Tennessee (24-9 | 8-8 SEC) vs. Texas (33-3 | 15-1 SEC)
Saturday, March 29th, 2025 | 2:30pm CT / 3:30pm ET
Birmingham, AL | Legacy Arena | TV: ABC
Birmingham, AL – No. 5 seed and No. 20-ranked Tennessee (24-9) will meet No. 1 seed and No. 5/5-ranked Texas (33-3) in the NCAA Birmingham 3 Regional Sweet 16 on Saturday at 2:30pm CT (3:30pm ET).
The Lady Vols and Longhorns, who are both long-time rivals and first-year SEC foes, will face off at Legacy Arena in a contest televised by ABC and carried on Lady Vol Network radio stations as well as audio-streamed on UTSports.com.
Tennessee advanced to the round of 16 by defeating No. 12 seed South Florida in the opening round, 101-66, and then handed No. 4 seed and No. 15/13-ranked Ohio State its first home loss of the season, 82-67, on Sunday night in Columbus. During those two contests, the Big Orange averaged 91.5 points, 47.7-percent shooting, 13.0 three-pointers and 13.5 steals while forcing its two opponents into 23.5 turnovers per game. It held USF and OSU to 66.6 ppg.
The Lady Vols are led by Talaysia Cooper, a member of the John R. Wooden, Naismith and Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Watch Lists and the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List. The All-SEC Second Team and SEC All-Defensive Team selection puts up 16.8 ppg., 5.7 rpg., 3.2 apg. and 3.2 spg. and shoots 45 percent from the field. Cooper has 12 20+ scoring efforts in 2024-25 and averaged 19.5 ppg. over the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Also averaging double figures are fifth-year guard Jewel Spear (12.8 ppg., 77 3FGs), junior forward Zee Spearman (11.7 ppg., 6.0 rpg.), junior guard Ruby Whitehorn (11.5 ppg.) and senior point guard Samara Spencer (10.6 ppg., 4.7 apg., 65 3FGs).
Texas, meanwhile, is coming off scoring margins similar to Tennessee in its first two tourney contests, running away from William & Mary, 105-61, and taking care of Illinois, 65-48, to extend its homecourt winning streak to 24 games at the Moody Center in Austin.
The Longhorns are led by SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker, who produces 16.4 ppg. and 6.8 rpg. while shooting 46.7/42.4/83.7 from the field, arc and charity stripe. Taylor Jones averages 12.3 ppg. and 6.9 rpg. while hitting 59.6 percent, and SEC All-Defensive Team member Rori Harmon (9.3 ppg., 6.0 apg., 2.3 spg.) and Kyla Oldacre (9.2 ppg., 6.1 rpg.) are right behind them.
This marks the 44th all-time meeting between these programs and the second one this season, with Tennessee leading the series, 26-17. With head coach Kim Caldwell back in Knoxville after giving birth to son Conor on January 20th, Jenna Burdette confidently leading the staff and with several Lady Vols valiantly battling through flu-like symptoms, the Big Orange narrowly missed upsetting of the Longhorns in a 74-70 loss in Austin on January 23rd.
Broadcast Details
Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Debbie Antonelli (analyst) and Angel Gray (reporter) will describe the action for ABC.
All of the 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 also can be heard on Lady Vol Network stations and by audio stream, with Brian Rice providing play-by-play and Jay Lifford serving as 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 the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then click on the Vol Network Affiliates tab.
Air-time generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
The winner of Saturday’s game between Tennessee and Texas will advance to the NCAA Elite and the Birmingham 3 Regional Final.
The victor will meet the winner of Saturday’s other Birmingham 3 Regional Sweet 16 matchup between No. 2 seed TCU (33-3) and No. 3 seed Notre Dame (28-5).
That game will tip Monday at 6:00pm CT (7:00pm ET) on ESPN.
If UT advances to that round, the game will be available on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com.
