No. 11/11 Tennessee (21-6, 8-6 SEC) plays its second straight road game and opens its final week of the regular season at No. 15/14 Kentucky (21-5, 10-4 SEC) on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET in Memorial Coliseum.

The Lady Vols and Wildcats 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 (Chs. 106 & 190). UT has won its last four games and six of its past seven, defeating No. 5/5 UConn and No. 18/19 Alabama among others during that stretch and dropping a narrow road decision to No. 6/4 LSU for its only loss.

With two games to go before the league’s postseason tournament, Kim Caldwell‘s squad is 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, which now has its longest SEC winning streak of the Caldwell era, overcame foul trouble, tough shooting and an 11-point first-half deficit at Florida on Sunday, utilizing a 37-point third quarter to wrestle back control of the game and prevail, 86-78.

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 17.0 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 3.3 apg. and 3.1 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 (13.4 ppg., 66 3FGs), junior guard Ruby Whitehorn (12.5 ppg.), junior forward Zee Spearman (11.8 ppg., 6.1 rpg.) and senior point guard Samara Spencer (10.5 ppg., 5.0 apg.).

Kentucky has dropped three of its past five games, but it had No. 7 LSU on the ropes on Sunday with a 16-point first-half lead before the Tigers turned the tables and walked away with a 65-58 victory in Baton Rouge.

Leading the Wildcats are four players averaging double figures in points, including graduate guard Georgia Amoore (18.9), sophomore center Clara Strack (14.7), redshirt senior guard Dazia Lawrence (12.8) and junior forward Teonni Key (11.5), the sister of LVFL Tamari Key.

MORE INFO

GAMEDAY TIMES & BROADCAST INFO

Opponent: Kentucky
Date: Thursday, Feb. 27
Tip-off: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: Memorial Coliseum
Watch: SEC Network
Radio: Lady Vol Network
Online: Live Audio , Live Stats

TENNESSEE

Roster Schedule Game Notes

KENTUCKY

Roster Schedule Game Notes

THE LATEST FROM THE LADY VOLS

Cronan Receives WBCA’s Betty F. Jaynes Lifetime Achievement Award #15/13 Lady Vols Out-Wrestle Gators In Swamp, 86-78 #15/13 UT Tops #18/19 Tide, 88-80, To Notch 20th Win LVFL Holdsclaw Going Into Tennessee Sports Hall Of Fame

BROADCAST DETAILS

Sam Gore (play-by-play) and Tamika Catchings (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 channels 106 and 190.

THEY MEET AGAIN

Tennessee’s Kim Caldwell and Kentucky’s Kenny Brooks find themselves in different zip codes in 2025.
A year ago, Caldwell led Marshall to the NCAA Tournament in her lone season at the Huntington, W.Va., school.
Brooks, meanwhile, guided Virginia Tech to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth and final time during his eight seasons there.
Coaching the Power 4/ACC Hokies, Brooks had the upper hand as his squad ended Marshall’s season in the NCAA First Round, 92-49, at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg on March 22, 2024.
Fast forward, and the coaches are now in a top-15 national match-up with seedings in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments at stake.
Tennessee staff members who were part of that MU-VT match-up with Caldwell include: current assistant coaches Jenna Burdette and Angel Rizor and graduate assistants Mashayla Cecil and Maggie Stanley.

TENNESSEE VS. KENNY BROOKS

Tennessee was involved in four tight games with Kenny Brooks-coached teams at Virginia Tech, and the Lady Vols are 1-3 in those contests. This will be Kim Caldwell‘s first opportunity as UT’s head coach.
The teams last met in the 2023 NCAA Sweet 16 in Seattle, with the Hokies winning, 73-64, en route to the Final Four. Tess Darby and Sara Puckett played in that game for Tennessee, while Georgia Amoore starred for V.T.
The Lady Vols also dropped a 59-56 decision earlier in 2022-23 and beat the Hokies in Blacksburg, 64-58, in 2021-22, with Puckett playing in each of those games and Darby appearing only in the 2022-23 contest.

SEASON-HIGH NATIONAL RANKINGS

Tennessee climbed to season highs of No. 11 in both the AP and WBCA/USA TODAY Coaches Polls this week.
The Lady Vols haven’t been ranked that high in the AP Poll since they were 11th in the 2023-24 preseason poll.
In the coaches poll, UT finds itself in its loftiest position since it was slotted No. 4 in the 2022-23 preseason poll.

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 (17.0 ppg.) and steals (3.1 spg.), hitting double figures in points 24 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 15.4 ppg. in SEC play, hitting 42 of 84 three-point tries in league action (50 pct.) to run her total to 66 treys and average 2.64 per game to rank No. 2 in the league.
SMOOTH SAMARA: Samara Spencer (10.5 ppg.) ranks No. 24 nationally in assist/turnover ratio (2.44), is No. 39 in total assists (134), and is No. 38 in apg. (5.0) while ranking No. 51 in 3FG pct. (39.7) and No. 2 for Tennessee in 3FGs made (54).
ZEE COMING ON STRONG: Zee Spearman has scored in double digits 18 times, including the past seven contests when she has averaged 14.4 ppg. and 6.1 rpg.
GET A BUCKET, RUBY: Ruby Whitehorn is UT’s third-leading scorer at 12.5 ppg., tallying 10+ points in 20 games and 15+ in 11 of them.

