Tennessee (15-8 | 8-3 SEC) vs. #1 South Carolina (23-0 | 10-0 SEC)
Thursday, February 15th, 2024 | 6:02pm CT / 7:02pm ET
Knoxville, TN | Food City Center | TV: ESPN
Knoxville, TN – The Tennessee women’s basketball team (15-8, 8-3 SEC) puts a seven-game home-court winning streak on the line Thursday night, as No. 1/1 South Carolina (23-0, 10-0) rolls into Food City Center with a perfect record in tow.
The Lady Vols’ second contest in a three-game week tips at 6:03pm CT on ESPN.
While the Gamecocks sit atop the SEC standings, UT comes into the contest tied with LSU for second place. The Big Orange moved back into that position after dominating Arkansas on Monday night in Knoxville via an 81-55 decision that featured an opponent’s lowest offensive output and second-lowest shooting percentage all season. In that game, Tennessee was +28 on rebounds, carding its second-best board total of the year with a 57-29 edge.
South Carolina, meanwhile, is coming off a resounding 83-65 home victory over No. 11/9 UConn on Sunday. The Gamecocks have an average scoring margin of +34.2 in 2023-24, including a +27.5 cushion over SEC foes, with a 76-70 triumph at LSU on January 25th serving as their closest test of the season.
Broadcast Details
Courtney Lyle (PxP), Stephanie White (Analyst) and Angel Gray (Reporter) will have the call for the ESPN 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.
UT Lady Vol Alumni Night / Honoring Nikki
Several LVFLs will be inside Food City Center on Thursday night, as Tennessee welcomes them back to Rocky Top for an alumni gathering.
Lady Vol alums will be recognized during the course of the evening.
The gathering also will serve as a chance for both basketball programs to honor Nikki McCray-Penson, who passed away from the effects of breast cancer on July 7th, 2023.
McCray-Penson starred at Tennessee from 1991-95 and went on to win gold playing on two U.S. Olympic Teams with Dawn Staley and later serving on the Gamecock head coach’s staff from 2008-17.
Game Promotions
There will be a replica jersey giveaway to the first 400 students.
Jasmine Powell will sign postgame autographs.
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.
The designated rideshare drop-off/pick-up area will be on Todd Helton Drive west of Food City Center.
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 are the same as in previous years.
Phillip Fulmer Way Closure Information
Due to construction and upgrades to Neyland Stadium, fans and media members should be aware of changes to 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 Blvd.
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 UT Lady Vols are 10-3 since Jackson returned to action and are in a season-best stretch where they have won 11 of their past 14 games and are tied for second in the SEC standings.
Among those triumphs are top-65 NET victories over No. 31 Mississippi State, No. 36 Oklahoma, No. 51 Florida, No. 56 Auburn, No. 58 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 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 13 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 and have moved to No. 43 in the NET rankings.
Familiar Faces
Tennessee guard Talaysia Cooper, who is redshirting this season, played her freshman year at South Carolina in 2022-23 before entering the transfer portal.
South Carolina assistant coach Jolette Law was an assistant at Tennessee on former head coach Holly Warlick’s staff from 2012-17 before moving to Columbia.
During that tournament, the American side faced Brazil, and South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso in Group A play and in the gold medal game, with Cardoso and a very seasoned Brazilian squad taking both contests against a U.S. contingent, made up of exclusively college players.
Jackson led the USA in scoring (14.6 ppg.), Spear led her team in three-pointers made (10) during the tourney, and Cardoso contributed 10.9 ppg. and 8.3 rpg. to her country’s cause.
UT Lady Vol Standout Stats
Rickea Jackson has tallied the sixth-most games in a career with 20+ points (22) at UT in only 50 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 five 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 513 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 outrebounds its opponent and 10-0 when it holds its opponent to 69 points or fewer.
Jewel Spear has hit three or more three-pointers four times in the past five games after doing so only five times over her first 18 games of the season.
The Lady Vols had their best 3FG shooting pct. (53.3) of the season vs. Arkansas.
Milestone Watch
Rickea Jackson, who became the eighth Lady Vol to surpass 2,000 career points on February 4th vs. Missouri, now has 2,035 and needs 29 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 950 and only 50 away from that milestone in her second season here.
