No. 8/9 Tennessee (1-1) plays its third game in six days on Sunday, as it travels to Martin, Tenn., to take on the UT Martin Skyhawks at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET) in the Pat Summitt Heritage Classic at a sold-out Elam Center (4,300 capacity).
The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ and carried on the Lady Vol Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio.
The Lady Vols will take Pat Head Summitt Court Sunday on the heels of a 97-47 victory over East Tennessee State on Friday night in Knoxville, picking up their first victory of the 2025-26 campaign.
The Skyhawks, meanwhile, enter with an 0-1 record after losing their season opener at North Alabama, 57-54, on Nov. 3.
This will mark the second straight season these programs have met, after Tennessee raced to a 90-50 victory over UTM in Knoxville on Nov. 7, 2024. The Lady Vols hold a 15-2 all-time record vs. UTM and carry a 15-game series winning streak into the contest after the Big Orange lost the first two meetings vs. the Skyhawks in 1971 and 1972 when Pat Summitt was donning No. 55 for UTM.
BROADCAST DETAILS
- Chris Brinkley (play-by-play) and David Gregory (analyst) will describe the action for the ESPN+ live stream 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 and Jay Lifford serving as studio host.
- A link to the live audio stream can be found on the WBB Preview 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 on SiriusXM Satellite Radio channels 146 or 190.
LADY VOLS TO WEAR “SUMMITT BLUE” UNIS
- In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Title IX in 2022-23, Tennessee Athletics’ updated brand standards renamed the blue accent color historically associated with the Lady Vols “Summitt Blue.”
- The Lady Vols will be donning their alternate “Summitt Blue” uniforms on Sunday vs. the late, legendary Pat Summitt’s alma mater while playing on a court bearing her name.
- UT is 6-4 all-time wearing its “Summitt Blue” uniforms, including 1-1 in 2022-23, 3-1 in 2023-24 and 2-2 in 2024-25.
- All-time, the Lady Vols are 4-1 at home, 1-2 on the road and 1-1 at neutral sites through 2024-25.
- A section detailing the uniform’s roots and history can be found on page 11 of UT’s game notes.
SCHOOLS WITH A LEGEND IN COMMON
- Pat (Head) Summitt played basketball at UT Martin (1970-74) under head coach Nadine Gearin before graduating and coming to Knoxville to coach the Lady Vols.
- She was a member of UTM’s most successful basketball team, the 1972-73 squad that compiled a 22-3 record, and she scored 1,405 career points in helping the program to a 64-30 record during her time there.
- 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 in Knoxville, and also is honored with one on the UT Martin campus and also at Pat Head Summitt Legacy Plaza at Liberty Park in Clarksville, Tenn., as well.
- She 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 Head Summitt Court) and Cheatham County High School (Pat Summitt Gymnasium).
LAST TIME OUT
- Zee Spearman led four players in double figures, as No. 8/9 Tennessee raced to a 27-5 first quarter and never looked back en route to a 97-47 home-opening win over ETSU on Friday night at Food City Center in Knoxville.
- With a crowd of 10,671 looking on, Spearman finished with 24 points, including six from beyond the three-point arc and 11 from the free-throw line to pace a Lady Vol attack that scored 20+ points in each quarter. Talaysia Cooper added 18 points on the night, while Janiah Barker and Mia Pauldo contributed 15 and 12, respectively, for UT (1-1). Spearman and Alyssa Latham tied for the team high with six rebounds apiece.
- The Buccaneers (0-2) were led by Emmah McAmis and Paige Lyons, who shared team scoring honors with 10 points each.
- Tennessee forced 26 ETSU turnovers, converting those into 32 points with 20 coming via fast breaks. The Big Orange held the visitors to 28-percent shooting overall (14-50), including 18.8 percent from beyond the arc (3-16).
LADY VOLS VS. IN-STATE FOES
- The Tennessee women are 267-64-1 all-time vs. four-year college teams from the Volunteer State through the 2025-26 season opener vs. ETSU.
- The Lady Vols are in the midst of a four-game run vs. Tennessee schools, including East Tennessee State (Nov. 7), UT Martin (Nov. 9) and Belmont at home (Nov. 13) and on the road at Middle Tennessee (Nov. 20).
- They are also slated to entertain Vanderbilt on March 1 in the regular-season finale.
- The Lady Vols were 3-2 last 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) and vs. Vandy in the SEC Tournament (Mar. 6).
- UT has won 39 of the last 43 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, a 71-70 loss to Vandy in Nashville on Jan. 19, 2025, and an 84-76 defeat by Vanderbilt on March 6, 2025, at the SEC Tournament.
FAMILIAR FACES ON THE OTHER BENCH
- Tennessee’s next two games will find former Lady Vols on the opposite bench.
- UTM’s Destinee Wells was at Tennessee from 2023-25 before making the move to Martin in 2025-26. She appeared in 19 games for Tennessee during parts of two seasons, averaging 4.2 ppg. and 1.5 rpg., while dealing with a pair of devastating season-ending injuries. She did not play in the Skyhawks’ game vs. North Alabama.
- Belmont, meanwhile, features former Lady Vol and Knoxville native Avery Strickland, who has started both games for the Bruins and is averaging 9.0 ppg., 2.0 rpg. and 2.0 apg. thus far. She had 11 points in BU’s game vs. Brown on Nov. 7.
- Former Tennessee Lady Vol manager Virginia Stuart is a graduate assistant for basketball operations for Belmont.
STARTING FIVE
- Tennessee has opened the year with two different starting lineup combinations in two games.
- Janiah Barker, Talaysia Cooper, Nya Robertson and Zee Spearman have started both contests.
