KNOXVILLE — RV/RV Tennessee is back at Food City Center on Thursday for its second home contest in three nights, as UT Martin pays a visit to Rocky Top. 

The Lady Vols and Skyhawks will meet on The Summitt at 6:30 p.m. ET in a contest streamed live on SECN+. The matchup is part of a string of six straight and seven of the first eight contests taking place in Knoxville at the outset of the 2024-25 campaign.

Tennessee carries a 14-2 series record into the game on Thursday night, with the UT system sister schools facing off for the first time since clashing in the NCAA First Round in Chicago on March 17, 2012. That last meeting between these teams came during the legendary Pat Summitt’s final season as Lady Vol head coach.

MORE INFO

GAMEDAY TIMES & BROADCAST INFO

• Opponent: UT Martin
• Date: Thurs., Nov. 7
• Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. ET
• Venue: Food City Center
• Watch: SECN+
• Radio: Lady Vol Network
• Online: Live Audio, Live Stats

RELATED LINKS

Buy Tickets Walk-Through Metal Detectors In Use Clear Bag Policy Gameday Info Follow @LadyVol_Hoops
 

TENNESSEE

 Roster ScheduleGame Notes 

UT MARTIN

 Roster Schedule Game Notes 

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BROADCAST DETAILS

• Myan Patel (play-by-play) and LVFL Niya Butts (analyst) will have 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 stations and by audio stream, with Brian Rice providing play-by-play.
• 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 click on the Vol Network Affiliates tab.
• Air-time generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.

GAME PROMOTIONS

• The UT Martin game features a Hoops For Hunger promotion, benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank.
• Fans who bring two canned goods to Food City Center for the Nov. 7 contest will receive a free ticket to the game.
• Otherwise, tickets are available at AllVols.com.

PARKING, TRAFFIC FLOW, ENTRY ALERTS

• Fans coming to campus looking to purchase basketball parking will do so on-site with a credit card for men’s and women’s hoops.
• Those parking in the G-10 garage are requested to enter from Neyland Drive.
• There is a free shuttle service from the Ag Campus for all fans. All shuttles are fully accessible for those with disabilities.
• The shuttle location on the Ag campus is on River Drive near the Brehm Animal Sciences Bldg. and across from the CF lot. 
• Shuttles begin two hours prior to tip-off. Return shuttles run until two hours postgame or until the Food City Center is cleared. 
• Accessible shuttle loading and unloading for those with disabilities is located next to Arena Din-ing. 
• For regular shuttles, the unloading and loading areas near Food City Center will be as follows: Prior to the game, regular shuttles will unload at Chamique Holdsclaw and Lake Loudoun Blvd. After the game, regular shuttles will load at Lake Loudoun Blvd and Phillip Fulmer Way.
• All tickets and Tennessee Fund parking passes are digital.
• Fans will again see walk-through metal detectors outside of all Food City Center entrances.  

PAT SUMMITT’S TIES TO UT MARTIN

• Pat (Head) Summitt played basketball at UT Martin (1970-74) before graduating and coming to Knoxville.
• She was a member of UTM’s most successful basketball team, the 1972-73 squad that compiled a 22-3 record.
• A native of Ashland City, Tenn., Head represented UT Martin as a member and co-captain of the U.S. Women’s Olympics Basketball Team that won a silver medal at the 1976 Montreal Games.
• She competed as a player and coach in numerous international tournaments and served as coach of the 1984 United States Women’s Olympics Basketball Team, leading the American squad to a gold medal during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
• Summitt served as head women’s basketball coach at  the University of Tennessee for 38 years (1974-2012), compiling a 1,098-208 record. Her victory total at the time of her retirement was the most in NCAA Division I men’s or women’s basketball.
• She led the Lady Vols to 18 NCAA Final Fours, eight NCAA championships, 16 SEC regular season titles and 16 SEC tournament crowns.
• A total of 34 of her student-athletes played in the WNBA, including 15 drafted in the first round and three chosen No. 1 overall.
• Summitt was born on June 14, 1952 and passed away on June 28, 2016, after a valiant battle against early-onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.
• Her hoops legacy lives on in her former players and staff members, many of whom have continued her work in the game at the high school, college, professional and international levels.
• She is fondly memorialized with the beautiful statue plaza that bears her name at the corner of Lake Loudoun Blvd. and Phillip Fulmer Way.
• Summitt has thoroughfares named after her on the UT (Pat Head Summitt Street) and UT Martin (Pat Head Summit Drive) campuses.
• She has basketball facilities named after her at UT (the court is called the “The Summitt”), at UT Martin (Pat Summitt Court) and Cheatham County High School (Pat Summitt Gymnasium).

