Hoops Central: SEC Tournament: #18/17 Lady Vols vs. Vanderbilt

No. 9 seed and No. 18/17-ranked Tennessee (22-8, 8-8 SEC) will meet No. 8 seed Vanderbilt (21-9, 8-8 SEC) in second round action at the 2025 Southeastern Conference Tournament in Greenville, S.C., on Thursday at 11 a.m. ET.

The Lady Vols and Commodores will face off at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in a contest televised on SEC Network and carried on Lady Vol Network radio stations as well as audio-streamed on UTSports.com. These teams met earlier this season in Nashville on Jan. 19, with Vandy claiming a 71-70 victory on a last-second put-back by Mikayla Blakes.

Tennessee got back on the winning track with a 77-37 blowout of Texas A&M on Wednesday, claiming victory for the fifth time in the past seven games. UT had its best defensive effort of the season, holding the Aggies to opponent season lows in points and field goal percentage (26.5). UT also got good news on the injury front, as All-SEC Second Team and All-Defensive Team performer Talaysia Cooper bounced back in strong fashion from a lower body injury suffered vs. Georgia on Sunday to lead all scorers with 19 points.

The Lady Vols have been led all season by 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 16.8 ppg., 5.7 rpg., 3.2 apg. and 3.0 spg. and shoots 45 percent from the field. Cooper has 11 20+ scoring efforts this season, including 25 at Kentucky on Feb. 27. Also averaging double figures are fifth-year guard Jewel Spear (13.1 ppg., 71 3FGs), junior forward Zee Spearman (11.7 ppg., 5.9 rpg.), junior guard Ruby Whitehorn (11.5 ppg.) and senior point guard Samara Spencer (10.4 ppg., 4.7 apg.).

Vanderbilt, which has a first-round bye, enters on a two-game winning streak after defeating Texas A&M and Missouri in succession. The Commodores, though, struggled down the stretch with a 3-5 record while playing arguably their toughest part of the schedule. VU is led by SEC Freshman of the Year Mikayla Blakes, who is averaging 23.3 points per game. She has scoring help from another big-time point producer and rebounder in Khamil Pierre (20.8 ppg., 9.6 rpg.) as well as from Iyana Moore (12.1 ppg.).

BROADCAST DETAILS

Sam Gore (play-by-play) and Nikki Fargas (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.

REPPING THE VOLUNTEER STATE

UT has five players who are from the Volunteer state.
Among active players this season, sisters Tess and Edie Darby are from Greenfield, Avery Strickland is from Knoxville and Destinee Wells is from Lakeland.
Kaiya Wynn, who hails from Nashville and attended Ensworth, is out for the season due to injury.
Tess Darby is one of UT’s career leaders in three pointers (5th, 221), three-pointers attempted (5th, 605) and three-point field goal percentage (11th, 36.5).
Darby’s 70 threes and 185 three-point attempts in 2023-24 rank No. 9 and No. 8 in Lady Vols history.

LADY VOLS VS. IN-STATE FOES

The Tennessee women are 266-63-1 all-time vs. four-year college teams from the Volunteer State through the 71-70 loss at Vanderbilt on Jan. 19, 2025.
The Lady Vols are 3-1 this season after beating UT Martin (Nov. 7) and MTSU (Nov. 12) at home and Memphis on the road (Dec. 18), and losing at Vandy (Jan. 19).
UT went 3-1 in 2023-24 as well (win vs. Memphis, loss vs. MTSU, wins vs. Vanderbilt and at Vanderbilt).
UT has won 38 of the last 41 over schools from within the state border, with the lone setbacks during that run being a 76-69 loss to Vanderbilt in Knoxville on Feb. 28, 2019, a 73-62 loss to Middle Tennessee in Huntsville, Ala., on Dec. 6, 2023, and a 71-70 loss to Vandy in Nashville on Jan. 19, 2025.

