GREENSBORO, N.C. – No. 8/9 Tennessee overcame an eight-point third-quarter deficit and grabbed a one-point lead with 54 seconds remaining before falling, 80-77, on Tuesday evening to No. 9/8 NC State in the Ro Greensboro Invitational at First Horizon Coliseum.
Freshman guard Mia Pauldo’s layup with just under a minute left lifted the Lady Vols (0-1) on top, 77-76, but the Wolfpack (1-0) answered with a fast-break bucket and a pair of free throws to close out the win in front of a crowd of 4,731.
Redshirt junior guard Talaysia Cooper paced UT with a 23-point, 11-rebound double-double and added game highs of seven assists and three steals on the day. Senior forward Janiah Barker, freshman guard Jaida Civil and Pauldo chipped in 15, 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Khamil Pierre led NCSU with 21 points and 14 rebounds, Tilda Trygger tossed in 19, Zamareya Jones added 18 and Zoe Brooks produced a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double.
The Lady Vols jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead, getting a game-opening three from Barker and a Mia Pauldo bucket from the paint. A Nya Robertson three at the 6:46 mark made it 8-6 Big Orange, but NC State outscored UT 15-9 over the next five minutes to carry a 21-17 lead into the 1:42 media timeout. Tennessee fell behind seven on a pair of Brooks free throws at the 1:38 mark, but a Civil three and Cooper layup off a steal from Deniya Prawl and a pair of free throws by Cooper pulled the visitors to within one, 25-24, after the opening period.
The Big Orange exploded to a 32-25 lead on an 8-0 run out of the quarter break via a Cooper layup, Barker jumper and a pair of Civil layups, the last coming after a steal by Kaniya Boyd to force a Wolfpack timeout with 7:27 remaining in the second stanza. After NCSU cut the margin to five a pair of times, a trey from Civil and a layup from Cooper propelled UT in front by 10, 41-31, with 3:33 left in the half. The Wolfpack, though countered with a 9-3 advantage the rest of the way to cut Tennessee’s lead to 44-40 at the intermission, with Cooper and Civil leading the charge with 17 and 10 points, respectively.
A pair of Mia Pauldo buckets extended the UT lead to seven, 47-40, just 22 seconds into the third quarter, but the Wolfpack responded with an 18-3 blitz to take a 58-50 lead and force a Lady Vols timeout with 5:04 remaining. After the break, Tennessee punched back, getting a Zee Spearman free throw, layups by Latham and Spearman and a Barker spin move in the paint to trim the gap to one, 58-57, with 3:05 remaining. After NCSU pushed the margin back to five, 62-57, with 2:26 to go, free throws by Civil and a three by Cooper sent the Lady Vols into the final frame down by one, 63-62.
The teams traded scores in the early part of the fourth, with a Barker layup trimming a four-point NC State edge to two, 69-67, by the 4:58 media timeout. Out of the break, Cooper hit a paint jumper, and then Mia Pauldo drained a trey from the top of the key to push her team back in front, 72-69, with 3:36 left. Jones, though, scored the next four points to put her team on top, 74-72 with 2:15 left. A Barker three-ball with 2:15 to go answered the Jones burst, but Jones hit a jumper to help the Pack retake the lead, 76-74, with 2:01 to go. Pauldo’s three at the 54 second mark would be her team’s final points of the contest.
UP NEXT
Tennessee returns home to host East Tennessee State at 6:30 p.m. on Friday at Food City Center. The contest will be streamed on SECN+ and carried on Lady Vol Radio Network stations and streamed on UTSports.com.
THE SEASON OPENER’S STARTING FIVE
Tennessee opened the year with a starting lineup of Janiah Barker, Talaysia Cooper, Mia Pauldo, Nya Robertson and Zee Spearman against the Wolfpack. Mia Pauldo is the first freshman to start for Tennessee since 2021 and the 24th all time. It marks the first career start as a Lady Vol for Barker, Pauldo and Robertson, as well as first collegiate for Pauldo. Cooper made her 28th start and Spearman her 24th at UT.
THAT FRESHMAN CAN BALL
In her Lady Vol debut, Jaida Civil scored 13 points, ranking third on the team in scoring. The last time a freshman scored in double figures for UT was Marta Suarez in 2020 against WKU.
COOP CAN HOOP
Talaysia Cooper filled up the stat sheet with 23 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. That marked her 13th time scoring 20+ and 30th time in double figures for her career. She led the team in points, assists, rebounds and steals. That marked her 15th time leading the squad in scoring and rebounding and her 23rd occasion in steals. Her double-double was her fourth.
EXECUTING IN CRUNCH TIME
NC State did not score a bucket from the field in the final two and half minutes of the third quarter. That marked a 5-1 run where the game was brought within a point difference.
CAUGHT FIRE IN THE HALF
The Lady Vols opened up the season with two 20+ point quarters. Continuing business as usual, as Tennessee scored 20 or more points in 94 of 136 quarters last season.
STARTED OFF ON FIRE
Talaysia Cooper started off the year on fire after posting 11 points in the first quarter. That continued her success last season after leading the team with 13 quarters where she personally scored 10 or more points.
