#7 Texas Escapes Upset Bid By #17 Lady Vols, Coach Caldwell is a New Mom
UT Sports

#7 Texas Escapes Upset Bid By #17 Lady Vols, Coach Caldwell is a New Mom

Posted on January 24, 2025

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 17/17 Tennessee gave No. 7/7 Texas all it could handle Thursday night at the Moody Center, but the Longhorns scored the game’s last four points and escaped with an 80-76 victory in Southeastern Conference play.

Junior guard Ruby Whitehorn’s runner helped the Big Orange (15-4, 3-4 SEC) tie the game at 76 with 44 seconds to go, but Texas (19-2, 5-1 SEC) grabbed the lead on a Madison Booker jump shot with 27 seconds remaining and clinched the contest with a pair of free throws by Rori Harmon with three seconds left.

Tennessee was led by Whitehorn, who fired in a season-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Junior forward Zee Spearman was the only other Lady Vol in double figures, chipping in 14 on 5-of-8 shooting. UT’s coaching staff was directed by assistant coach Jenna Burdette, who served as acting head coach with Kim Caldwell not making the trip after giving birth to a son, Conor Scott Caldwell, this week. 

The Longhorns had four players hit double digits in points, with Booker and Taylor Jones setting the tone with 26 and 21, respectively. Aaliyah Moore and Jordan Lee chipped in 11 and 10, respectively.

Tennessee was the aggressor early, shooting 56 percent and racking up three steals and forcing Texas into five turnovers to grab a quick 5-0 start and notch leads of six, at 10-4, and 12-6 before the 4:09 media timeout behind seven points from Whitehorn. The Longhorns cut the gap to one, 14-13, with 3:50 to go and 16-15 with 1:38 left, but the Lady Vols got layups by Jewel Spear and Talaysia Cooper in the final 54 seconds to claim a 22-20 edge after one.

Texas rang up the first six points of the second stanza to build a 26-22 lead by the 8:36 mark, but Tennessee got a free throw from Kaniya Boyd and a layup from Spearman to trim the margin to 26-25 before calling a timeout with 7:56 remaining. The Lady Vols surged back in front, 27-26, on a Whitehorn jumper and 30-28 on a Spearman three-pointer and stretched their lead to six again, 38-32, by the 4:25 mark on a free throw by Boyd and consecutive triples from Tess Darby and Sara Puckett. The Longhorns, though, used an 8-0 run to wrestle back the lead, 40-38, with 1:40 on the clock, and Spearman evened it at 40 with 1:26 to go before the home team tallied the last five points to take a 45-40 advantage into the locker room.

The Big Orange came out of the intermission scrapping, getting a pair of Whitehorn jumpers, a Spear floater, a Cooper free throw and an Alyssa Latham corner three to seize back the lead, 50-47, with 6:28 left in the third. The teams traded buckets until a Spearman layup sent her team into the 3:37 media break trailing by one, 55-54. A Hollingshead free throw right after the timeout evened things up at 55, but Texas responded by building a 59-54 gap with 1:27 to go. A Samara Spencer deep ball, though, propelled her squad back into the front, 61-60, before a Jones jumper sent the Burnt Orange squad into the final frame with a 62-61 edge.

Texas pushed ahead by five, 66-61, to open the fourth quarter, but the Lady Vols would not go away. A Latham trey, a pair of Whitehorn free throws and a Whitehorn jumper flipped the script with a 7-0 run and moved Tennessee up by two, 68-66, with 5:26 remaining. Texas countered on a Jones jumper, sending the teams into the 4:37 media timeout deadlocked at 68. A Cooper fast break layup lifted her team back on top, 70-68, with 4:22 left, and then Hollingshead sank a pair of free throws with 2:06 on the clock to put her team up, 72-70, and force a Longhorn timeout. Whitehorn tied the game up twice more at 74-74 on a pair of free throws with 1:16 to go and 76-76 with her runner at the 44-second mark, but Texas answered and closed out the narrow victory

UP NEXT: The Lady Vols are back home for their next game and will face a second-straight top-10 opponent, as No. 2/2 South Carolina comes to Food City Center for a prime time Monday night match-up. The Lady Vols and Gamecocks will meet at 7 p.m. ET on Jan. 27 in a contest televised by ESPN2. The game also will be available on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com.

