Tennessee (15-9 | 8-4 SEC) at Vanderbilt (19-7| 6-6 SEC)
Sunday, February 18th, 2024 | 1:02pm CT (2:02pm ET)
Nashville, TN | Memorial Gymnasium | TV: SEC Network
Knoxville, TN – The Tennessee women’s basketball team (15-9, 8-4 SEC) and Vanderbilt (19-7, 6-6) meet for the second time this season, clashing in Nashville on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Vols and Commodores will tip off at 1:02pm CT (2:02pm ET) inside Memorial Gymnasium in a contest televised by SEC Network.
UT will be playing its third game in seven days after opening with a home victory over Arkansas on Monday, 81-55, and pushing #1/1 South Carolina to the limit on Thursday night in Knoxville before falling to the Gamecocks, 66-55.
Through 12 league games played by Tennessee and Vanderbilt, the Lady Vols occupy third place in the SEC standings at 8-4, while the Commodores stand in seventh at 6-6.
Vanderbilt is coming off a hard-fought 49-45 win at Texas A&M, carding its second straight win after a stretch of five consecutive losses. VU’s schedule during the losing skid included Tennessee, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Alabama and LSU, while it has since played Georgia and the Aggies.
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.
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.
Season Reset
After functioning without All-America and SEC Player of the Year candidate Rickea Jackson for eight games from November 13th to December 10th and posting a 4-4 record during her absence, Tennessee has been a drastically different team since she was cleared following a lower leg injury.
The Lady Vols are 10-4 since Jackson returned to action and are in a season-best stretch where they have won 11 of their past 15 games and are currently third in the SEC standings.
Among those triumphs are top-65 NET victories over No. 28 Oklahoma, No. 31 Mississippi State, No. 55 Auburn, No. 58 Florida, No. 59 Vanderbilt and No. 64 Arkansas. The win over Okla. in November was without Rickea Jackson.
In addition to getting Jackson back, UT has been bolstered by the continued improvement of 6-foot-6 center Tamari Key. The school’s all-time leading shot blocker was sidelined after eight games a year ago due to blood clots in her lungs and understandably needed time to reacclimate to the rigors of the game.
Tennessee also has had to absorb the loss of reserve point guard Destinee Wells, who suffered a lower leg injury just prior to the Wofford game and is out for the season. Fifth-year standout Jasmine Powell has impressively picked up more of the load, and junior Kaiya Wynn has stepped up and provided a spark off the bench on both ends of the floor.
With the players available for the past 14 contests stepping into and accepting their roles, the Lady Vols have competed cohesively as a team, with different players each game emerging to provide valuable contributions in starring and support capacities.
For the second week in a row, the Lady Vols are receiving votes in the AP and USA TODAY/WBCA Coaches Polls.
Hoops History Between Harper, Ralph
The 2021-22 season brought a brand-new look to the Tennessee-Vanderbilt rivalry, as former Lady Vol standout Kellie Harper, who was then in her third year leading her alma mater, met then first-year Vandy skipper Shea Ralph, a UConn alum, for the very first time as head coaches.
It’s now year five at UT for Harper and year three for Ralph at VU, with Harper getting victories in the coaches’ five meetings as head coaches.
The duo’s careers at UT and UConn overlapped from 1996-97 to 1998-99, with Harper (then known as Kellie Jolly) helping lead UT to the second and third of three-straight NCAA titles in 1997 and 1998, while Ralph contributed to a UConn crown in 1999-2000 after Harper had graduated.
Harper was 4-2 as a player vs. UConn, including 3-1 in games when both were on the rosters of the respective programs.
Both coaches feature spouses on their staff, with Jon Harper serving as an assistant coach alongside his wife, Kellie, for the 20th season. Tom Garrick is Ralph’s husband, and he is in his third year as an associate head coach on her staff. SEC observers may also recall Garrick was an assistant at Vandy from 2009-15.
The Harpers have two children, including son Jackson and daughter Kylie. Ralph and Garrick have a daughter, Maysen.
UT-VU Connections
Tennessee junior guard Kaiya Wynn and Vanderbilt graduate guard Jordyn Cambridge each played their high school ball at Ensworth School in Nashville.
Wynn helped Ensworth to Division II AA state titles in 2019 and 2020 as a sophomore and junior before moving to Texas for her senior year.
Vandy sophomore Justine Pissott signed out of high school and played one season on Rocky Top before entering the portal and moving over to Music City.
Pissott appeared in 27 games in 2022-23, averaging 2.0 ppg. and 1.0 rpg. in 7.0 minutes per game.
UT Lady Vols vs. In-State Foes
The Tennessee women are 262-62-1 all-time vs. four-year college teams from the Volunteer State, and Kellie Harper is 18-1 in those matchups in her fifth season on Rocky Top through the home win over Vanderbilt.
