STANFORD, Calif. – Redshirt junior Talaysia Cooper’s 19-point, 10-steal double-double helped No. 19/17 Tennessee rack up 16 steals and force 30 turnovers to get past Stanford, 65-62, on Wednesday night at Maples Pavilion.
The Lady Vols (6-2) outscored the Cardinal, 21-15, in the fourth quarter to overturn a three-point deficit and claim a victory for the league in the ACC/SEC Challenge and end a four-game losing streak in the 40-game series vs. Stanford. SU (8-2), which is receiving votes in both polls, tied its school record for miscues and fell despite out-shooting UT, 46.4 to 34.7 percent, from the field.
Cooper, who hit a driving layup with six seconds on the clock to put her team up, 64-62, had help on the scoring front from freshman guard Mia Pauldo, who had 14 points and no turnovers in the tight affair. Zee Spearman and Janiah Barker chipped in 13 and 10, with Spearman hauling down a team-high eight boards.
Nunu Agara and Hailee Swain paced Stanford with 14 points each, while Chloe Clardy and Lara Somfai added 12 and 10, respectively.
The Lady Vols got off to a slow start shooting, but their defense forced six Cardinal turnovers in the opening six and a half minutes, with Cooper tallying three steals and scoring six points to help stake Tennessee to an 11-8 lead at the 3:38 media timeout. UT managed only three free throws the rest of the way, and Stanford scored eight points to take a 16-14 edge after the opening stanza.
The Lady Vols’ field goal woes continued in the second quarter, allowing Stanford to take a 19-14 lead with 8:31 remaining. UT clawed back, though, getting a Spearman layup, Jaida Civil kiss off the glass and a Mia Pauldo mid-range jumper to pull within one, 21-20, by the 3:26 media break. After the Cardinal nudged the lead back to four, 24-20, with 2:41 to go, Tennessee produced an 8-0 burst on a Spearman trey, Alyssa Latham put-back and a three by Barker with three seconds left that sent the Big Orange into the locker room with a game-best four-point margin, 28-24.
Pauldo began the third frame on a positive note for her squad, nailing a three to give UT a 31-24 advantage. A Cooper steal and layup boosted the lead to seven again, 33-26, forcing a Stanford timeout with 7:55 remaining. Out of the break Pauldo hustled for a rebound and put-back, giving her team a nine-point lead, 35-26. Tennessee led by nine again, 37-28, with 6:16 to go, but the Cardinal used a 7-1 spree to cut the deficit to three, 38-35, by the media timeout and then moved ahead on a Clardy three, 40-38, with 3:47 remaining to force a UT timeout. A Cooper layup ended an 11-0 Stanford run and UT cut the gap to one twice on buckets by Cooper and Barker, but Stanford got a Clardy pull-up jumper to take a 47-44 advantage into the final period.
Mia Pauldo twice cut the Stanford lead to one, 47-46, and 50-49, on a layup and then a three, and a Deniya Prawl and Nya Robertson hit layups to flip the deficit into a three-point lead, 53-50, with 5:49 remaining before the Cardinal trimmed it to 53-52 heading into the media break. After the hosts tied the game at 55 with 4:36 left, a layup by Cooper and an old-fashioned three-point play by Spearman staked the Lady Vols to a 62-57 lead with 3:05 to go. After a Stanford timeout, Agara nailed a three-pointer to draw Stanford within one, 62-60, with 1:13 on the clock. She then rebounded a missed free throw and scored to knot the game at 62 with 11 ticks on the clock before the Cooper layup and a Nya Robertson free throw with 0.5 remaining accounted for the final score.
NEXT UP
Tennessee will travel home Thursday and will not return to game action until Dec. 14, when Winthrop comes to Food City Center for a 2 p.m. contest. That contest will be broadcast on SECN+ and the Lady Vol Radio Network.
CAREER NIGHT FOR COOP
Talaysia Cooper had her fourth double-double of the year with 19 points and 10 steals. Cooper’s 10 steals marked the second-most in program history for a game, tying the record Shelia Collins set on February 2, 1985, at Florida State. Tonight’s total bested her previous career high of nine, set last year at home against Oklahoma. Cooper now is tied for the number two and four spots in the UT record book.
TURNING THEM OVER
Tennessee forced the Cardinal into 30 miscues, tying Stanford’s program record for turnovers in a game. It was the tenth time the Big Orange have forced 30+ turnovers in the Kim Caldwell era and the second time this season. The Lady Vols have now forced six of their last seven opponents into 20+ miscues. Talaysia Cooper paced UT by forcing 11 on her own.
POINTS OFF MISCUES
The Big Orange led the points off turnover battle 25 to 10. That is the seventh time this year the Lady Vols won the points off turnover battle and the most points off turnovers Stanford has allowed all season in losing that battle for the first time all season.
SERIES-DEBUT WIN FOR CALDWELL
Kim Caldwell picked up her first win in the historic series against Stanford. This was the 40th time the two historic programs met, with UT improving to 26-14. The win snapped a four-game losing streak the Lady Vols had in the series against Stanford, and it marked Tennessee’s first win at Maples Pavilion since Dec. 21, 2017.
WEARING SUMMITT BLUE
The Lady Vols wore their alternate “Summitt Blue” uniforms in the historic series match-up against Stanford. UT now is 8-4 all-time wearing its “Summitt Blue” uniforms, including 1-1 in 2022-23, 3-1 in 2023-24, 2-2 in 2024-25 and 2-0 in 2025-26.