TENNESSEE IN THE SEC TOURNAMENT

Tennessee is 87-28 (.757) all-time in the 46th year of the tourney through the Texas A&M game.
On Wednesday vs. the Aggies, the Lady Vols improved to 41-5 all-time in their opening game of the SEC Tournament.
UT improved to 3-1 vs. Texas A&M in league tourney games and to 3-0 in SEC First Round contests.
Tennessee enters Thursday with an 8-2 record vs. Vanderbilt in SEC Tournament play.
The Lady Vols are 5-1 in tourney history in second round contests.
The Lady Vols, who were seeded No. 5 last season in this event, advanced to their fourth-straight SEC semifinal, falling at the buzzer to top-seeded South Carolina, 74-73, on March 9, 2024. UT is 24-13 in semifinal games through 2023-24.
UT also made its seventh consecutive appearance in the SEC quarterfinals last year and its league-leading 44th trip all-time, holding a 37-7 record.
Tennessee has won a league-leading 17 SEC Tournament championship trophies and is 17-7 in 24 title-game appearances.
UT won in 1980, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
The Lady Vols have been runners-up on seven occasions, including 1 982, 1990, 1991, 1995, 2003, 2015 and 2023.
UT last advanced to the title game in 2023 as a No. 3 seed, defeating No. 14 seed Kentucky in the quarterfinals, 80-71; and No. 2 LSU in the semifinals, 69-67; before falling to No. 1 seed South Carolina, 74-58, in Greenville.
Tennessee has had 15 SEC Tournament MVPs through the years.
Isabelle Harrison (2014), Glory Johnson (2012), Shekinna Stricklen (2011) and Alyssia Brewer (2010) were the past four MVPs from Tennessee.
The Lady Vols won the very first SEC Tournament title in 1980, defeating Ole Miss, 85-71, at Stokely Athletics Center in Knoxville.

BACK IN GREENVILLE

This marks the eighth time Greenville has played host to the SEC Tournament.
UT stands at 11-6 in games played in the city after defeating Texas A&M on Wednesday in the first round.
The Lady Vols have advanced to the semifinal round in Greenville five times (2005, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and made it to the championship game in two of those years (2005, 2023).
No. 2 seed Tennessee defeated #1 seed LSU in the tourney title game, 67-56, on March 6, 2005, the first time the event was held in Greenville.
Shyra Ely was named the SEC Tournament MVP that year, while Shanna Zolman and Brittany Jackson joined her on the all-tournament team.
UT beat Auburn in the second round (64-54) and Vanderbilt in the semifinals (76-73) that year.

SEC TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE

Tennessee entered the 2025 SEC Tournament with eight active players possessing experience in the SEC Tournament, including Talaysia Cooper, Edie Darby, Tess Darby, Jillian Hollingshead, Sara Puckett, Jewel Spear, Samara Spencer, and Avery Strickland.
Two Lady Vols also went to the SEC Tournament with other teams before transferring to UT, including Jillian Hollingshead with Georgia and Samara Spencer with Arkansas.
Zee Spearman, Ruby Whitehorn, Kaniya Boyd, Favor Ayodele and Destinee Wells added their names to the SEC experience list vs. Texas A&M.

INDIVIDUALLY SPEAKING

SUPER COOPER: Guard Talaysia Cooper is on three POTY watch lists and the Naismith Defensive POTY watch list, and she made the All-SEC Second Team and All-Defensive Team. She leads UT in scoring (16.8 ppg.) and steals (3.0 spg.), hitting double figures in points 26 times, carding 11 20+ efforts and notching 12 quarters of scoring 10 points or more.
SPEAR ON TARGET: Jewel Spear (13.1 ppg.) is one of the league’s top three-point threats, averaging 2.54 per game, making 71 total and hitting 39.2 percent to rank No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 among SEC players, respectively.
DISHING & SWISHING: Samara Spencer (10.4 ppg., 142 assts., 59 3FGs) ranks No. 4 in the SEC in asst./TO ratio (2.31), No. 5 in assts./apg. (142/4.73) and No. 11 in three-pointers made per game (1.97).
STEADY AS ZEE GOES: Zee Spearman has scored in double digits 20 times, including nine of the past 10 contests with averages of 11.7 ppg. and 5.9. rpg. for the season.
RUBY AT THE READY: Ruby Whitehorn is UT’s third-leading scorer at 11.5 ppg., tallying 10+ points in 20 contests and 15+ in 11 of them while shooting 45 percent from the field.