LADY VOLS VS. IN-STATE FOES

• The Tennessee women are 263-62-1 all-time vs. four-year college teams from the Volunteer State through the road win over Vanderbilt on Feb. 18, 2024.
• The Lady Vols went 3-1 in 2023-24 (win vs. Memphis, loss vs. MTSU, wins vs. Vanderbilt and at Vanderbilt).
• They have four in-state regular season games slated in 2024-25, including vs. UT Martin (Nov. 7), vs. Middle Tennessee (Nov. 12), at Memphis (Dec. 18) and at Vanderbilt (Jan. 19).
• UT has won 19 of 21 over schools from within the state border and 35 of the last 37, with the lone setbacks during that run being a 76-69 loss to Vanderbilt in Knoxville on Feb. 28, 2019, and a 73-62 loss to Middle Tennessee in Huntsville, Ala., on Dec. 6, 2023, while Rickea Jackson and Jillian Hollingshead were out with injuries.

HOME SWEET HOME

• This is the 38th season that the Tennessee women’s and men’s basketball teams have called Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center home. The Lady Vols own a remarkable 520-60 record (.897) in the mammoth venue through the Samford game.
• The 500th win came on Jan. 1, 2023, via an 89-76 victory over Alabama.
• The Lady Vols have built a combined 673-84 (.889) home mark in contests played at Food City Center, Stokely Athletics Center and Alumni Gym as of 11/6/24.
• Kim Caldwell officially is 1-0 in games played on The Summitt through the Samford contest.
• UT finished last season No. 7 nationally in attendance, averaging 8,880 fans through 15 regular season home dates and ranks No. 4 in 2024-25 at 9,515 through one game at Food City Center.

LOOKING BACK AT THE WIN OVER SAMFORD

• The Tennessee women’s basketball team eclipsed the century mark in a season opener for just the sixth time in its illustrious history, cruising to a 101-53 victory over Samford Tuesday night in Kim Caldwell‘s debut as Lady Vol head coach.
• With a crowd of 9,515 looking on at Food City Center, five Big Orange players scored in double figures to lead the charge. Junior forward Zee Spearman racked up 15 points in the fourth quarter and finished with a career-high 25 to chart the second-highest total ever by a Lady Vol in her debut game. Redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper was next for Tennessee (1-0) with 19, followed by fifth-year guard Jewel Spear with 18, senior guard Samara Spencer with 12 and junior guard Ruby Whitehorn with 10. Spear drained four threes to aid her cause and help the home team card 10 long balls for the game. 
• Samford (0-1) was paced by four in double figures, with Claire Johnson tossing in 13, Emily Bowman and Kennedy Langham 12 each, and Annie Ramil 11. The Bulldogs, who were held to 35.7 percent field goal percentage and 15 percent (3-20) beyond the arc, committed 37 turnovers that led to 50 Lady Vol points on the night.

NOTABLES FROM THE LAST GAME

• TOO EAS-ZEE: Junior Zee Spearman excelled in the season opener, scoring a career-high 25 points and adding a career-high-tying two steals along with six rebounds. Spearman also hit a career-high 10 of 12 field goals. The Dacula, Georgia, native’s point total was the second-best ever by a Lady Vol in her debut game, and she became the fourth transfer in Lady Vol history and 10th player overall, including freshmen, to score 20 or more points in her first UT contest. Trish Roberts’ 51 points vs. Kentucky on Nov. 13, 1976, stands as the top total in a Big Orange debut. 
• THE CALDWELL EFFECT: Tennessee’s aggressive defense sparked 27 steals, which ranks as the No. 2 mark in Lady Vol history. That effort led to 37 Samford turnovers, which marked the most miscues by an opponent since Presbyterian had 39 on Nov. 11, 2018, in that season’s opener.  
• HITTING 100: Tennessee’s point total of 101 vs. Samford marked the sixth time in school history that the Lady Vols have scored 100 or more points in a season opener. The 101 points rank fifth all-time for the first contest of the year.
• BIG ORANGE DEBUTS: Transfers Zee Spearman, Ruby Whitehorn, Samara Spencer, Talaysia Cooper, Favor Ayodele and Alyssa Latham, and redshirt freshman Kaniya Boyd made their Lady Vol debuts during Tuesday night’s victory. The seven new faces combined for 73 points, 24 rebounds, 14 assists and 18 steals during Tennessee’s triumph.
• RACKING UP RUNS: The Big Orange put together three runs of 10 points or more vs. Samford. It was all Lady Vols in the first quarter, as Tennessee constructed a 10-0 spree against the Bulldogs. The Big Orange continued with another binge of points, bridging a 21-0 run between the first and second quarters. The Lady Vols later added a 13-0 run spanning the second and third quarters. 

