No. 14/11 Tennessee (5-1) opens a two-game West Coast swing on Sunday, as it visits No. 3/3 UCLA (7-1) for a 1:30 p.m. PT (4:30 p.m. ET) matinee at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial.
The game will be broadcast by FS1 and carried on the Lady Vol Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Channels 211 or 190).
The Lady Vols enter on a five-game winning streak after crushing Coppin State last Sunday, 88-35, at Food City Center. The only thing separating Kim Caldwell‘s squad from being undefeated is a three-point setback, 80-77, to then-No. 9/8 NC State in the season opener in the Greensboro (N.C.) Ro Invitational.
UCLA, meanwhile, is 7-1 after splitting a pair of games at the Players Era Women’s Championship, falling to No. 4 Texas (76-65) and then beating Duke (89-59).
The Lady Vols and Bruins are meeting for the 22nd time and first occasion since 2022, with UT leading the series, 18-3. Tennessee last played at UCLA in 2011 and is combining UCLA and Stanford on a trip for the first time since Dec. 2011.
BROADCAST DETAILS
- Elise Woodward (play-by-play) and Kim Adams (color analyst) will describe the action for the FS1 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 211 or 190.
LAST TIME OUT
- Nya Robertson was in a zone last Sunday, making a school-record 10 three-pointers and tying her career best with 32 points as 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.
- Tennessee (5-1), which won its fifth straight game and saw its all-time record improve to 1,500-398, also got 19 points from senior forward Janiah Barker, 11 from redshirt junior guard Talaysia Cooper and 10 from senior forward Zee Spearman. Cooper also finished with a game-high 11 rebounds, and her career-high nine assists along with seven steals left her just shy of UT’s sixth triple-double and within range of the program’s first quadruple-double.
A LOOK AT THE LADY VOLS
- With five straight victories, Tennessee has produced its second-longest winning streak of the Kim Caldwell era. The longest is 13 in a row to open 2024-25.
- UT, the all-time victory leader in NCAA women’s basketball, claimed its 1,500th win last Sunday vs. Coppin State.
- Tennessee is led by a trio of national player of the year candidates in 6-0 redshirt junior guard Talaysia Cooper (16.2 ppg., 7.7 rpg., 4.0 apg., 3.8 spg., 13 3FGs) and 6-4 senior forwards Janiah Barker (15.2 ppg., 6.5 rpg., 6 3FGs) and Zee Spearman (10.3 ppg., 7.3 rpg., 7 3FGs).
- Senior guard Nya Robertson joins them in double figures (11.5 ppg.) after setting a UT record and notching the No. 3 all-time SEC mark with 10 three-pointers vs. Coppin State on Sunday.
- UT averages 14.7 spg. after grabbing 23 vs. CSU for the second-highest total of the Caldwell era (27, Samford, 11/5/24).
- The Lady Vols hurried CSU into 36 turnovers, increasing foes’ miscues per game to 23.7 and scoring 32.0 ppg. on those.
- Tennessee is getting 30.0 ppg. from its bench vs. opponents’ 14.0 (+16.0).
GOING BACK TO CALI
- Tennessee’s Janiah Barker returns to the court where she played last season, helping UCLA on its run to the NCAA Final Four.
- Barker played in 36 games for the Bruins, starting three, while averaging 7.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest en route to Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year kudos.
- She shot 46.5 percent from the field and 65.3 percent from the free-throw line, while also hitting six threes in 33 attempts.
- This season, she has started all six games at Tennessee, averaging 15.2 ppg. and 6.5 rpg. while hitting 48.4 from the field and 73.5 percent from the charity stripe.
- She has matched her 2024-25 season total of six threes made in just six games and is averaging 22.0 minutes per contest compared to 17.5 a year ago.
- Barker is on the John R. Wooden Award and Ann Meyers Drysdale Award National Player of the Year Watch Lists and is on the Katrina McClain Power Forward of the Year Watch List as well.
UCLA/STANFORD TRIPS
- This will mark the fifth time Tennessee has faced both teams on the same journey out west and the third-straight occasion the Lady Vols-Bruins match-up has opened such a trip.
- UT has fashioned a combined 5-3 record in the previous back-to-back battles, including a 4-0 worksheet in Los Angeles.
- The only road sweep by the Big Orange vs. these teams occurred in 1999.
- The Lady Vols previously played these teams on the same trip in 2011 (W, 12/17 at UCLA & L, 12/20 at Stanford), 2007 (W, 12/19 at UCLA & L, 12/22 at Stanford), 1999 (W, 11/26 at Stanford & W, 11/28 at UCLA) and 1989 (L, 12/15 at Stanford & W, 12/17 at UCLA).