FROM A TEAM PERSPECTIVE

THIRD IN SEC HISTORY IN 3FGM: UT ranks No. 3 in SEC women’s history in three-pointers made in a season, hitting 303 over 30 games this season. UT is 11 behind the record of 314 set by Arkansas in 2020 and two behind the No. 2 mark of 305 set by the Razorbacks in 2023. Samara Spencer was part of that ’23 UA squad.
THIRD IN SEC HISTORY IN 3FGA: The Lady Vols also rank No. 3 in SEC women’s history in three-pointers attempted in a season, firing up 928 thus far. Arkansas ranks one-two in this category as well, carding a record 1,007 in 2023 and taking 969 threes in 2024, with Samara Spencer contributing to both of those totals.
SCHOOL RECORD TIED: Tennessee turned over Texas A&M 32 times on Wednesday, marking the eighth time this season UT had forced 30+. That equals the undefeated 1997-98 Lady Vol squad’s best of forcing 30+ on eight occasions.
PRESSING BUSINESS: Tennessee has prevented its foes from getting the ball over halfcourt in 10 seconds 30 times in 30 games after preventing Texas A&M from doing so four times on Wednesday.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

UT 14TH IN NET: UT is 14th in the NET and has wins over No. 1 UConn, No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 15 Alabama, No. 24 Fla. St., No. 28 Iowa, No. 32 Richmond, No. 33 Miss. St., No. 51 Middle Tenn., No. 54 Florida, No. 58 Auburn and No. 65 Missouri along with close losses to No. 2 So. Carolina, No. 3 Texas, No. 10 LSU (twice), No. 13 Okla. and No. 22 Vanderbilt.
SPEAR IN UT TOP 10 AGAIN: With three treys vs. A&M, Jewel Spear now has 71 for the season and the No. 9 single-season total in UT history. She bumped her previous No. 10 mark of 69 (2023-24) to No. 11.
COOPER NEARING STEALS TOP 10: With 91 steals this season, Talaysia Cooper stands just nine away from making the Lady Vol single-season top 10. Tamika Catchings holds the No. 10 spot with 100 even.
FIRST-EVER 50 TREY TRIO: Tennessee has its first-ever trio of players to hit 50 or more treys each in the same season. Jewel Spear (71), Samara Spencer (59) and Tess Darby (51) accomplished that feat when Darby hit No. 50 at Kentucky on Feb. 27.
SAM NEARING CAREER BEST: With 59 treys, Samara Spencer is six from tying her career best of 65 (2022-23, Arkansas).

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME

No. 18/17 Tennessee overcame a slow start and outscored Texas A&M by 42 points over the final three quarters to claim a 77-37 opening-round victory over the Aggies on Wednesday in the Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Redshirt sophomore Talaysia Cooper, who left UT’s regular-season finale on Sunday with a lower body injury, returned to action, coming off the bench to lead all scorers with 19 points while adding team highs of eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Fifth-year guard Jewel Spear and junior forward Zee Spearman added 11 points each, while senior guard Samara Spencer chipped in 10 for the No. 9-seeded Lady Vols (22-8).
The 16th-seeded Aggies (10-19), who lost their 11th-straight game, were paced by Sahara Jones, who produced a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double.

POSTGAME NOTES VS. TEXAS A&M

UT MATCHES 30-TURNOVERS FORCED RECORD: The Lady Vols tied the program record by forcing 30 or more turnovers in a game for the eighth time during the 2024-25 season. They now share the UT women’s record with the 1997-98 squad, which also forced 30 or more on eight occasions.
LOCKDOWN CENTRAL: The Big Orange defense limited Texas A&M to an opponent season-low 37 points and 27-percent shooting this season and forced 32 turnovers, marking the most committed by an SEC school vs. UT this season. The Lady Vols also enjoyed a 37-5 points-off-turnovers advantage.
UNDER PRESSURE: The Tennessee press forced the Aggies into four 10-second backcourt violations, running the season total for opponents to 30 in game 30 this season. The first 10-second infraction occurred at the 7:31 mark in the first quarter, the second with 21 seconds left in the second quarter, the third with 8:23 to go in the fourth and the fourth at the 5:40 point in the final frame. Wednesday’s total of four was one shy of the season-most five violations Western Carolina committed on Nov. 26.
RACKING UP STEALS: For the 16th time this season, Tennessee recorded 10 steals or more in a game. The Lady Vols recorded 10 takeaways, marking the second straight game they have hit that total after doing so with 10 against Georgia on Sunday.
SPEAR HITS UT THREES TOP 10 AGAIN: Jewel Spear knocked down three three-pointers against the Aggies to run her season total to 71 in 2024-25. That sum ranks Spear No. 9 on UT’s single-season treys list, passing the 69 Spear had last season (which falls to No. 11). Tess Darby’s 70 threes in 2022-23 now rank her No. 10 on the list.
FIFTEENTH DIFFERENT STARTING FIVE: Tennessee utilized its 15th different starting lineup of the season on Wednesday, with Jewel Spear, Kaniya Boyd, Zee Spearman, Tess Darby and Alyssa Latham opening the contest against the Aggies. Spearman started her 22nd game, while Spear notched her 21st, Darby her eighth and Latham and Boyd their fourth. Ten different players have been in the starting lineup for UT this season.

