KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — In-state foes No. 7/10 Tennessee (10-1) and Chattanooga (2-11) will face one another on Monday, meeting for the first time since 2015 and for the 36th occasion in the series.

The Lady Vols and Mocs are set to tip off at 6:32 p.m. ET in Thompson-Boling Arena in a contest that will mark the final tilt before UT embarks on its SEC schedule.

The battle marks the fourth of five consecutive home games during the month of December for UT and the second of two straight match-ups against schools within the Volunteer State and who also are members of the Southern Conference.

Tennessee and Chattanooga enter Monday night’s test after some time at home for winter break. The Lady Vols closed out the first semester with a resounding 112-58 victory over ETSU in Knoxville on Dec. 20. At 10-1, UT is off to its best start since opening 12-1 in 2018-19.

UTC, meanwhile, comes to Knoxville looking for win number three on the year. The Mocs ended a nine-game losing skid on Dec. 20 when they handled UNC Asheville, 62-51.

Monday’s meeting features a reunion of former Chattanooga player and current head coach Katie (Galloway) Burrows and former Mocs assistants and current Tennessee staffers in head coach Kellie Harper and assistant Jon Harper.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• Bob Kesling (play-by-play), Madison Blevins Hock (analyst) and Kasey Funderburg (reporter) will be on the call for the SECN+ broadcast.
• 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 radio stations and by audio stream, with Mickey Dearstone behind the microphone. Now calling the action for his 23rd season, Dearstone is joined by studio host Bobby Rader.
• A link to the live audio stream can be found on each game’s Hoops Central page or the Lady Vol 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 click on Vol Network Affiliates.
• Air time for games on the Lady Vol Radio Network generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.

GAME PROMOTIONS

• Spark the Summitt!: Get $5 tickets for all price zones (excluding courtside), available in advance or on game day. Plus, $1 tickets are available for kids 12 & under. 
• Free parking and free shuttle service from the Ag Campus (Lot CF near Brehm & Food Science Bldgs.).
• For additional details and information, please call 865-974-1734 or visit the Fans tab on UTSports.com and click on the Fan Experience link.

LADY VOLS VS. IN-STATE OPPONENTS

• The Tennessee women are 254-61-1 all-time vs. four-year college teams from the Volunteer State, and Kellie Harper is 9-0 in those match-ups in her third season on Rocky Top.
• The Lady Vols are 2-0 this season (wins vs. Tenn. Tech and ETSU) and were 3-0 in 2020-21, with wins over ETSU, Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee, with two games on the schedule vs. Vanderbilt (home and away) canceled.
• UT has won nine in a row over schools from within the state border and 25 of the last 26, with the lone setback during that run being a 76-69 loss to Vanderbilt in Knoxville on Feb. 28, 2019.

ABOUT THE LADY VOLS

• The Lady Vols are one of the nation’s biggest stories of 2021-22, opening up at 10-1 against one of the NCAA’s toughest schedules despite losing returning starters Rae Burrell and Marta Suárez to injuries and opening the season with Jordan Horston on the sideline for a game.
• Tennessee is among the nation’s best at rebounding and defending, but its offense is emerging with different members of the team stepping up each game.
• Eleven different players have scored in double figures this season, including seven who have done so in multiple games. Kaiya Wynn and Karoline Striplin became the latest with 12 and 10, respectively, vs. ETSU.
• The Lady Vols have had at least one player record a double-double in every game through the contest with ETSU, led by Tamari Key with six (including a triple-double), Jordan Horston with five, Alexus Dye with two and Kaiya Wynn with one.
• That gives Tennessee 14 total double-doubles this year, surpassing the total of 13 in all of 2020-21.
• Over the last five games, there are four Lady Vols averaging double figures in points, including Sara Puckett (12.2), Alexus Dye (11.4), Tamari Key (11.0) and Jordan Horston (10.8).
• During that stretch, UT has a scoring margin of +20.2, a rebounding margin of +19.2 and 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio (93-78).
• UT has shown itself to be a tough, gritty team, coming from behind in the fourth quarter four times this season to win games (Southern Illinois, South Florida, Texas, Va. Tech). UT also came from 20-down in the second quarter vs. No. 3/3 Stanford, cutting the deficit to three in the second half with a 17-0 run spanning the second and third periods before eventually falling to the Cardinal.
• Tennessee is led by 6-2 junior guard Jordan Horston, who paces the team in scoring (15.1 ppg.) and assists (3.9 apg.), while ranking second in rebounding (9.4 rpg.) in a breakout season.
• Horston is second on the team with five double-doubles and has topped UT in scoring six times.
• Alexus Dye, a 6-0 forward, is second among active UT players in scoring at 9.8 ppg. She is third in rebounding at 8.5 rpg.
• Tamari Key, a 6-6 junior center, is putting up 9.5 ppg. and 9.5 rpg. to go along with 3.7 bpg. She had a triple-double of 10 points, 18 rebounds and 10 blocks in UT’s 74-70 OT victory over No. 12/21 Texas and her block average currently ranks No. 1 all-time among Lady Vols in a season and No. 4 in the nation. Key leads Tennessee with six double-doubles thus far, including four in the past six games.
• Reserve freshman guard/forward Sara Puckett is UT’s fourth-leading scorer. She is putting up 9.2 ppg. and is shooting 50.7 percent from the field, 40.0 percent on threes and 81.3 percent on free throws and has scored in double figures in the past four games and in five of the last six.
• Graduate forward/center Keyen Green, graduate guard Jordan Walker and sophomore guard/forward Tess Darby average 7.0, 6.8 and 4.1 ppg., respectively, with Walker and Darby starting alongside Key, Horston and Dye.
• Freshman point guard Brooklynn Miles is UT’s eighth active player averaging double-figure minutes at 21.7, and she was effective as a ball-handler and defender before becoming a scorer in game nine. She hit for a season-high 11 points vs. Georgia State on Dec. 12, hitting three of five field goal attempts.
• With career-best and double-figure efforts vs. ETSU, Karoline Striplin and Kaiya Wynn boosted their scoring averages to 4.1 and 3.4 ppg., respectively.