The Tennessee Lady Vols are 2-1 in 2023-24 (win vs. Memphis, loss vs. MTSU, win vs. Vanderbilt), were 3-0 in 2022-23 (wins vs. Chattanooga and Vanderbilt (away and home), were 6-0 in 2021-22 (wins vs. Tennenness Tech, East Tennessee, Chattanooga and Belmont at home and vs. Vanderbilt on the road and at home) and were 3-0 in 2020-21, with wins over ETSU, Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee, with two games on the schedule vs. Vandy (home and away) canceled.
UT has won 18 of 20 over schools from within the state border and 34 of the last 36, with the lone setbacks during that run being a 76-69 loss to Vanderbilt in Knoxville on February 28th, 2019, and a 73-62 loss to Middle Tennessee in Huntsville, AL, on December 6th, 2023, while Rickea Jackson and Jillian Hollingshead were out with injuries.
UT Lady Vol Standout Stats
Rickea Jackson has tallied the sixth-most games in a career with 20+ points (22) at UT in only 51 contests.
The next two players ahead of Jackson on the list, Rennia Davis (23) and Tamika Catchings (27), achieved their totals over the course of 118 and 127 contests at Tennessee, respectively.
UT is 19-3 in games when Rickea Jackson tallies 20 or more points.
Jasmine Powell is three assists away from recording her third straight season with 100 or more dimes, playing the past two campaigns on Rocky Top.
The fifth-year guard enters Thursday’s game with 514 career assists, a total that would rank No. 5 all-time at Tennessee had she played her entire career here.
UT is 14-1 during games in which it out-rebounds its opponent and 10-1 when it holds its opponent to 69 points or fewer. The losses in those cases are to Florida State and South Carolina, respectively.
Tennessee has averaged 14.0 turnovers per game on the road this season, which is a better outcome than the 16.5 tpg. the Lady Vols have committed at home.
Milestone Watch
Rickea Jackson, who became the eighth Tennessee Lady Vol to surpass 2,000 career points on February 4th vs. Missouri, now has 2,054 and needs 10 to overtake seventh-place Meighan Simmons (2,064, 2010-14).
Jackson also is close to tallying 1,000 points exclusively as a Lady Vol, standing at 969 and only 31 away from that milestone in her second season here.
Jackson needs one more 20-point effort to reach 23 and move into a tie with Rennia Davis at No. 5 for most 20+ efforts in a career by a Lady Vol.
The fifth-year forward also needs only three rebounds to reach 700 for her career.
Tamari Key has 981 career points and is just 19 away from reaching the 1,000-point plateau.
Jackson and Key can become the 49th and 50th players to accumulate 1,000 points in a Lady Vol uniform.
Key, who is now tied for seventh on the SEC all-time blocks list with Martha Alwal (Miss. State, 328, 2011-15), now has 328 swats through the South Carolina game and is approaching sixth-place Aliyah Boston (SC, 330, 2019-23).
Tess Darby stands in eighth on UT’s career three-pointers list with 158 through the South Carolina game.
Darby is closing in on Brittany Jackson (161, 2001-05), Shekinna Stricklen (163, 2008-12), and Ariel Massengale (164, 2011-15), who are No. 7, 6, and 5, respectively.
The senior currently ranks No. 8 in career three-pointers attempted at 421, standing behind No. 7 Brittany Jackson (443, 2001-05).
Jasmine Powell is four assists away from tallying 100 for the third consecutive season. She had a career-best 116 last year and 108 in 2021-22 at Minnesota.
Kellie Harper won her 100th game as head coach of the Lady Vols when UT defeated Vanderbilt on January 21st.
Harper is now 12 shy of 400 for her career in 20 years.
The LVFL’s win over Missouri was her 50th vs. an SEC foe in her fifth season at her alma mater, and her victory over Arkansas came in her 150th game at UT.
Recapping The Last Game
The Lady Vols pushed No. 1 South Carolina to the limit, taking a tie game into the fourth quarter before falling to the undefeated Gamecocks, 66-55, in front of a season-high crowd of 11,073 at Food City Center.
Fifth-year forward Rickea Jackson fired in 19 points to pace Tennessee (15-9, 8-4 SEC) offensively, while junior forward Sara Puckett contributed 15 points, and fifth-year guard Jasmine Powell added 12 along with her team-high eight rebounds.
South Carolina (24-0, 11-0 SEC) was led by 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso, who notched a double-double effort of 18 points and 10 boards. Ashlyn Watkins added a double-double as well, tallying 14 points and 10 caroms, while Raven Johnson hauled down a game-high 15 rebounds.