UT/VU SERIES NOTES

Tennessee leads the all-time series, 80-11, winning eight of the past nine meetings between the schools but falling in a trip to Nashville on Jan. 19, 71-70.
UT has won 18 of the past 20 contests vs. Vandy, dating back to 2014.
The Lady Vols are 37-1 vs. the Commodores in Knoxville, 33-8 in Nashville and 10-2 at neutral sites (all postseason).
These squads have been to overtime on one occasion, with Tennessee seizing a 92-79 decision in Nashville on Jan. 19, 1997.
Tennessee and Vanderbilt last met in the SEC Tournament on March 2, 2012, with the Lady Vols winning, 68-57, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

LOOK AT THE COMMODORES

SEC Freshman of the Year Mikayla Blakes averages 23.3 ppg. and leads the Commodores with 72 three-pointers thus far.
Khamil Pierre puts up 20.8 ppg. and yanks down 9.6 rpg., while Iyana Moore contributes 12.1 ppg.
VU is outscoring foes on average, 84.3 to 68.1 ppg., reaching 100 points on seven occasions this season.
Vandy shoots 45.3 pct. on FGs and 78.3 pct. on FTs.
The Commodores force 21.4 turnovers per game and grab 12.8 steals per contest.

ABOUT THE HEAD COACH

Shea Ralph is 72-57 in her fourth season at Vandy.
She guided Vanderbilt to its first NCAA Tournament bid since the 2014 NCAA Tournament in 2023-24 and posted the ‘Dores’ first NCAA win since 2013.
A seven-time NCAA champion as a student-athlete and coach, Ralph arrived at VU after spending the previous 13 seasons as an assistant at UConn.
While serving as a coach at her alma mater, Ralph helped guide the Huskies to 12 Final Four appearances and six national championships, including a record four straight titles from 2013-16.

VU’S LAST GAME

The Vanderbilt women’s basketball team cruised to a 100-59 win at Missouri on March 2 to close out the 2024-25 regular season.
Vanderbilt shot 55.6 percent from the floor and hit a season-high 15 3-pointers in the game. The 15 made treys tied for the second-most in a single game in program history.
the Commodores also forced Missouri into 24 turnovers, which gave Vandy a 33-5 edge in points off turnovers.
Mikayla Blakes led the Commodores with a 29-point performance against the Tigers, while Iyana Moore tallied 18 points and Khamil Pierre registered 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.

LAST TIME WE FACED VANDY

No. 15 Tennessee erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and seized a five-point lead with just over two minutes remaining before falling to Vanderbilt on Jan. 19 in Nashville, 71-70, on a last-second shot.
Mikayla Blakes’ tip-in with just under a second left gave the Commodores (15-4, 2-3 SEC) the win after the Lady Vols’ valiant comeback and ended an eight-game Big Orange winning streak in the series. UT fell to 15-3 overall and 3-3 in the SEC on the season.
Tennessee was led in scoring by redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper, who fired in 22 points. She was joined in double figures by junior forward Zee Spearman with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while fifth-year guard Jewel Spear and senior guard Samara Spencer tossed in 10 each.
Vanderbilt was led by 23 points from Mikayla Blakes. She had scoring help from Khamil Pierre and Iyana Moore with 21 and 17, respectively.

UP NEXT

The winner of the Tennessee-Vanderbilt game will advance to the quarterfinal round and face No. 1 seed South Carolina (27-3, 15-1 SEC) at noon ET on Friday.
The contest will be televised on ESPN and available on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com.