The fifth-year forward also needs only 10 rebounds to reach 700 for her career.
Tamari Key has 979 career points and is just 21 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 eighth on the SEC all-time blocks list, now has 326 swats through the Arkansas game and is approaching seventh-place Martha Alwal (Miss. State, 328, 2011-15) and sixth-place Aliyah Boston (S.C., 330, 2019-23).
Tess Darby stands in eighth on UT’s career three-pointers list with 158 through the Arkansas 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 five 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
A 53-percent shooting percentage from behind the arc and a 21-point effort by Rickea Jackson lifted the Lady Vols to their seventh straight home triumph in a dominant 81-55 victory over Arkansas in Food City Center on Thursday night.
The 55 points represented the fewest scored this season by Arkansas, which entered averaging 73.1 per contest. It also tied as the fewest allowed by Tennessee in 2023-24, matching the total Liberty scored in a 90-55 loss to UT on December 31st.
Taliah Scott was the high scorer for Arkansas (17-9, 5-6 SEC) with 23 points, and Maryam Dauda turned in 10.
Postgame Notes vs. Arkansas
Rickea Hangs Another 20
Rickea Jackson finished with 21 points vs. the Razorbacks to tally 20 or more for the sixth time this season and for the 22nd time in her career. She ranks sixth all-time at UT and stands one game behind fifth-place Rennia Davis, who had 23 such efforts from 2017-21.
Tennessee is 19-3 (.864) in all games and 12-2 (.857) in SEC contests when Jackson scores 20 or more.
Nice Rebound By Jill
Jillian Hollingshead had arguably her best performance of the season, finishing with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. It marked her first double-figure scoring effort since Nov. 19, which actually was her last double-double as well with 18 points and 10 boards vs. Troy.
Hollingshead now has three double-double efforts for her career when factoring in last season’s 18/12 performance at Mississippi State. The effort vs. UA also marked her fourth game with 10 or more rebounds in 2023-24, including additional efforts vs. Florida A&M (12) and Wofford (10).
Pulling Down 50+
Tennessee recorded its sixth 50-rebound game of the 2023-24 campaign, pulling down 57 vs. Arkansas for its second most of the year. During the Harper era, UT has recorded 50 rebounds in a contest on 46 occasions in 150 total games, including six with 60+ boards.
The Big Orange’s previous year-by-year totals of 50-rebound games during Harper’s tenure include 11 in 2019-20, 7 in 2020-21, 15 in 2021-22 and 7 in 2022-23. UT’s 2023-24 games with 50+ boards: 63 (TROY), 57 (ARK), 56 (MEM), 52 (LIB), 50 (WOF, FLA).
Starting Fast
Tennessee raced to a 27-13 score after the game’s opening quarter, beating Arkansas 12-2 in the paint, 9-0 on fast breaks and 7-0 on second-chance points. The Lady Vols led by as many as 17 over the Razorbacks (27-10, :53), marking UT’s biggest first-frame lead of the season.
UT hit 10 of 20 shots (50 pct.) from the floor and four of six (67 pct.) from beyond the arc, with Rickea Jackson tallying 10 points and Jewel Spear eight over the first 10 minutes for the contest.
Dominating In The Paint
Tennessee used its size to dominate inside, out-performing Arkansas by a 34-16 points-in-the-paint advantage for the game. The Lady Vols burst out to a 22-4 scoring advantage in the lane in the first half, including 12-2 differentials in the first and second quarters.
The Razorbacks’ 16 paint points represented the lowest total by any team all season long, with 20 by Middle Tennessee and Wofford ranking as the previous low.
More Specialty Stat Bests
Against the Razorbacks, Tennessee limited its foe the fewest second-chance points (3) and fewest bench points (3) of any UT counterpart all year.
Slowing Down The Hogs
The Tennessee Lady Vols limited Arkansas to 55 points and 31.9-percent shooting. The point total was UA’s lowest of the season, and the 55 allowed tied for UT’s fewest given up this year with Liberty also tallying that total. The field goal percentage was the second lowest UT has surrendered, ranking second to Liberty (31.0) in that stat as well.