FROM A TEAM PERSPECTIVE

PILING UP POINTS: The Lady Vols rank No. 1 nationally in scoring offense at 89.7 ppg., just ahead of SEC-record pace (89.2).
UT RECORD FOR 3s: UT ranks No. 1 nationally for 3FGs made per game at 10.5 (283 total) and broke the old Lady Vol single-season record of 242 (37 games in 2010-11) in only 23 contests this season.
CHASING SEC SEASON RECORDS: The Lady Vols are 283 of 835 on 3FGs, ranking No. 5 in SEC history for 3FGM and No. 4 for 3FGA in a season. Arkansas is No. 1 for 3FGM (314, 2019-20) and 3FGA (1,007, 2022-23).
TURNING OVER THE OPPOSITION: UT is No. 11 in turnovers forced per game (22.41) and No. 11 in T.O. margin (7.63). Florida had 21 miscues on Feb. 23 for the 16th 20+ T.O. game (7 were 30+) by a foe in 2024-25.
RACKING UP STEALS: UT is No. 16 nationally in steals per game (11.7). It has 14 games of 10+ steals and 317 total in 2024-25. It had 159 steals in 33 games in 2023-24.
TENN-ACIOUS PRESS: Tennessee has prevented its foes from getting the ball over halfcourt in 10 seconds 25 times in 27 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. 12 Ole Miss, No. 16 Alabama, No. 24 Fla. St., No. 29 Iowa, No. 33 Richmond, No. 34 Miss. St., No. 54 Middle Tenn., No. 55 Florida, No 56 Auburn and No. 61 Missouri along with narrow losses to No. 2 So. Carolina, No. 3 Texas, No. 10 LSU (twice), No. 14 Okla. and No. 25 Vandy.
THREE RANKED WINS: UT has three wins over ranked teams, including No. 5/5 UConn, No. 17/20 Iowa and No. 18/19 Alabama.
ONE DIME FROM 1,500/500/500: Samara Spencer has 1,651 pts., 521 rebs. and 499 assts., needing one dime to card a 1,500/500/500+ career stat line. Only five SEC women have done that since 1991-92.
SPEAR NEARS SEASON LIST: With 66 treys in 2024-25, Jewel Spear stands three 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.
ONE AWAY FROM 50 TREY TRIO: Tess Darby (49) is one three-pointer away from giving Tennessee it’s first-ever trio of players to hit 50 or more treys in the same season. Jewel Spear (66) and Samara Spencer (54) are already there.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME

Tennessee overcame 15 fouls and 22-percent shooting in the first frame and an 11-point second-quarter deficit to walk away with a hard-earned 86-78 road victory over Florida on Sunday at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
The Lady Vols (21-6, 8-6 SEC) trailed 37-26 just before the half, but they flipped the script with a 37-point third quarter to claim their fourth-consecutive victory. Redshirt sophomore Talaysia Cooper, who was restricted to two minutes of playing time over the first 20 minutes due to foul trouble, fired in 15 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 18. Junior forward Zee Spearman tossed in 16, while senior guard Samara Spencer contributed an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double, and fifth-year guard Jewel Spear and junior guard Ruby Whitehorn added 10 points each.
The Gators (14-14, 5-9 SEC) were paced by Ra Shaya Kyle with 19 points and 10 boards. Laila Reynolds and Liv McGill each contributed 17, while Jeriah Warren chipped in 10.

POSTGAME NOTES VS. FLORIDA

DEFENSIVE SUCCESS: The Big Orange defense played a key factor in the outcome, as it forced 21 turnovers. Sixteen of Tennessee’s foes thus far have committed at least 20 miscues. The Lady Vols capitalized with a 24-15 points-off-turnovers edge against the Gators. The Tennessee press resulted in one 10-second violation by the Gators, occurring with 56 seconds left in the first quarter for the 25th infraction of the season by an opponent.
KNOCKIN’ DOWN THREES: Tennessee carded its 16th performance of knocking down ten or more three-pointers in a single contest this season, hitting 10 against the Gators. Seven Lady Vols knocked down a three-pointer, with Samara Spencer, Alyssa Latham and Talaysia Cooper each draining two. Tennessee notched its highest three-point game against N.C. Central, draining an NCAA, SEC and school-record 30 treys. The Lady Vols have tallied 10 or more three-pointers against the following programs: N.C. Central (30), MTSU (15), Auburn (14), Liberty (14), Tulsa (14), Mississippi State (12), Memphis (12), Arkansas (12), LSU (11), Florida (10) Missouri (10), Western Carolina (10), Winthrop (10), Texas A&M (10), Oklahoma (10) and Samford (10).
30+ THIRD QUARTER: Tennessee carded a 37-point third quarter in the contest against Florida, which was its highest-scoring stanza in SEC play. Tennessee has scored 20 or more points in 81 of 108 quarters thus far. Tennessee has reached 30 points in a quarter on ten occasions, totaling 37 in the third quarter at Florida, dropping 34 in the first quarter and 30 in the second vs. Liberty, 31 in the second period vs. Western Carolina and 33 in the first, 36 in the second, 42 in the third vs. N.C. Central; 41 in the second vs. Tulsa and 35 in the first and 31 in the fourth vs. Winthrop.
SAM SECURES A DOUBLE-DOUBLE: Samara Spencer’s contributions helped propel the Lady Vols past Florida. Spencer charted 11 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and a steal. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida, native notched her third double-double of the season and the sixth of her career. Spencer’s other double-double efforts came against N.C. Central and Ole Miss.

