No. 15/13 Tennessee (20-6, 7-6 SEC) plays the first of two straight road games when it travels to Gainesville to meet Florida (14-13, 5-8 SEC) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

The Lady Vols and Gators will meet in a contest televised on SEC Network and carried on Lady Vol Network radio stations as well as audio-streamed on UTSports.com and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Ch. 81).

UT has won its last three games and five of its past six, defeating No. 5/5 UConn and No. 18/19 Alabama during that stretch and dropping a narrow road decision to No. 6/4 LSU. Kim Caldwell‘s squad finds itself in eighth place in the SEC standings with an opportunity to climb as high as fourth or fifth if it wins out and gets some help. Tennessee went 3-0 in a just-completed three-game home stand vs. Auburn, RV/RV Ole Miss and No. 18/19 Alabama, taking down the Crimson Tide, 88-80, on Thursday night to strengthen its NCAA NET rating and bolster its case for a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Lady Vols are led by redshirt sophomore guard 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. She puts up 16.9 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 3.4 apg. and 3.2 spg. while shooting 45 percent from the field. Cooper has 10 20+ scoring efforts this season. Also averaging double figures are fifth-year guard and SEC Co-Player of the Week Jewel Spear (13.6 ppg., 65 3FGs), junior guard Ruby Whitehorn (12.6 ppg.), junior forward Zee Spearman (11.6 ppg., 6.2 rpg.) and senior point guard Samara Spencer (10.5 ppg., 5.1 apg.).

Florida has won its past two games and three of its past five, knocking off Mississippi State, 69-66, last Sunday and crushing Texas A&M in College Station, 74-52, on Thursday night to get back over .500. Leading the Gators are four players averaging double figures in points, including freshman guard Liv McGill (16.5 ppg.), senior center Ra Shaya Kyle (14.9 ppg., 9.0 rpg.), senior guard Jeriah Warren (12.1 ppg.) and sophomore guard Laila Reynolds (10.6 ppg.).

MORE INFO

GAMEDAY TIMES & BROADCAST INFO

Opponent: Florida
Date: Sunday, Feb. 23
Tip-off: 1:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O’Connell Center
Watch: S EC Network
Radio: Lady Vol Network
Online: Live Audio , Live Stats

TENNESSEE

Roster Schedule Game Notes

FLORIDA

Roster Schedule Game Notes

THE LATEST FROM THE LADY VOLS

#15/13 UT Tops #18/19 Tide, 88-80, To Notch 20th Win LVFL Holdsclaw Going Into Tennessee Sports Hall Of Fame Caldwell Named To Naismith Coach Of The Year Watch List Spear Named SEC Co-Player of the Week

BROADCAST DETAILS

Courtney Lyle (play-by-play) and Carolyn Peck (analyst) will have the call for SEC Network.
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.
The Lady Vol Network broadcast also will be available via SiriusXM Satellite Radio channel 81.

INDIVIDUALLY SPEAKING

COOP IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Guard Talaysia Cooper, who is on three POTY watch lists and the Naismith Defensive POTY watch list, leads UT in scoring (16.9 ppg.) and steals (3.2 spg.), hitting double figures in points 23 times, carding 10 efforts of 20+ points and notching 11 quarters where she scored 10 or more during that frame.
SPEAR FOR THREE: Jewel Spear is enjoying her best stretch of the year, averaging 15.8 ppg. in SEC play, hitting 41 of 79 three-point tries in league action (52 pct.) to run her overall total to 65 treys and average 2.71 treys per game to rank No. 2 in the league.
SMOOTH SAMARA: Samara Spencer (10.5 ppg.) ranks No. 19 nationally in assist/turnover ratio (2.56), is No. 30 in total assists (133), and is No. 36 in apg. (5.1) while ranking No. 54 in 3FG pct. (39.7) and No. 2 for Tennessee in 3FGs made (52).
GET A BUCKET, RUBY: Ruby Whitehorn is UT’s third-leading scorer at 12.6 ppg., tallying 10+ points in 19 contests and 15+ in 11 of them.
ZEE COMING ON STRONG: Zee Spearman has scored in double digits 17 times, including the past six contests, and is averaging 14.1 ppg. and 6.2 over that six-game span.