In the first half, Tennessee held the Razorbacks to 24 percent shooting and only 24 points. That halftime score tied for the fewest by an opponent this season, matching the 24 of Liberty on December 31st and Georgia on February 1st.
UT-SC Series Notes
Tennessee is 23-4 in Knoxville, 21-4 in Columbia, and 7-5 at neutral sites vs. South Carolina.
The UT Lady Vols are 3-4 vs. USC in the SEC Tourney.
UT is 5-5 vs. USC in the postseason and is 1-0 in OT, taking a 79-73 extra-frame decision over the Gamecocks in the Palmetto State on February 15th, 1996.
Tennessee captured the regular-season meeting three years ago, coming from 16-down and erasing a 15-point third-quarter deficit en route to toppling the No. 2/3 Gamecocks in Knoxville, 75-67, on February 18th.
Kellie Harper has a 2-8 record vs. USC as a head coach. She is 1-5 while at UT and was 0-1 at Western Carolina and 1-2 at NC State.
Harper was 5-0 vs. USC as a player, participating in the only OT game between these schools in 1996.
About the South Carolina Gamecocks
After losing all five starters from last season’s 36-1 NCAA Final Four squad, South Carolina has opened the season at 23-0 and won by an average margin of 34.2 points per game.
Kamilla Cardoso, a 6-7 center, leads South Carolina in scoring (13.8) and rebounding (9.8).
Guards Te-Hina Paopao (12.0) and MiLaysia Fulwiley (11.8) also average double-figure points.
Four other Gamecocks post nine points per game.
About South Carolina Head Coach Dawn Staley
Dawn Staley is in her 16th season at South Carolina, forging a 425-106 mark there.
USC has won seven SEC regular season and seven postseason tournament titles under Staley.
Staley won three Olympic gold medals as a player and guided the USA to gold in 2020 as head coach.
South Carolina’s Most Recent Game
Te-Hina Paopao scored 21 points with five three-pointers and Raven Johnson added 10 points and 12 rebounds, as No. 1 South Carolina pulled away early to win its fourth straight over No. 11 UConn 83-65 on Sunday.
The Gamecocks (23-0) won their 54th consecutive game at home and their second one this week without leading scorer and rebounder Kamilla Cardoso, who is playing in an Olympic qualifier in her home country of Brazil.
Ashlyn Watkins finished with 15 points, nine boards and three blocked shots while teammate Chloe Kitts had 14 points for the Gamecocks.
Last UT-SC Contest
Tennessee fell to No. 1/1 South Carolina, 74-58, in a hard-fought battle in the SEC Championship game on March 5, 2023, at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Jordan Horston was the high scorer for Tennessee (23-11, 13-3 SEC) with 19 points and nine rebounds. Rickea Jackson was close behind with 17 points, and sophomore Jillian Hollingshead also had another solid showing with nine points.
Zia Cooke led South Carolina (32-0, 16-0 SEC) with 24 points. Two-time SEC Player of the Year Aliyah Boston tallied 18 and Kamilla Cardoso had 13.
Last Time In Knoxville
The Lady Vols led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter, but No. 1 South Carolina bounced back and staved off a second-half rally to earn a 73-60 victory on February 23rd, 2023, on The Summitt.
Rickea Jackson was the top scorer for Tennessee (20-10, 12-3 SEC) with 21 points and five rebounds. Fellow senior Jordan Horston turned in a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Karoline Striplin added 11 points.
Unbeaten South Carolina (28-0, 15-0 SEC) was led by Zia Cooke with 19 points.
Next Up For UT Women’s Basketball
The Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team hits the road this weekend, facing Vanderbilt (18-7, 5-6 SEC as of February 12th) in Nashville on Sunday at 1:00pm CT (2:00pm ET).
The Lady Vols and Commodores are slated to meet at Memorial Gymnasium in a match-up televised by SEC Network and carried statewide on Lady Vol Network stations and streamed via UTSports.com.
UT won the first meeting between these teams this season in Knoxville by a 73-64 score on January 21st.
Following Sunday’s clash in Music City, Tennessee will be idle next Thursday before welcoming #13/11 LSU to The Summitt on February 25th.