ABOUT LAST WEEK
- Tennessee went 2-0 with victories at Middle Tennessee (85-41) and at home vs. Coppin State (88-35).
- The Lady Vols had a scoring margin of +48.5 (86.5 to 38.0).
- Nya Robertson averaged 20.5 ppg. and Janiah Barker put up 19.5 ppg. and 10.0 rpg.
- Talaysia Cooper averaged 12.0 ppg., 7.0 rpg., 7.0 apg. and 6.5 spg.
- UT averaged 20.0 steals and forced 31.5 turnovers.
- Tennessee had a +15 rebound margin (47.0 to 32.0).
- The Big Orange made an average of 11.0 three-pointers per contest.
BOMBS AWAY FOR UT & ROBERTSON
- Tennessee ranks No. 1 nationally in three point attempts per game (34.7) and No. 13 in threes made per game (9.8).
- The Lady Vols have hit 10+ treys twice this season.
- Their season high of 14 came on Nov. 23 vs. Coppin State, with that total tying for No. 7 in program history.
- UT’s 40 attempts vs. CSU were a season high as well, checking in at No. 4 in the Lady Vol record book.
- Nya Robertson contributed to the total of 14 three-pointers vs. Coppin State, hitting a career-high total of 10 that reset a less-than-year-old school record held by Samara Spencer (9 vs. NC Central, 12/14/24).
- Robertson’s 10 treys ranked No. 3 in SEC history.
- Her 16 attempts in that game were second most at UT.
UT/UCLA SERIES NOTES
- Tennessee is 18-3 all-time vs. the Bruins, including 8-1 at home, 9-0 on the road and 1-2 at neutral sites.
- After losing 15 straight, UCLA has won the last two.
- UT is 111-29 all-time vs. current Big Ten schools.
A LOOK AT THE BRUINS
- The Bruins are led by guard Kiki Rice (14.8 ppg., 6.9 rpg.), 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts (14.1 ppg., 7.4 rpg.), guard Gabriela Jaquez (13.9 ppg., 6.9 rpg., 12 3FGs), guard Gianna Kneepkens (13.3 ppg., 18 3FGs) and two others averaging double-digit scoring.
- UCLA has carded ranked wins over No. 6/7 Oklahoma (73-59), No. 11/8 North Carolina (78-60).
- UCLA was 34-3 (16-2 Big Ten) a year ago, finishing second in the league but winning the tourney title.
ABOUT THE HEAD COACH
- The Bruins are coached by Cori Close, who is 328-144 in her 15th season.
- After leading UCLA to the 2025 NCAA Final Four, its first trip ever, Close was named the AP, Naismith, USBWA and WBCA National Coach of the Year.
- Her 2024-25 unit set school records for most wins (34), consecutive wins (23) and consecutive wins by a double-digit margin (22).
THE BRUINS’ LAST GAME
- UCLA blitzed Duke, 30-7, in the first quarter and never looked back, taking an 89-59 win on Thursday night at the Players Era Women’s Championship.
- Gabriela Jaquez scored 23 points, and Charlisse Leger-Walker added 20 to lead five in double digits.
- Leger-Walker had five of UCLA’s 13 three-pointers.
LAST TIME UT & UCLA MET
- UCLA defeated UT the last time these teams met, 80-63, in the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas, on Nov. 20, 2022.
- Rickea Jackson (14) and Jordan Horston (11) paced Tennessee in scoring, while Charisma Osborne (23) and Kiki Rice (15) led the Bruins.
- UCLA hit a UT opponent-record 16 three-pointers.
LAST TIME WE PLAYED AT UCLA
- Meighan Simmons (17) led all five Tennessee starters scoring in double figures, as the Lady Vols raced to an 85-64 wire-to-wire win the last time these teams played in Los Angeles on Dec. 17, 2011.
- No. 6/6 UT shot 69.2 percent from the field, including 50 percent (7-14) beyond the arc.
- Rebekah Gardner had 24 points to lead UCLA.
NEXT UP
- After facing UCLA, Tennessee will make its way to Northern California for a 6:15 p.m. PT (9:15 p.m. ET) tilt at Stanford on Dec. 3 in Maples Pavilion.
- ESPN2 will televise that contest, which is part of the ACC/SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge.
- The game will be available on Lady Vol Radio Network stations and via live stream on UTSports.com.
