set to tip inside Humphrey Coliseum at 4:02pm CT (5:02pm ET) (time moved up) on SEC Network. UT will try to bounce back after seeing its six-game winning streak and unbeaten SEC start end on Sunday, as Texas A&M prevailed, 71-56, in College Station.
The current five-game stretch for UT includes four of those on the road, with the A&M and MSU contests and visits to Ole Miss and Georgia sandwiched around Sunday’s Vandy Knoxville visit. UT dealt with road woes after the A&M game, as winter weather foiled plans to fly home Sunday. The team arrived back in Knoxville just before 7:00pm Monday, catching a charter flight out of Austin.
Mississippi State, meanwhile, enjoyed a Sunday home win over Ole Miss, 69-57. The Bulldogs evened their league record at 2-2 after opening 0-2 with losses to Vanderbilt and South Carolina. Their other SEC win was vs. Arkansas (January 11th).
Broadcast Details
Sam Gore (PxP) and LVFL/former Tennessee head coach Holly Warlick (Analyst) will serve as the announce crew 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 30 minutes before tip-off.
Noting The UT Lady Vols
UT remains in a tie for second place in the SEC standings, joining LSU and Vandy at 3-1 through Sunday’s games.
Tennessee’s schedule is rated No. 31 in the NCAA’s Toughest Schedule Report.
The Lady Vols are No. 6 in that report for cumulative opposition (which factors past and future games this season).
The Tennessee Lady Vols are scoring 76.5 ppg. in SEC play, which ranks as the third-best offensive attack behind LSU (88.25) and South Carolina (81.25).
In all games, UT puts up 77.7, which stacks up 33rd in NCAA Division I.
Tennessee is third in league play at 43.5 rebounds per contest and ranks No. 12 nationally at 45.19 for all games.
Tennessee has been led in SEC play by the strong one-two punch of Rickea Jackson and Jewel Spear.
Sara Puckett’s shooting against SEC competition has been impressive. She is hitting 51.9 percent from the field, 54.5 percent from the arc (6-11) and 100 percent from the free-throw line (4-4).
Common Threads
Third-year UT assistant coach Samantha Williams and second-year Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell were assistants together for Jeff Walz at Louisville for seven seasons from 2013-14 to 2019-20.
Purcell, Williams, Kellie Harper, Jon Harper and strength coach Bryan Tatum have Auburn connections as it pertains to former Tigers head coach Joe Ciampi.
Purcell was a student manager (2000-03) and video coordinator/admin. assistant (2003-05) at Auburn.
Kellie Harper was on Ciampi’s staff (admin. asst., then asst. coach) from 1999-2001, while Jon Harper graduated from Auburn and spent three years as a practice player, manager and intern for Ciampi from 1996-99.
Samantha Williams played for the Tigers and Ciampi from 1992-96, connecting with Jon Harper during that time.
UT Lady Vol strength and conditioning coach Bryan Tatum worked with Auburn football from 2014-21.
MSU’s Jessika Carter and Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson were Bulldog teammates from 2019-22.
Recapping The Last Game
The Tennessee Lady Vols suffered their first SEC season loss on Sunday afternoon, falling to Texas A&M in College Station, 71-56.
Junior Sara Puckett led Tennessee (10-6, 3-1 SEC) with 12 points and seven rebounds. Senior Jewel Spear was close behind with 11 points, and fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson ended the day with 10 as UT saw its six-game winning streak come to an end.
Aicha Coulibaly was the high scorer for the Aggies (14-3, 2-2 SEC), finishing with 19 points. Sahara Jones and Endyia Rogers were also in double figures with 15 each.
Postgame Notes vs. Texas A&M
Puckett Production
Junior forward Sara Puckett led Tennessee in three statistical categories, carding 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Her five dimes tied her career and season highs (set vs. Liberty on Dec. 31, 2023) and stand as her best total vs. an SEC opponent. Her previous league high of four assists came on February 24th, 2022, vs. Mississippi State.
Spear From Deep
Senior guard Jewel Spear was second in scoring, rebounding, and assists for the Tennessee Lady Vols, totaling 11, 6, and 2, respectively. She knocked down a trio of three-pointers on five attempts, marking her highest total of long balls vs. an SEC foe and her most since swishing four vs. Wofford on December 19th.
Milestone Watch
Kellie Harper is two wins away from her 100th as head coach at UT and 17 shy of 400 for her career.
