WBB Preview: #RV/RV Lady Vols at #6/6 LSU

Tennessee (16-10, 8-6 SEC) closes out the regular season this week with games against a pair of top-10 teams, beginning with a trip to Baton Rouge to face No. 6/6 LSU (24-4, 10-4 SEC) on Thursday evening.

The Lady Vols and Tigers will meet at 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET) at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The game will be televised by ESPN and available on the Lady Vol Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Ch. 381).

Tennessee is coming off a 100-93 loss at No. 11/9 Oklahoma on Sunday after being in a one-score game with 32 seconds remaining. UT challenged the Sooners despite its second-leading scorer, Janiah Barker, not making the trip to Norman.

LSU’s last contest was a 108-55 home conquest of Missouri on Sunday, with seven players scoring in double figures.

This is the 75th all-time meeting in the series between these programs, with UT holding a 53-21 edge. The Tigers have won the past three clashes, and the Lady Vols are seeking their first win in the PMAC since 2021.

BROADCAST DETAILS

• Ryan Ruocco (play-by-play), Rebecca Lobo (analyst)  and Holly Rowe (reporter) will be on the call for the ESPN 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 channel 381..

A LOOK AT THE LADY VOLS

• UT is ranked 22nd in the NET, 28th in the WAB and receiving votes in the AP & Coaches Polls.
• Tennessee is led by 6-0 redshirt junior guard Talaysia Cooper (16.0 ppg., 5.0 rpg., 3.8 apg., 2.8 spg., 53 3FGs), 6-4 senior forward Janiah Barker (14.4 ppg., 6.8 rpg., 34 3FGs), freshman guard Mia Pauldo (10.9 ppg., 56 assts./33 TOs, 40 3FGs) and senior forward Zee Spearman (10.2 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 22 3FGs).
• The Lady Vols rank No. 7 nationally in threes made per game (9.6), with 14 games of 10+ treys (8x in SEC play).
• UT is No. 17 nationally in offensive rebounds per game (15.5) and No. 60 in total rebounds per contest (39.88).
• Tennessee is No. 26 in NCAA scoring offense (77.6), including 75.5 in SEC games.
• The Big Orange is No. 32 nationally in turnover margin at 4.62.
• The Lady Vols are 38th nationally in steals per game (10.8), carding 10+ steals 14 times after grabbing an SEC-high 15 vs. Missouri.
• Tennessee is No. 42 in turnovers forced per game (20.12) and has caused 20+ turnovers 13 times this season.

TRENDING…

• Since Jan. 18, Tennessee is in a stretch of playing nine ranked teams in 13 games.
• By the time the regular season ends on Sunday, UT will have played eight of the top 10 teams in this week’s AP Poll.
• UT has hit 10 or more treys three games in a row and in seven of the past eight.
• Tennessee features four players (Nya Robertson, Janiah Barker, Talaysia Cooper and Zee Spearman) who have surpassed 1,000 career points.
• Janiah Barker (34) is six treys away from giving UT its first-ever quartet of players with 40 or more three-pointers.
• In addition to potentially reaching that first, Talaysia Cooper (53), Nya Robertson (52) and Mia Pauldo (40) also are trying to become the program’s second-ever trio with 50+ deep balls.
• After carding career highs of 21 points and 10 boards at Oklahoma, freshman Jaida Civil is UT’s No. 5 scorer (6.6) and No. 4 rebounder (4.1) in SEC play.
• Nya Robertson hit four treys and scored a personal SEC high of 18 points vs. the Sooners on Sunday, upping her 3FG% to 50 pct. (14-28) over her past five games.

A LOOK AT THE NET RANKINGS

• Tennessee holds tight at No. 22 in the NCAA’s NET rankings as of Feb. 24.
• The Big Orange’s next two opponents, LSU and Vanderbilt, are slotted at No. 5 and 7.
• The Lady Vols’ top NET victories are over current No. 16 Kentucky, No. 26 Alabama, No. 34 Georgia, No. 38 Mississippi State, No. 46 Stanford and No. 50 Florida.
• Tennessee’s losses are to NET rankings No. 1 UConn, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 South Carolina, No. 4 Texas, No. 12 Louisville, No. 15 Oklahoma, No, 20 Ole Miss, No. 23 NC State, No. 38 Mississippi State and No. 66 Texas A&M.