FROM A TEAM PERSPECTIVE

PILING UP POINTS: The Lady Vols rank No. 2 nationally in scoring offense at 89.9 ppg., ahead of SEC-record pace (89.2). The lowest a Kim Caldwell team has ranked in ppg. is No. 4 while at Marshall in 2023-24 (85.3).
UT RECORD FOR 3s: UT ranks No. 1 nationally for 3FGs made per game at 10.5 (273 total) and broke the old Lady Vol single-season record of 242 (37 games in 2010-11) in only 23 contests this season.
CRASHING O-BOARDS: UT is No. 3 in the nation in offensive rebounds per game at 17.8. It has twice reached 30+ this season.
TURNING OVER THE OPPOSITION: UT is No. 11 in turnovers forced per game (22.46) and No. 11 in T.O. margin (7.62). Auburn had 21 miscues on Feb. 13 for the 15th 20+ T.O. game (7 were 30+) by a foe in 2024-25.
RACKING UP STEALS: UT is No. 15 nationally in steals per game (11.9). It now has 14 games of 10+ steals and 309 total in 26 games. It had 159 in 33 contests last year.
TENN-ACIOUS PRESS: Tennessee has prevented its foes from getting the ball over halfcourt in 10 seconds a total of 24 times in 26 games. UT forced only five violations the previous five years combined.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

UT 11TH IN NET: UT is 11th in the NET and has wins over No. 1 UConn, No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 16 Alabama, No. 26 Fla. St., No. 29 Iowa, No. 34 Richmond, No. 35 Miss. St., No. 51 Middle Tenn., No 57 Auburn and No. 65 Missouri along with close losses to No. 2 South Carolina, No. 3 Texas, No. 10 LSU (twice), No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 23 Vanderbilt.
SPEAR NEARS SEASON LIST: With 65 treys in 2024-25, Jewel Spear stands four away from cracking the UT single-season top 10 for the second time. She had 69 last season for the No. 10 total on that list.
COOP WILL TAKE THAT: SEC leader Talaysia Cooper ranks No. 7 nationally in steals (83) and No. 9 in steals per game (3.19).

UT NEARING FIRST-EVER 50-TREY TRIO

Tennessee has never had three players on the same team knock down 50 or more treys in a season, but Tess Darby is now just two away from making that happen.
Jewel Spear (65) and Samara Spencer (52) are there, and Darby is close with 48 entering the Florida game.
The trio became Tennessee’s first to hit 40 or more three-pointers each in a season since 2010-11.
Spear, Spencer and Darby accomplished that feat after Darby hit her 40th three at Missouri on Feb. 2.
The last time UT had three or more with 40+ deep balls, Angie Bjorklund (73), Meighan Simmons (63) and Shekinna Stricklen (42) accomplished that feat during the 2010-11 campaign.

SAM TWO DIMES FROM 1,500/500/500 STAT LINE

Samara Spencer is only two assists away from producing a career stat line of at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists that only five SEC women’s players since 1991-92 have recorded.
Spencer currently has 1,640 points, 510 rebounds and 498 assists between her time at Arkansas and UT.
She is trying to join Kelly Miller (Georgia, 2,177/711/639), Niesa Johnson (Alabama, 2,134/846/800), Khayla Pointer (LSU, 1,934/573/599), Jordan Lewis (Alabama, 1,581, 535, 510) and C’eira Ricketts (Arkansas, 1,537/664/516) in that limited club.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME

Fifth-year guard Jewel Spear led the way with 20 points, as No. 15/13 Tennessee claimed its 20th victory of the season with an 88-80 triumph over No. 18/19 Alabama on Thursday night in front of a crowd of 10,684 at Food City Center.
Spear hit four of six shots from the field and went 11 of 11 at the free-throw line to tally 20 or more points for the second straight game and for the fifth time this season. She helped the Lady Vols win their third consecutive contest and improve to 20-6 overall and 7-6 in SEC play with three games remaining.
Spear got scoring help from redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper and junior forward Zee Spearman, who tossed in 16 and 13, respectively, as the Big Orange scored the most points on UA all season. Texas is the only other team to break 80, doing so on Jan. 9 in an 84-40 win in Austin.
The Crimson Tide (21-6, 8-5), which saw its four-game winning streak snapped, had all five starters in double figures. Sarah Ashlee Barker led the way with 22, followed by Zaay Green with 16, Essence Cody and Aaliyah Nye with 13 each and Karly Weathers with 11.

