KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Nya Robertson was in a zone on Sunday, knocking down a school-record 10 three-pointers and tying her career best with 32 points as No. 15/13 Tennessee cruised past Coppin State, 88-35, at Food City Center and picked up its NCAA-best 1,500th all-time win.
Robertson, a 5-foot-7 senior guard from Fort Worth, Texas, connected on 10 of 16 attempts from beyond the arc, breaking the previous UT women’s best of nine threes, set last season by Samara Spencer vs. NC Central on Dec. 14, 2024, and tying for third in SEC history with that total. Her 16 tries from long range rank second in Lady Vol annals.
The Lady Vols (5-1), who won their fifth straight game and saw their all-time record improve to 1,500-398, also got 19 points from senior forward Janiah Barker, 11 from redshirt senior guard Talaysia Cooper and 10 from senior forward Zee Spearman. Cooper finished with a game-high 11 rebounds, and her career-high nine assists and seven steals left her just shy of UT’s sixth triple-double and within range of the program’s first quadruple-double.
The Eagles (1-5), who committed 36 turnovers on the afternoon, became the first team since Howard on Dec 29, 2019, to finish without a player scoring in double figures vs. the Big Orange. Shanaii Gamble had eight points to lead CSU, while Patricia Sosa Lora pulled down 10 rebounds.
Tennessee grabbed early 2-0, 4-0 and 7-5 leads on a fall-away shot by Barker, a Cooper jumper and a Mia Pauldo three, respectively, but Coppin State scored five points on three turnovers and forced a UT timeout after Princess Nwachukwu hit a rebound bucket to knot things up at 7-7 with 6:47 to go in the opening stanza. After a course correction during the break, the Lady Vols unleashed an 11-0 run, ignited by treys from Robertson and Kaniya Boyd, and capped by another Robertson deep ball to make it 18-7 with 4:27 to go. After CSU shaved the deficit to five, 18-13, the home team outscored the Eagles 5-2 the rest of the way to take at 23-15 edge into the second stanza.
The Big Orange built its biggest lead of the game, 29-15, after a pair of Barker layups and another score by Mia Pauldo off three Coppin State turnovers, forcing the Eagles to ask for time with 7:49 remaining in the second period. The Lady Vols pushed the gap to 20, 37-17, by the 3:49 mark, getting another Robertson three to fuel that spree. The Big Orange enhanced the advantage to 24 by the break, getting a pair of buckets by Spearman and a Robertson jumper to take a 45-21 lead into the locker room after scoring 31 points on 22 CSU miscues.
Tennessee boosted its lead to 30, 53-23, on a Cooper layup, Deniya Prawl free throw and Spearman three-ball before Coppin State hit a pair of free throws to trail 53-25, at the 4:49 media break. The Lady Vols continued to pull away in the late stages of the third quarter, getting a pair of Robertson three-pointers to surge ahead 67-31 entering the final frame.
The fourth was all Robertson, as she scorched the nets with 5-of-7 shooting beyond the arc for 15 points. After Boyd and Barker opened the period with pairs of free throws, Robertson hit three straight from range and forced a CSU timeout. She added two more treys before she was done and helped close out the season-best 53-point victory.
NEXT UP: TWO ON THE WEST COAST
After facing Coppin State, the Lady Vols will prepare for a post-Thanksgiving trip to the West Coast for games at No. 3/3 UCLA on Nov. 30 and at RV/NR Stanford on Dec. 3.
THE MOST WINS ALL-TIME
Tennessee logged its 1500th program win in the 53-point victory over Coppin State and now stands at 1,500-398. UT has recorded the most wins in NCAA women’s basketball history. UConn stands roughly 150 victories behind the Lady Vols, while Stanford, James Madison and Texas trail the Huskies.
NYA WAS FEELING IT
Nya Robertson was feeling it from beyond the arc, hitting a program-record 10 threes in a game and tying for the third most in a game in SEC history. Her 16 attempts tied for second most in program history. Her previous career high of eight threes in a game came during her time at George Washington against Howard on Nov. 6, 2023. Robertson’s double-digit three total helped give the Lady Vols their highest three-point total all season with 14 and the best shooting percentage all year at 35.0. Her 32 points matched her career best set while at SMU on Jan. 30, 2025, vs. Louisville.
COOP DOING IT ALL
While recording 11 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and seven steals, Talaysia Cooper logged her third double-double of the year, was one assist shy of a triple double and another three steals away from a quadruple-double. The 6-foot guard leads the team with three double-doubles. Cooper now is averaging 16.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.8 steals per game.
TRIO OF ROOKIE STARTERS HIGHLIGHTS SIXTH DIFFERENT LINEUP
Janiah Barker, Nya Robertson, Mya Pauldo, Jaida Civil and Deniya Prawl made up the starting five for the game, marking Tennessee’s sixth different opening five this season. The lineup consisted of three freshmen and two seniors. The Lady Vols haven’t started three freshmen in a game since Dec. 28, 2012, in their win against Davidson when Bashaara Graves, Jasmine Jones and Nia Moore got the nod.
FINDING THE HOOP ALL GAME
UT logged four quarters in which they scored 20+ points with 23 in the first, 22 in the second, 22 in the third and 21 in the fourth. It marked the second game this year the Lady Vols have had 20+ in all four quarters, matching the ETSU game. This makes it 15 of 24 quarters scoring 20 or more this season.
FORCING TURNOVERS
Coppin State’s 36 turnovers notched the fifth game in a row UT has caused 20+ miscues by their opponent. That number is the highest forced on the season by the Lady Vols, with the previous season high set last game with 27 by Middle Tennessee. Three of the turnovers came from 10-second halfcourt violations, marking the highest total all season.
DEFENSE LEADING TO OFFENSE
A total of 57 of the 88 total points Tennessee scored came off CSU turnovers. The Lady Vols cleared their previous high of 36 points off turnovers set against Middle Tennessee, and it is the highest margin of the season at 44 (57-13).
BEING STINGY
UT held an opponent to its lowest scoring total of the season at 35 points, bettering the 41 it surrendered vs. MTSU. Coppin State also had its lowest point total of the season, with 53 at Arizona State standing as its previous low. The Eagles tallied 59 at Ohio State and 62 at Penn State.
TAKING THE BALL AWAY
Tennessee recorded a season-high 23 steals vs. Coppin State, marking the fifth-straight game the Lady Vols have grabbed a double-digit total. The total of 23 also is the second most in game during the Kim Caldwell era behind 27 recorded in the opener vs. Samford last season on Nov. 5, 2024.