Postgame Notes vs. South Carolina
Stifling Defense Out of the Gates: In the first half of Thursday’s game, the Lady Vols held the nation’s third-best scoring offense to just 25 points, its lowest-scoring half of the season. During the second quarter, the Gamecocks tallied 10 points which tied the lowest in a quarter this season and was the fewest in a second quarter. South Carolina shot 33.3% during the half and committed nine turnovers.
The Key To Defense: With two blocks vs. USC, Tamari Key moved into seventh all-time in the SEC for career blocks. The redshirt senior from Cary, North Carolina, has totaled 33 blocks in 2023-24 and 328 in her career.
Keeping Things Low: The Big Orange held the top-ranked Gamecocks to their SEC-low point total of 66 on Thursday night. The 66 points also stands as the second fewest by USC this season. Tennessee achieved that in part by keeping South Carolina at bay from deep, holding the visitors to another SEC-low two-made field goals from long range.
Sparking The Summitt: Tonight’s contest against the Gamecocks at Food City Center attracted 11,073 fans. The crowd was a season best and is the most for a UT home game since UConn visited on January 26th, 2023, with 13,804 spectators seeing the Lady Vols take on the Huskies. In addition, the attendance was the largest in an SEC contest since February 27th, 2022, when a crowd of 11,613 saw the Big Orange face off against LSU.
UT-VU Series Notes
Tennessee leads the all-time series, 79-10.
The Lady Vols are 37-1 vs. the Commodores in Knoxville, 32-7 in Nashville, and 10-2 at neutral sites (all postseason).
UT has won 17 of the past 18 contests vs. Vandy.
These squads have been to overtime on one occasion, with Tennessee seizing a 92-79 decision in Nashville on January 19th, 1997.
Harper also was 0-1 vs. VU at Western Carolina and 1-1 vs. the Commodores while at NC State.
The 84 points scored by the Lady Vols in Nashville last season were UT’s most in Memorial Gymnasium since defeating Vandy, 94-88, on February 15th, 2004.
A Look At The Commodores
Vanderbilt is led by a trio of players scoring in double figures, including Jordyn Cambridge (12.8), Iyana Moore (12.8 and Sacha Washington (12.2).
Washington and Cambridge pull down 7.6 and 6.2 rebounds per game, respectively.
Cambridge and Moore each have hit 39 threes, while Justine Pissott leads VU with 41.
Vandy generates 10.5 steals per contest and turns opponents over 17.9 times per game.
VU has hit 174 threes, with six different players knocking down 10 or more.
Vanderbilt’s loss to UT began a five-game skid, but the Commodores have countered with consecutive wins.
About Vanderbilt Head Coach Shea Ralph
Shea Ralph is 47-45 in her third season at Vanderbilt.
She guided the Commodores to their second-best start in school history at 17-2 before the UT loss.
A seven-time national champion as a student-athlete and coach, Ralph arrived at Vanderbilt after spending the previous 13 seasons as an assistant alongside Geno Auriemma at UConn.
While serving as a coach at her alma mater, Ralph helped guide the Huskies to 12 Final Four appearances and six national championships, including a record four straight titles from 2013-16.
Vanderbilt’s Most Recent Game
The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team picked up a hard-fought 49-45 win at Texas A&M on Thursday night to collect the program’s first victory in College Station since the 1997-98 season.
Khamil Pierce led the Commodores with 11 points, as Vandy ended the game on a 10-0 run.
Last UT-VU Contest
Tennessee won for the eighth time in its last nine games and improved to 5-1 in SEC play on January 21st, defeating Vanderbilt in Knoxville, 73-64.
The win marked Lady Vol head coach Kellie Harper‘s 100th “W” while leading her alma mater.
UT (12-6, 5-1 SEC) was led by Rickea Jackson and Jasmine Powell, who had 16 points each. Jackson added 10 rebounds for her third double-double, and Powell dished eight assists. Jewel Spear and Tamari Key contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Last Time We Met At Memorial
Tennessee remained perfect in SEC play, winning at Vanderbilt on January 8th, 2023, 84-71.
Rickea Jackson was the top scorer for UT with 23 points, while sophomore power forward Karoline Striplin posted a career-high 13, and senior guard Jordan Horston turned in 13 points to go along with eight assists and eight rebounds.
The Commodores were led by Ciaja Harbison who had a game-high 27 points. Marnelle Garraud and Sacha Washington were also in double figures with 19 and 13, respectively.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
Following Sunday’s clash against Vanderbilt in Music City, the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team will be idle next Thursday before welcoming #13/11 LSU to The Summitt on February 25th for a noon test from the Tigers.
The game will be televised by ESPN and carried on Lady Vol Network stations statewide and via live stream on UTSports.com.