POSTGAME NOTES VS. ALABAMA

JEWEL KEEPS WRITING HISTORY: Jewel Spear tallied 20 points against the Tide to place her at 2,143 career points. Spear officially passed Candace Parker (2,137) for No. 7 on UT’s career scoring list (including transfers). The Colony, Texas, native posted five rebounds, two assists and a block to accompany her double-figure scoring performance. She has knocked down 20 or more points on five occasions this season and 36 in her career. Spear carded her fifth consecutive double-digit contest, dating back to the UConn game on Feb. 6. The guard logged a perfect free throw percentage, netting 11 of 11 free throws. Her perfect free throw percentage ties for fifth place in program history.
20-DUB SEASON: Tennessee’s victory against Alabama marked the 48th time in program history that a Lady Vol team has recorded 20 or more wins in a season. Since 1974, when Margaret Hutson led UT to a then program-best 25-2 record, the Lady Vols now have had 48 20-win campaigns over 52 years.
CALDWELL KEEPS THE WINS COMING: Kim Caldwell carded her eighth 20-win season as a head coach and first as leader of the Lady Vols. The only season she didn’t reach 20 was during a 12-4 2020-21 year at Glenville State when the schedule was limited to 16 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has reached 25 wins six times and had 30 or more on four occasions.
HOT FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE: Tennessee carded its best free throw percentage in SEC play and its second-best of the season versus Alabama. The Big Orange posted an 88.9 percentage, sinking 16 of 18 shots at the line. Four Lady Vols knocked down a free throw, with Jewel Spear leading the charge, making all 11 she attempted. Tennessee notched its highest free throw percentage of the season against Liberty on Nov. 16, 2024. The Lady Vols etched a 94.4 percentage, hitting 17 of 18 attempts.
SCORING ON THE BREAK: Tennessee tallied its highest total of the season in fast break points, carding a 38-22 advantage vs. the Crimson Tide. UT’s previous best came in game one vs. Samford, when it generated 36 in transition. The Lady Vols had only one other game with 30+, generating 34 vs. N.C. Central.

UT/UF SERIES NOTES

Tennessee is 26-2 all-time vs. Florida in games played in Knoxville, 23-3 in Gainesville and 8-0 at neutral sites.
UT is 3-1 in overtime contests vs the Gators, including 3-0 in Gainesville in those extra-frame skirmishes.
The Lady Vols have won three straight and nine of the past 10 in the series.
They also have won eight of the last nine contests played at Exactech Arena.
Kim Caldwell is 1-0 vs. UF after her Marshall squad defeated the Gators in Huntington, W.Va. last season.
UT’s record for most free throws made in a game (40-46) came at Florida on Feb. 3, 2005.

LOOK AT THE GATORS

Freshman Liv McGill leads UF at 16.5 ppg. and 5.1 apg.
The Gators average 76.8 ppg. and allow 70.2 ppg.
Florida averages 18.0 turnovers in SEC play.
Center Ra Shaya Kyle shoots 61.4 pct. from the field.

ABOUT THE HEAD COACH

Kelly Rae Finley is 70-55 in her fourth year at UF.
Her 2022-23 team reached the quarterfinals of the WNIT before falling.
In 2021-22, she was named the Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year by the WBCA.
Finley also was honored as 2021-22 USA Today Sports Network SEC Coach of the Year and a semifinalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award.

UF’S LAST GAME

Florida secured win No. 14 of the season at Texas A&M, defeating the Aggies 74-52 on Thursday night and holding the Aggies to their season scoring low.
The road win was also UF’s sixth SEC victory, moving the Gators to 6-8 in conference play.
Florida’s 74 points were spread across nine players, and Liv McGill led all in scoring with 18 points.
Laila Reynolds led in rebounding for the first time in her sophomore season, securing nine of UF’s 34 rebounds, and was closely followed by Ra Shaya Kyle with eight.

LAST TIME WE FACED FLORIDA

Tennessee fended off a scrappy Florida team to extend its win streak to six games, taking an 88-81 home victory over the Gators on Jan. 11, 2024.
For the third straight game in SEC play, the Lady Vols overcame a double-digit deficit to claim victory, this time overturning a 12-point UF advantage in the second quarter. The Lady Vols converted on 16 of 18 free-throw tries in the final frame to seal the victory.
Tennessee (10-5, 3-0 SEC) was led by senior Jewel Spear and junior Sara Puckett, who each fired in 20 points. Spear shot 50 percent from the field and 91 percent from the charity stripe on 10 made free throws, while Puckett went 4-of-6 from behind the arc for a career-best four treys. Fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson added 18 points and eight rebounds.
Aliyah Matharu led Florida (9-6, 0-3 SEC) with 23 points, while Leilani Correa had 12, and Alberte Rimdal and Zippy Broughton each finished with 11.

LAST TIME WE MET IN GAINESVILLE

Rickea Jackson had a season-high 28 points and pulled down a game-high nine boards to propel UT to a 77-67 win at Florida on Dec. 29, 2022, to open SEC play.
Jackson was 10 of 13 from the field and eight of nine from the free-throw line, tallying 15 of her points in the second half.
Florida (11-3, 0-1 SEC) had four players in double figures, including Alberte Rimdal with 21, KK Deans with 16 and Nina Rickards and Ra Shaya Kyle with 11 each.

UP NEXT

Next on the schedule for the Lady Vols is a 7 p.m. ET Thursday contest vs. Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.
The contest will be televised on SEC Network and also will be broadcast on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com.