- Freshman Mia Pauldo was on the court for tip-off vs. NC State, while classmate Jaida Civil got the nod vs. ETSU.
- Mia Pauldo was the first freshman to start for Tennessee in an opener since 2021 and the 24th to do so all time.
- UT used 17 different starting lineup combos a year ago.
COOP OFF AND RUNNING
- Talaysia Cooper paces the Lady Vols in scoring (20.5 ppg.), rebounding (7.5), assists (3.5) and steals (3.0) through two games while playing 24.5 minutes per contest.
- She is shooting 51.7 percent from the field, 42.9 from three-point range and 75 percent at the charity stripe.
- In the opener vs. No. 9/8 NC State, she led Tennessee with her fourth career double-double, scoring a game-high 23 points and tying her career best with 11 rebounds.
- That scoring effort marked the 13th time the redshirt junior has hit 20 or more in her first 35 games at UT.
- Cooper also tied her career high with seven assists and added three steals in 31 minutes vs. the Wolfpack.
- Against ETSU, she fired in seven of 11 field goal attempts, including 4-of-7 accuracy beyond the arc, to finish with 18 points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks in 18 minutes of duty.
- The UT standout is on Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy and USBWA Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Year Preseason Watch Lists as well as the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award Preseason Watch List.
- An All-SEC Second Team (coaches & media) and SEC All-Defensive Team honoree a year ago, Cooper is a 2025-26 preseason All-SEC First Team pick by the coaches and a second-team choice by the media.
- She averaged 16.6 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 3.2 apg. and 3.1 spg. in 2024-25 in her first active season as a Lady Vol after sitting out the 2023-24 campaign following her transfer from South Carolina.
JB MAKING HERSELF COMFORTABLE
- Janiah Barker is averaging 15.0 ppg. and 3.5 rpg. in two games, firing in 15 points vs. both NC State and East Tennessee State.
- She is hitting 45.8 percent from the field, 33.3 percent beyond the arc and 71.4 percent at the free-throw line.
- Barker, who played previously at Texas A&M and last season at UCLA, is tied for third in three-pointers made (3) for Tennessee.
ZEE BREAKS OUT VS. BUCS
- Zee Spearman’s 24 points vs. ETSU marked the second time in her career she has scored 20 points or more, following a 25-point effort vs. Samford last season.
- It was the fourth time in two seasons she has led UT in scoring, and it was the 12th time leading UT in rebounds.
- The three treys Spearman hit also tied her career best for three-pointers in a game.
- Spearman ranks third on the team in scoring at 13.5 ppg. and is tied for first in rebounds at 7.5 rpg.
UT/UTM SERIES NOTES
- The Lady Vols hold a 15-2 all-time record vs. UTM.
- The Big Orange women are 6-1 at home, 3-0 on the road and 6-1 at neutral sites vs. UT Martin.
- Tennessee has an active 15-game series win streak.
- UT is 3-0 in games played in Martin, last visiting on Nov. 23, 1997, when the Big Orange prevailed, 73-32.
A LOOK AT UT MARTIN
- The Skyhawks enter Sunday with an 0-1 record after dropping their season opener at North Alabama, 57-54, on Nov. 3.
- UTM was picked sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference and is led by redshirt junior guard Kenley McCarn, who was All-OVC Second Team a year ago. She is averaging 16.0 ppg. after one game.
- Brittani Wells, whose sister Destinee spent the last two seasons at Tennessee and now is her teammate at UT Martin, enters averaging 10.0 ppg.
ABOUT THE HEAD COACH
- Kevin McMillan is in his 17th season as head coach at UT Martin and has compiled at 294-214 record.
- McMillan was named OVC Coach of Year in 2009-10, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2020-21.
- UTM won the OVC in 2011-12, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2019-20 and 2020-21 and the league tourney title in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.
- The Skyhawks made the NCAA Tournament in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2024, and they earned a bid to the Women’s NIT in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020 (canceled) and 2021.
THE SKYHAWKS’ LAST GAME
- Despite an 8-0 run over the final minutes of the game, UT Martin dropped its season opener at North Alabama, 57-54, on Nov. 3.
- The Skyhawks’ Kenley McCarn led all scorers with 16 points, while Brittani Wells had a solid debut for UT Martin with 10 points.
LAST TIME WE MET UTM
- Tennessee forced 31 turnovers and scored 48 points off those on its way to a 90-50 victory over UT Martin on Nov. 7, 2024, at Food City Center.
- The Lady Vols (2-0) were led by Ruby Whitehorn (18 pts., 14 rebs.), Jewel Spear (13 pts.) Sara Puckett (11 pts.) and Samara Spencer (10 pts.).
- The Skyhawks (0-2) were paced by Kenley McCarn, who had 13 points.
LAST TIME UT, UTM PLAYED IN MARTIN
- Chamique Holdsclaw scored 16 points and Tamika Catchings added 15 points and 12 boards, as No. 1 Tennessee claimed a 73-32 win on Nov. 23, 1997, as the Skyhawks honored their alum (1970-74) and the Lady Vols’ legendary coach (1974-2012) by naming their playing surface “Pat Head Summitt Court.”
NEXT UP
- Tennessee returns home to face Belmont (1-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET at Food City Center.
- The contest will be televised by SEC Network and can be heard on Lady Vol Radio Network stations statewide and via live stream on UTSports.com.
- The Lady Vols-Bruins clash will be UT’s Salute To Service game, recognizing active and retired members of America’s armed forces.
- Tennessee and Belmont will meet for the 12th time in series history, with BU holding a 5-6 lead and UT trying to even the count.
- The Lady Vols have won the last three meetings, including a 70-67 home victory in the NCAA Second Round on March 21, 2022.