NCAA RANKS UT SCHEDULE THE TOUGHEST

• The NCAA’s Toughest Schedule Report as of Feb. 24 ranks Tennessee’s slate as the most difficult in the nation in 2025-26.
• Counting games played and games scheduled (cumulative opposition), Lady Vol foes currently possess a .684 winning percentage (514-238).
• The breakdown includes the No. 1 toughest for past opposition (465-231, .668) and No. 3 toughest for future opposition (49-7, .875), including LSU and Vanderbilt.
• Kim Caldwell entered 2025-26 with her team ticketed to play the top six teams in the AP Preseason Top 25, seven of the top 10 and 11 total ranked squads.
• The current (Feb. 23) AP Poll features eight of the top 10 teams in the country on the Lady Vols’ schedule, and the Top 25 includes 12 programs on UT’s 2025-26 slate.
• Through Feb. 24, the Lady Vols are 2-8 vs. teams that were in the top 25 at the time they played them.
• UT also has a win against current No. 23 Georgia, which was one spot outside the top 25 when the teams played.

A LOOK AT OUR LAST GAME

• No. 21/21 Tennessee put up a valiant fight at the Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday afternoon, but No. 11/9 Oklahoma went to the free-throw line 46 times and hit 36 of them en route to a 100-93 victory.
• The Sooners (21-6, 9-5 SEC) set Lady Vol opponent records of 36 free throws and 46 attempts, hitting 19 of 23 charity tosses alone in the fourth quarter to hold off a UT squad that sliced a nine-point lead to three with 32 seconds left. OU, which hit seven of nine attempts at the line in the final half minute, broke its own Tennessee opponent marks of 31 makes and 45 attempts established vs. UT on Nov 10, 2002.
• The Big Orange (16-10, 8-6 SEC) was led by 22 points from redshirt junior Talaysia Cooper and 21 points and 10 rebounds from freshman guard Jaida Civil. Senior guard Nya Robertson, who had a group of family and friends from Fort Worth, Texas, in the venue supporting her, connected on four of eight shots from beyond the arc and finished with 18.
• Oklahoma placed all five starters in double figures, including two players with 20-plus. Sahara Williams fired in 22 points and Aaliyah Chavez contributed 21, including a 10-of-10 day at the charity stripe. Raegan Beers, Payton Verhulst and Zya Vann chipped in 18, 17, and 15, respectively, with Beers carding a double-double with 18 rebounds.
• The Lady Vols are 2-1 at home vs. the Sooners, 1-1 away and 3-0 at neutral sites.
• UT is 0-1 vs. OU since the program from Norman became a member of the Southeastern Conference, including an 87-86 setback in Knoxville on Jan. 5, 2025.
• This marks the Big Orange’s second trip to Norman all-time for women’s basketball, with a No. 2/2 Lady Vol squad taking a 71-55 decision over a No. 13/15 Oklahoma team on Dec. 21, 2003.
• The other road contest in the series was a regular season game then-No. 2/2 OU hosted at what is now called the Paycom Center in OKC in 2009.
• A LOOK AT THE SOONERS
• The Sooners feature the No. 4 scoring offense in the nation, putting up 86.7 per contest.
• Five Oklahoma players have started all 26 games and average double figures in scoring, including Aaliyah Chavez (18.4), Raegan Beers (15.8), Sahara Williams (12.1), Payton Verhulst (11.9) and Zya Vann (10.5).
• OU ranks No. 1 in defensive rebounds per game and No. 3 in rebounds per game at 48.23.).
• ABOUT THE HEAD COACH

NOTES FROM THE OKLAHOMA GAME

• COOP CONTINUES TO EXCEL: Talaysia Cooper’s 22 points led the Lady Vols in scoring for the 11th time in 2025-26 and 25th time during her career. Cooper now has scored 20+ five times this season (including three times in the last four games) and 17 occurrences during her collegiate career. Additionally, it was Cooper’s 22nd time in double figures this campaign, leading the Lady Vols.
• CAREER NIGHT FOR CIVIL: Freshman Jaida Civil had herself a game, notching her first career double-double with a career-high 21 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. It marked the fourth time the freshman scored in double figures this season. Civil has been a menace on the boards as well, logging six or more caroms in nine games this season.
• HITTING FROM BEYOND THE ARC: The Lady Vols have now made 10+ threes on 14 occasions, which is the second-most times in school history. UT has hit at least 10 in seven of its last eight games. The Big Orange rank in the top ten nationally in threes made per game (9.6).