UT/UTM SERIES NOTES

• Thursday’s contest will mark the 17th meeting between Tennessee and UT Martin in women’s basketball in a series that began in 1971. 
• The Lady Volunteers have forged a 14-2 all-time mark vs. the Skyhawks, with the Big Orange carrying a 14-game series winning streak into this year’s matchup.
• The Big Orange women are 5-1 at home, 3-0 on the road and 6-1 at neutral sites vs. UT Martin.
• UTM is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference, with the Lady Vols owning a 39-14 record vs. schools currently in that league.

A LOOK AT THE SKYHAWKS

• The UT Martin women’s basketball team has been picked to finish second in the 2024-25 Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll. The Skyhawks finished 16-17 overall, including 11-7 in league play, to finish in third place a year ago.
• Junior forward Anaya Brown and sophomore guard Kenley McCarn were named to the 2024-25 OVC Players to Watch List.
• The Skyhawks return four starters from a year ago, along with three other letterwinners. 
• That group brings with it 79.1 percent of UTM’s scoring and 72.4 percent of its rebounding in 2023-24.
• In addition to 2023-24 All-OVC first-teamers Brown and McCarn, 2022-23 All-OVC selection Shae Littleford returns to UT Martin for her junior year after missing the majority of last season due to injury. 
• Also returning for the Skyhawks is Lexi Rubel, who was sixth in the OVC in rebounding a year ago at 7.1 boards per game and fifth in assists per contest at 3.6.

ABOUT UT MARTIN’S HEAD COACH

• Kevin McMillan is in his 16th season at UT Martin, forging a 281-195 record there, including 189-70 in conference play.
• McMillan’s keen leadership in the OVC has been evident, as he was named OVC Coach of Year in 2009-10, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2020-21 and won the league in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. 
• The Skyhawks have reached the postseason in six consecutive seasons and 10 times overall under McMillan.
• UTM made the NCAA Tournament in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2024, and earned a bid to the Women’s NIT in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020 (canceled) and 2021. 
• During McMillan’s tenure, the Skyhawks have garnered 42 All-OVC selections, including 19 first-team honorees, nine second-team selections and 14 All-Newcomer picks. 

UTM’S LAST GAME

• The Skyhawks rallied from eight points down with just over a minute to play on Monday, but they came up short in the season opener, 66-63, to North Alabama.
• Anaya Brown led the Skyhawks in both scoring and rebounding in the game, with 16 and five, respectively. Kenley McCarn added 15 to the tally, while Shae Littleford had 11 and Daejah Richmond chipped in with 10.
• With six against North Alabama, the Skyhawks have made at least one 3-point field goal in 482 consecutive games, a streak which dates back to Feb. 3, 2009, against Austin Peay and currently, ranks 8th nationally.

THE LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET

• The last time these two teams faced off, Tennessee posted a 72-49 victory over the Skyhawks in Chicago, Ill., during the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 17, 2012.
• Meighan Simmons led the Lady Vols with 20 points, as she drained seven of 13 field goals and included 4-of-7 accuracy from deep.
• Glory Johnson was the only other Tennessee player in double figures, adding a double-double stat line of 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Big Orange with 6-of-10 accuracy from the field.

UP NEXT

• Tennessee is back at home next Tuesday, as RV/RV Middle Tennessee travels to Knoxville.
• Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m., with the game available for streaming on SECN+.
• That contest is the WBB Salute To Service game. 
• Current military members and veterans who present their Military ID or DD 214 at the gates upon entry receive complimentary admission for themselves and immediate family members
• The Lady Vol Radio Network broadcast may be heard on stations statewide and via the web on UTSports.com.
• Please purchase tickets at AllVols.com or by calling the Tennessee Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-332-VOLS or 865-656-1200.