3×100 FOR SAM:Samara Spencer surpassed 100 assists in a season for the third consecutive year, carding six against Texas on Thursday night to run her total to 105 in 19 games. Spencer spent the previous three seasons at Arkansas and dished out 154 in 2022-23 and 115 in 2023-24. She now has 470 for her career.

13 GAMES WITH A NEW FIVE: Tennessee has begun a game with 13 different starting lineups this season and 10 different players appearing in the first five. Jewel Spear, Samara Spencer, Talaysia Cooper, Ruby Whitehorn and Jillian Hollingshead opened the contest on Thursday evening against the Longhorns. Spencer leads the squad with 18 starts, followed by Whitehorn and Cooper who have 16 apiece. Spear tallied her 12th and Hollingshead appeared in the starting five for the first time this year.

DOUBLE-DIGIT RUBY: Ruby Whitehorn recorded her 16th game in double figures as a junior, firing in a season-high 21 points against Texas. The Detroit, Michigan, native netted a season-high eight field goals and tied her season best of four free throws. Whitehorn posted an 11-game streak of hitting 10 or more points, ranging from the Iowa contest on Dec. 7 to Mississippi State on Jan. 16. The junior has cracked 20 points twice this season, including two of the past three games, and carded one double-double thus far. 

Also, Lady Vols Head Basketball Coach Kim Caldwell is a mom. Tennessee Athletics says Caldwell did not travel with the team Texas for last night’s (Thursday) game. She and husband Justin are the proud parents of a new son, Connor Scott Caldwell. Mom, Dad and baby are doing well. University officials say Assistant coach Jenna Burdette will take over until Caldwell returns.

Country News

Weather

  • Forecast
  • Currents
  • Planner

Country News

#7 Texas Escapes Upset Bid By #17 Lady Vols, Coach Caldwell is a New Mom
UT Sports

#7 Texas Escapes Upset Bid By #17 Lady Vols, Coach Caldwell is a New Mom

Posted on January 24, 2025 by rcadle • 0 Comments

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 17/17 Tennessee gave No. 7/7 Texas all it could handle Thursday night at the Moody Center, but the Longhorns scored the game’s last four points and escaped with an 80-76 victory in Southeastern Conference play.

Junior guard Ruby Whitehorn’s runner helped the Big Orange (15-4, 3-4 SEC) tie the game at 76 with 44 seconds to go, but Texas (19-2, 5-1 SEC) grabbed the lead on a Madison Booker jump shot with 27 seconds remaining and clinched the contest with a pair of free throws by Rori Harmon with three seconds left.

Tennessee was led by Whitehorn, who fired in a season-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Junior forward Zee Spearman was the only other Lady Vol in double figures, chipping in 14 on 5-of-8 shooting. UT’s coaching staff was directed by assistant coach Jenna Burdette, who served as acting head coach with Kim Caldwell not making the trip after giving birth to a son, Conor Scott Caldwell, this week. 

The Longhorns had four players hit double digits in points, with Booker and Taylor Jones setting the tone with 26 and 21, respectively. Aaliyah Moore and Jordan Lee chipped in 11 and 10, respectively.

Tennessee was the aggressor early, shooting 56 percent and racking up three steals and forcing Texas into five turnovers to grab a quick 5-0 start and notch leads of six, at 10-4, and 12-6 before the 4:09 media timeout behind seven points from Whitehorn. The Longhorns cut the gap to one, 14-13, with 3:50 to go and 16-15 with 1:38 left, but the Lady Vols got layups by Jewel Spear and Talaysia Cooper in the final 54 seconds to claim a 22-20 edge after one.