UT/LSU SERIES NOTES

• UT enters the 75th meeting in the series with a 53-21 advantage over the Tigers.
• The Lady Vols are 23-6 vs. LSU in Knoxville, 16-11 in Baton Rouge and 14-4 at neutral sites.
• Tennessee is 1-1 vs. LSU in overtime games. The last time the two teams went to an extra period was on March 1, 1997. The Lady Volunteers won that game 100-99 to advance to the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
• LSU won both meetings last season and is 6-5 in the teams’ past 11 contests.
• The Tigers, though, have emerged victorious in five of the past six match-ups vs. Tennessee and have claimed the last three battles.

A LOOK AT THE TIGERS

• LSU boasts the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation, averaging 95.5 points per game.
• The Tigers feature four averaging double figures in points, including Flau’jae Johnson (14.3), MiLaysia Fulwiley (13.9), Mikaylah Williams (12.9) and ZaKiyah Johnson (10.4).
• Four others average 8.9 ppg. or better, allowing LSU to also rank No. 1 in bench points per game (39.7).
• Kim Mulkey’s squad ranks No. 2 in rebounds per game (49.25), including No. 2 in offensive rebounds per contest (18.3) and No. 5 in defensive rebounds per game (31.0).
• Defensively, LSU allows 58.9 ppg. and only 33.7 percent shooting from its foes.

ABOUT THE HEAD COACH

• Kim Mulkey is in her fifth season at LSU (146-24) and 26th year overall (778-128) as a head coach.
• Leading the Tigers to the 2023 NCAA trophy, Mulkey became the first head coach in college hoops history to win national championships with multiple programs. She won at Baylor in 2005, 2012 and 2019, and did so with LSU in 2023.
• She played for UT legend Pat Summitt on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team that won gold in Los Angeles.

LSU’S LAST GAME

• Junior guard MiLaysia Fulwiley earned her first career double-double and paced the Tigers to a 108-55 victory over the Missouri Tigers with 22 points Sunday afternoon inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
• With Fulwiley’s 22 points and second-straight 20 point performance, she also grabbed 11 rebounds and collected her first career double-double in doing so. She also tallied four assists, two steals and three blocks.
• Freshman Zakiyah Johnson had a dominant day alongside Fulwiley, recording 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

LAST TIME WE MET 

• Playing its fourth contest in a five-game span against top-five ranked teams, No. 19/17 Tennessee went toe-to-toe with No. 6/4 LSU and grabbed a fourth-quarter lead before the Tigers prevailed, 82-77, in front of 11,154 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Feb. 9, 2025.
• The Lady Vols (17-6, 4-6 SEC) were led by 21 points from junior guard Ruby Whitehorn, while fifth-year guard Jewel Spear contributed 19, sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper 16 and junior forward Zee Spearman 15 in another narrow setback for the Big Orange against a gauntlet-like stretch of their schedule. Sophomore forward Alyssa Latham came off the bench to pace her team on the glass with eight rebounds.
• The Tigers (25-1, 10-1 SEC) also had four scoring in double figures, led by 23 from Kailyn Gilbert. She was aided by Mikaylah Williams with 16, Aneesah Morrow with 14 and Flau’Jae Johnson with 12.
• Morrow grabbed 14 rebounds to card a double-double for LSU, which connected on 20 of 22 attempts from the free-throw line, including eight of nine in the fourth quarter.

NEXT UP

• Tennessee returns home for its final contest of the regular season, as the Lady Vols host Senior Day vs. Vanderbilt on Sunday.
• The Lady Vols and Commodores will meet at Food City Center at 2 p.m. ET.
• The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN and also carried on Lady Vol Radio Network stations with audio streaming available on UTSports.com.