UT/UK SERIES NOTES

Tennessee leads the all-time series, 61-16, and the Lady Vols carry a four-game winning streak vs. UK into Thursday night’s contest.
Tennessee has won six of the past eight over Kentucky, but the Wildcats have split their last four at home with the Big Orange.
The Lady Vols own a 27-4 mark against Kentucky in Knoxville, are 22-10 vs. the Wildcats in Lexington and are 12-2 in games at neutral sites.
In the Bluegrass, UT has a 21-8 record at Memorial Coliseum and a 1-2 mark in Rupp Arena.
Tennessee is 9-3 in SEC Tournament games vs. UK.
UT is 3-1 in overtime games vs. Kentucky, including 3-0 in Lexington and 0-1 in Knoxville.

LOOK AT THE WILDCATS

Kentucky is led offensively by Virginia Tech transfers Georgia Amoore (18.9 ppg., 7.0 apg.) and Clara Strack (14.7 ppg., 9.3 rpg.), who joined Kenny Brooks in making their way to Lexington from Blacksburg.
Also averaging double figures in points are Dazia Lawrence (12.8 ppg.) and Teonni Key (11.5 ppg., 8.3 rpg.), whose older sister Tamari was a standout at UT.
Moore (63), Lawrence (59) and Amelia Hassett (51) lead the Wildcats’ three-point totals beyond the arc.

ABOUT THE HEAD COACH

Kenny Brooks is 21-5 in his first year at UK and 538-209 in his 23rd season, spending 14 years at JMU (337-122) and eight years at Virginia Tech (180-82) before making the move to Lexington.
He led V.T. to the 2023 NCAA Final Four and has guided teams to 10 NCAA Tournaments.

UK’S LAST GAME

Georgia Amoore scored 16 points, but the 14th-ranked Kentucky women’s basketball team lost to No. 7 LSU 65-58 on Sunday inside Memorial Coliseum.
Freshman Clara Silva came off the bench to score 12 points while grabbing a career-high eight rebounds.
Kentucky (21-5, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) led by as many as 16 points in the first half, and held a 38-26 lead at the half. However, the Tigers outscored the Cats 23-6 in the third quarter to take the lead. UK would rally in the fourth quarter, briefly retaking the lead before seeing LSU close out strong to bring home the victory.

LAST TIME WE FACED KENTUCKY

Sara Puckett fired in 22 points, and Tess Darby recorded her first career double-double, pacing No. 5 seed Tennessee to a 76-62 victory over No. 12 seed Kentucky in the SEC Tournament Second Round on March 7, 2024, in Greenville, S.C.
Puckett connected on eight of 12 shots from the field for UT, including 4-of-6 accuracy from beyond the arc to pace the Big Orange’s offensive attack. Darby tossed in 10 points, including eight in the third period when UT began to separate from UK, and finished with a career-best 10 rebounds.
Jewel Spear added 10 points for the Lady Vols.
The Wildcats were led by Saniah Tyler, who tallied 17 points. Ajae Petty added 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Eniya Russell chipped in 11 points.

LAST TIME WE MET IN LEXINGTON

The Lady Vols cruised to an 83-63 victory over Kentucky to wrap up the regular season in Memorial Coliseum on Feb. 26, 2023.
Tennessee (21-10, 13-3 SEC) picked up its first win in Lexington since 2017 and first victory at Memorial since 2015, finishing with its highest conference win total since going 15-1 in 2014-15.
Rickea Jackson led UT with 21 points, while Jillian Hollingshead contributed 15 points.
Maddie Scherr paced UK with 27 points.

UP NEXT

Tennessee closes out the regular season at home on Sunday, as the Lady Vols play host to Georgia at noon ET at Food City Center.
Senior Day ceremonies will take place after the game this year, with the Lady Vol careers of Favor Ayodele, Tess Darby, Jillian Hollingshead, Sara Puckett, Jewel Spear, Samara Spencer and Destinee Wells being celebrated.
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.