Texas rang up the first six points of the second stanza to build a 26-22 lead by the 8:36 mark, but Tennessee got a free throw from Kaniya Boyd and a layup from Spearman to trim the margin to 26-25 before calling a timeout with 7:56 remaining. The Lady Vols surged back in front, 27-26, on a Whitehorn jumper and 30-28 on a Spearman three-pointer and stretched their lead to six again, 38-32, by the 4:25 mark on a free throw by Boyd and consecutive triples from Tess Darby and Sara Puckett. The Longhorns, though, used an 8-0 run to wrestle back the lead, 40-38, with 1:40 on the clock, and Spearman evened it at 40 with 1:26 to go before the home team tallied the last five points to take a 45-40 advantage into the locker room.

The Big Orange came out of the intermission scrapping, getting a pair of Whitehorn jumpers, a Spear floater, a Cooper free throw and an Alyssa Latham corner three to seize back the lead, 50-47, with 6:28 left in the third. The teams traded buckets until a Spearman layup sent her team into the 3:37 media break trailing by one, 55-54. A Hollingshead free throw right after the timeout evened things up at 55, but Texas responded by building a 59-54 gap with 1:27 to go. A Samara Spencer deep ball, though, propelled her squad back into the front, 61-60, before a Jones jumper sent the Burnt Orange squad into the final frame with a 62-61 edge.

Texas pushed ahead by five, 66-61, to open the fourth quarter, but the Lady Vols would not go away. A Latham trey, a pair of Whitehorn free throws and a Whitehorn jumper flipped the script with a 7-0 run and moved Tennessee up by two, 68-66, with 5:26 remaining. Texas countered on a Jones jumper, sending the teams into the 4:37 media timeout deadlocked at 68. A Cooper fast break layup lifted her team back on top, 70-68, with 4:22 left, and then Hollingshead sank a pair of free throws with 2:06 on the clock to put her team up, 72-70, and force a Longhorn timeout. Whitehorn tied the game up twice more at 74-74 on a pair of free throws with 1:16 to go and 76-76 with her runner at the 44-second mark, but Texas answered and closed out the narrow victory

UP NEXT: The Lady Vols are back home for their next game and will face a second-straight top-10 opponent, as No. 2/2 South Carolina comes to Food City Center for a prime time Monday night match-up. The Lady Vols and Gamecocks will meet at 7 p.m. ET on Jan. 27 in a contest televised by ESPN2. The game also will be available on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com.

3×100 FOR SAM:Samara Spencer surpassed 100 assists in a season for the third consecutive year, carding six against Texas on Thursday night to run her total to 105 in 19 games. Spencer spent the previous three seasons at Arkansas and dished out 154 in 2022-23 and 115 in 2023-24. She now has 470 for her career.

13 GAMES WITH A NEW FIVE: Tennessee has begun a game with 13 different starting lineups this season and 10 different players appearing in the first five. Jewel Spear, Samara Spencer, Talaysia Cooper, Ruby Whitehorn and Jillian Hollingshead opened the contest on Thursday evening against the Longhorns. Spencer leads the squad with 18 starts, followed by Whitehorn and Cooper who have 16 apiece. Spear tallied her 12th and Hollingshead appeared in the starting five for the first time this year.

DOUBLE-DIGIT RUBY: Ruby Whitehorn recorded her 16th game in double figures as a junior, firing in a season-high 21 points against Texas. The Detroit, Michigan, native netted a season-high eight field goals and tied her season best of four free throws. Whitehorn posted an 11-game streak of hitting 10 or more points, ranging from the Iowa contest on Dec. 7 to Mississippi State on Jan. 16. The junior has cracked 20 points twice this season, including two of the past three games, and carded one double-double thus far. 

Also, Lady Vols Head Basketball Coach Kim Caldwell is a mom. Tennessee Athletics says Caldwell did not travel with the team Texas for last night’s (Thursday) game. She and husband Justin are the proud parents of a new son, Connor Scott Caldwell. Mom, Dad and baby are doing well. University officials say Assistant coach Jenna Burdette will take over until Caldwell returns.