Against Liberty, Tess Darby hit six three-pointers and surpassed Taber Spani (143) and Shannon Bobbitt (147) to move into eighth place on UT’s career three-pointers list. She now has 150 through the Texas A&M game.
Darby now takes aim at Brittany Jackson (161, 2001-05), Shekinna Stricklen (163, 2008-12), and Ariel Massengale (164, 2011-15), who reside in seventh, sixth, and fifth, respectively.
Rickea Jackson surpassed 600 career rebounds vs. Liberty and is 174 points shy of scoring 1,000 as a Lady Vol. She has 1,911 for her career, including 826 wearing a UT uniform.
With a blocked shot vs. MTSU on December 6th, Tamari Key reached 300 for her career and became the ninth player in SEC history to hit that mark.
She also is 68 points away from becoming the 49th player in Lady Vol history to score 1,000 points here.
UT-MSU Series Notes
Tennessee has a 39-8 all-time record vs. Mississippi State after winning two of the past three meetings.
UT is 18-3 vs. MSU in Knoxville, 17-3 vs. the Bulldogs in Starkville, and 4-2 at neutral sites.
State has a 2-0 record in overtime games between these programs, winning a 65-63 affair in Starkville on Jan. 29, 2016, and a 91-90 double-overtime thriller at Humphrey Coliseum the last time these programs met on February 26th, 2023.
Kellie Harper is 2-2 in her career vs. Mississippi State, including 2-1 in Knoxville and 0-1 in Starkville.
Harper was 5-0 as a Lady Vol player vs. MSU from 1995-99.
UT and MSU have met six times in the SEC Tournament, with the Lady Vols owning a 4-2 record.
A Look At The Bulldogs
Mississippi State has four scoring in double figures, including Jerkaila Jordan (17.3), Jessika Carter (15.0), Debreasha Powe (10.9) and Lauren Park-Lane (10.4).
Powe has drained 42 threes, hitting 40 percent.
Carter paces MSU on the boards at 9.8 rpg.
The Bulldogs allow only 59.4 ppg. (69.0 vs. SEC).
State grabs 8.2 steals per contest.
About Mississippi State Head Coach Sam Purcell
Sam Purcell is 37-15 in his second season as head coach of the Bulldogs.
Last season, Purcell became the winningest first-year head coach in Mississippi State women’s basketball history at 22-11 overall and 9-7 in SEC play.
He also guided MSU to the NCAA Tournament after a three-year hiatus.
Purcell cut his teeth at Auburn (student manager/video coordinator/admin. assistant), Tulsa (assistant coach), Georgia Tech (video coordinator/assistant coach), and Louisville (assistant coach/associate coach).
State’s Most Recent Game
Graduate student center Jessika Carter finished with 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field with five rebounds in 37 minutes to lead Mississippi State to a 69-57 victory over rival Ole Miss inside Humphrey Coliseum on Sunday.
With the win, Mississippi State has won consecutive SEC contests and improved to 15-4 on the season.
Graduate student guard Lauren Park-Lane posted 13 points and a team-high eight assists in 35 minutes, while freshman guard Mjracle Sheppard added eight points and three assists in 22 minutes. All eight of Sheppard’s points came in the first half on a 4-of-4 effort from the field.
Mississippi State held Ole Miss scoreless over the final 5:52 minutes of action and ended the contest on a 13-2 run over the final 7:11.
Last UT-MSU Contest
The Lady Vols suffered a 91-90 loss to Mississippi State on Feb. 6, 2023, in a double-overtime thriller that featured 17 lead changes and 14 ties inside Humphrey Coliseum.
Senior Rickea Jackson doubled down to lead UT (17-9, 9-2 SEC), tying her season highs of 28 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Jillian Hollingshead recorded the first double-double of her career with 18 points and 12 rebounds, setting career highs in both categories. Junior Tess Darby was also in double figures, turning in 10 points on the night.
MSU (16-7, 5-5 SEC) was led by Jerkaila Jordan, who tallied 24 points. Asianae Johnson and Anastasia Hayes were also in double figures with 16 and 14, respectively.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
After its trip to Starkville, the Lady Vols return home to host in-state rival Vanderbilt on Sunday at 2:00pm CT before getting an open date on January 25th. SEC Network will televise the UT-VU contest.
The game vs. the Commodores is Tennessee’s We Back Pat game as part of the Southeastern Conference’s week-long initiative focused on bringing awareness and recognition to the Pat Summitt Foundation, a fund of East Tennessee Foundation, and its fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