UP NEXT: SEC OPENER ON THURSDAY

• Tennessee plays its fifth of five straight December home games on Thursday, as Alabama comes to town to open SEC play.
• The Lady Vols and Crimson Tide will tip off at 6:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 30 in the final game of 2021 for both programs. The contest will be streamed on SECN+.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME

• No. 7/9 Tennessee took a commanding victory over in-state foe ETSU on Dec. 28, winning 112-58 in Thompson-Boling Arena before entering the holiday break.
• The score reflected UT’s highest point total since claiming a 131-69 triumph against Troy on Dec. 6, 2017, and is the most points scored in a single game during head coach Kellie Harper‘s tenure.
• Six Tennessee (10-1) players were in double figures, led by freshman Sara Puckett, who turned in a career-high 19. Junior Tamari Key was close behind with 16 points, and Keyen Green finished with 13, while Karoline Striplin set a career high with 10. Freshman Kaiya Wynn recorded her first double-double as a Lady Vol with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and graduate Alexus Dye notched 11 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.  
• Jakhyia Davis was the high scorer for ETSU (1-11) with 17 points, and Aaliyah Vananda tallied 12.

NOTABLES FROM OUR LAST GAME

• SEEING DOUBLE: Freshman Kaiya Wynn and graduate Alexus Dye each recorded double-doubles against the Bucs. At least one Lady Vol has recorded a double-double in every game this season for a team total of 14 on the year.
• DOMINATING THE PAINT: The Lady Vols scored a season-high 70 points in the paint and out-rebounded ETSU, 61-27. Tennessee has out-rebounded its opponent in 10 of 11 games this season and carded its sixth game of 50+ rebounds this season and second with 60 or more.
• BALANCED ATTACK: On the night, the Lady Vols had six players in double figures. It marked the first time UT had done that since doing so against Murray State on Dec. 28, 2018. Every active Lady Vol scored at least two points and grabbed one or more rebounds.
• BENCH BOOM: Tennessee’s bench tallied a whopping 74 of UT’s 112 points vs. ETSU. That’s at least the best of the post-Pat Summitt era, with research continuing prior to the 2007-08 season.

UT-UTC SERIES NOTES

• This marks the 36th meeting between these University of Tennessee sister schools.
• UT leads the series with Chattanooga, 27-8, but the Mocs have split the past four match-ups.
• Both of those Tennessee losses came at UTC’s McKenzie Arena, including 80-71 on Nov. 9, 2012, and 67-63 on Nov. 26, 2014.
• The Lady Vols were ranked #20/16 in 2012 and #4/5 in 2014.
• Tennessee owns a 15-4 mark at home after the #4/5 Lady Vols beat UTC, 59-57, on Nov. 23, 2015.
• The Lady Vols haven’t lost to Chattanooga in Knoxville since 1973.
• Tennessee is 68-20-1 all-time vs. teams currently in the Southern Conference, including a 112-58 home victory over East Tennessee State on Dec. 20.
• Kellie Harper and Jon Harper were assistant coaches on Wes Moore’s staff at Chattanooga from 2001-04 before Kellie was named head coach at Western Carolina.
• The Mocs won three straight Southern Conference championships and went to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments during those years.

ABOUT CHATTANOOGA

• The Mocs enter on a positive note after snapping a nine-game losing skid with a 62-51 win over UNC Asheville before the break.
• Chattanooga is led by 6-foot-2 junior forward Abbey Cornelius, who puts up 14.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while hitting 46.6 percent from the field and 82.8 percent from the free-throw line.
• Cornelius is one of six juniors on a squad featuring no seniors.

ABOUT THE HEAD COACH

• The Mocs are led by Katie Burrows, who is 41-56 in her fourth year as head coach.
• She spent the previous eight seasons as an assistant at UTC first with Wes Moore and then five seasons with Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Jim Foster.
• Burrows led UTC to the 2019-20 SoCon title.
• Kellie and Jon Harper were assistants at Chattanooga (2001-04) during part of Burrows’ (then Galloway) time there as a player for the Mocs.

LAST TIME THE MOCS PLAYED

• Chattanooga put together a pair of runs to start each half and led wire-to-wire on Dec. 20 at The McKenzie Arena, defeating UNC Asheville, 62-51.
• Dena Jarrells led all scorers with a career-best 19 points, making 8-of-11 from the field including a pair of 3-pointers. Abbey Cornelius recorded her third double-double of the year with 12 points and a season-best tying 16 rebounds. Brooke Hampel, who experienced early foul trouble, was 6-of-6 from the field with 13 points in just 16 minutes.
• UTC got off to a 14-0 start and led 20-6 at the end of the first half.

WHEN UT AND UTC LAST MET

• After leading by as many as 23 points, #4 UT had to fend off hard-charging Chattanooga, 59-57, on Nov. 23, 2015, at Thompson-Boling Arena.
• After trailing by double figures for most of the night, the Mocs used a late 22-4 run to cut their deficit to two points three times in the fourth quarter. Tennessee was able to hold on, though, thanks to Diamond DeShields’ best game as a Lady Vol. The preseason All-American scored 17 points, including four of her team’s final six.
• Sophomore Mercedes Russell scored in double figures for the fourth time in as many games with 13. Senior Bashaara Graves tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds for her third straight double-double.

-UT Athletics